After Dinner SpeakersOona King is Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at Uber.
Prior to Uber, Oona was Snap’s first VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Director of Diversity at Google and Global Director of Diverse Marketing at YouTube.
A member of the House of Lords (appointed Baroness King of Bow in 2011), currently on a leave of absence, Oona was previously Diversity Executive at Channel 4 and Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister on Equalities and Diversity at 10 Downing Street.
Oona was the first mixed-race woman elected to Parliament and served as the MP for Bethnal Green & Bow from 1997-2005.
Oona founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Genocide Prevention in the House of Commons and received a commendation from the UN Security Council’s Expert Panel for her group’s work on peacekeeping.
Other roles have included PPS to the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, Vice-Chair of the British Council, Chair of the All-Party Group on Business Services, Vice-Chair of London Labour MPs, and Treasurer of Friends of Islam.
During her time in the Commons, Oona King changed the law in five areas, including housing policy and equalities policy.
In 2010 she ran for Mayor of London in the Labour Party selection process against Ken Livingstone.
In 2011 Oona was nominated for ‘Campaigning Peer of the Year‘.
“Oona was incredible and the feedback was extremely positive. Funny, real, hard hitting and just perfect to help shape the morning”
Women in Tech
Before becoming an MP, Oona was a Trade Union organiser representing low-paid workers and spent five years as a researcher at the European Parliament.
She earned a first-class degree in politics from York University (1990) and a scholarship to Berkeley, California (1988-89).
Oona’s work for Channel 4 focused on diversity in the media, and she previously chaired the steering committee of the Creative Diversity Network (an organisation representing Britain’s major broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky).
Oona also chaired the Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN) and sits on Select Committees in the House of Lords, such as the post-legislative Select Committee on Adoption, and the Olympic & Paralympic Legacy Committee.
In 2013, Oona became the founding chair of a think tank (All About Talent) to help businesses leverage commercial benefits from a diverse workforce.
Outside politics, Oona King has worked as a television presenter for Channel 4, BBC, Sky, Five and ITV.
The political diary of her time in the House of Commons, House Music, was published in 2007 and nominated for ‘Political Book of the Year‘ in the Channel 4 Political Awards.
As a keynote speaker, Oona can present entertaining after-dinner speeches or conference keynotes, covering topics such:
- Diversity & Equality
- Politics
- Young People
- Women in Politics
- How to Bring about Change
- Housing
- Adoption
- Africa
- Voting Systems / Representative Democracy
- Sport / the Olympics / the Olympic Legacy
