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Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller is the former head of MI5 from 2002 to 2007, and former Chair of the Wellcome Trust from 2015 to 2021, one of the largest charitable funders of medical research.
Her time in these roles saw her lead through extraordinary, high-pressure moments, from counterterrorism to war to global health crises, and from the 9/11 attacks to the 7/7 bombings.
She is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, focusing on topics including security, terrorism, and leadership.
Before becoming the Director General of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller’s work with the agency saw her travel the world, managing threats from Irish terrorism, as well as technical collection, IT, and finance. As the Head, she guided the organisation through a significant time in history, particularly after the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 bombings in London, the Lockerbie bombing, and the Gulf War. Amazingly, in the 1980s, it was said that she was one of only five people to know of the Soviet double agent, Oleg Gordievsky.
In 2015, she became the Chair of The Wellcome Trust, where she oversaw funding for scientific research in infection and mental health, and responses to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst working for the Trust, she established the Coalition For Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, in the hope that any future pandemics will be less devastating due to prior preparation.
Eliza Manningham-Buller is also a crossbench peer, served as Chair of Council at Imperial College, and is co-president of the renowned foreign policy think-tank Chatham House. She published the book Securing Freedom, which was the theme of one of her lectures for the prestigious BBC Reith Lectures.
Since her retirement, she has been honoured with a number of awards and accolades:
– In 2005 she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath
– In 2008 she was ‘raised to the peerage’, being titled Baroness
– In 2014, she was appointed a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter

Eliza is a highly sought-after speaker, sharing her thoughts on leadership, communication, and criticism, as well as authenticity and the value of praise.
– Leadership
– Teamwork
– Communication
– Authenticity
– Leading in High-Pressure Environments
– Creating a Team With Transparency and Ownership
– Women in Business
– Managing Risk
– Dealing With a Crisis
– Supportive Cultures
– Organisational Resilience

Probably one of the best speakers that we’ve had over the past few years. The Q&A session was fantastic – it felt like she had the audience in the palm of her hand, everyone loved it and she left people wanting more. It will be very hard to find another speaker quite like her.
IPD Global
Eliza Manningham-Buller was an excellent speaker and provided much more personal information than expected. Eliza commanded the Q&A brilliantly and made an extra effort following Q&A to visit each table and speak to attendees; everyone thought this was a lovely touch and something we hadn’t asked for, so thank you. I personally found Eliza very easy to work with; she is extremely approachable and personable, and I would recommend her as a speaker. We have only received positive feedback, with one client saying Eliza was the best speaker he had heard.
DLA Piper