Dr Michelle Harrison works as an advisor to leaders in government, corporations and civil society around the world to build and deliver better public policy. She is recognised as an expert in social change and geopolitics and is a regular platform speaker and media commentator.
Michelle is President and the Founding CEO of Verian Group, having originally led its establishment as a division of the Kantar Group and its subsequent evolution into a privately owned, independent company and the largest specialist public policy consulting business outside the US. Previously, Michelle was the Founding Global CEO of WPP’s Government and Public Sector Practice (the world’s largest communications services company), which pioneered a paradigm shift in applied behaviour change communications for public policy, helping governments connect with citizens and scaling across every continent.
Michelle has served for over two decades as a NED, government advisory committee member, and honorary academic in the areas of public realm innovation and social investment, including at the UK Cabinet Office, Nesta UK, and Social Finance. As a lifelong advocate for gender equality, she sits on the Advisory Board of the Reykjavik Global Forum, which works to help women attain and retain power. She is the co-founder of The Reykjavik Index for Leadership, an authoritative measure of how society views women and men in terms of their suitability for leadership.