Stella Rimington

First female Director-General of MI5, Non-Executive Director of Marks & Spencer, appointed DBE

Dame Stella Rimington is renowned for her position as the first female Director-General of MI5, the United Kingdom's secret security service. Stella worked across all three branches of the security service, gaining knowledge on counter-espionage, counter-terrorism and counter-subversion whilst assessing the security of government communications. After becoming Assistant Director of the Inter-Departmental Group on Subversion in Public Life, Stella was promoted to become the Deputy Director-General of MI5.

In 1992 Stella was appointed as the first female Director-General of MI5. During her time in office, Rimington was instrumental in modernising MI5 and making it more open and accountable, improving public transparency. Stella retired from MI5 in 1996 and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She has since gone on to write several novels, including the Liz Carlyle series and her memoir Open Secret. She has also committed her time working as a Non-Executive Director of Marks & Spencer and was a Judge of the 2011 Man Booker Prize. Recently having received an Honorary Doctorate of Social Science from Nottingham Trent University, there is no questioning the powerful impact Stella’s inspirational story has had worldwide.

Dominating the secret service as a powerful female, Dame Stella Rimington is the perfect speaker for International Women’s Day. Marking her name in the history books as the first female DG of MI5, Stella has broken glass ceilings with her revolutionary work in making MI5 more transparent with the public. If you are looking for an inspirational female speaker for International Women’s Day 2023, look no further than Dame Stella Rimington.

Dame Stella Rimington is available to hire via The Female Motivational Speakers Agency: https://www.female-motivational-speakers.com/speaker/stella-rimington

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