In this Better Angels interview special guest host Tom Fletcher speaks with British politician and diplomat Baroness Valerie Amos, who served as the Leader of the House of Lords, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Secretary of State and Emergency Relief Coordinator and British High Commissioner to Australia.

Valerie also served as Secretary of State for International Development and in doing so became the first black woman to sit in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Today Valerie is the Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, becoming the first black woman to lead a university in the United Kingdom.

Valerie’s extraordinary career has seen her break ground many times and take on great challenges with enormous composure, leaving a track record of solid achievement in her wake.  

In this interview special, Valerie shares her perspective and private thoughts on the barriers she’s crossed and the experiences of her professional life.