Serving as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, Helle Thorning-Schmidt was Denmark’s first female prime minster. But this was not the only “first” for Thorning-Schmidt, she was also the first women leader of the Social Democrats.

Although now retired, she overcame many hardships with grace during her time in office, and she continues to make meaningful change as CEO of Save the Children. The company runs humanitarian and development programmes that reach 55 million children in around 120 countries. As CEO, Thorning-Schmidt overseas an annual budget of over $2 billion as well as 25,000 employees.

Thorning-Schmidt has been dedicated to her party since she was a university student. After graduating from the University of Copenhagen, she led the secretariat of the Danish delegation of Social Democrats in the European Parliament. Then, she was elected to the European Parliament where she was a member of the Employment and Social Committee.
In 3 October 2011, she started her official prime minister term. Just 3 weeks later, she oversaw the successful completion of NATO’s strike missions in Libya. During her time leading the Denmark government, she successfully navigated the country through a tough transition after the global financial crisis.

Since her political retirement, she has served on multiple senior leadership boards. She chaired the Danish Football Association Women Commission to promote women’s football in Denmark. For years, she has been a member of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity and a member of the United Nations High-level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child. Since 2019, she has been a member of the board of directors for Vestas Wind Systems. Thorning-Schmidt has shown a remarkable amount of leadership range and can speak on what is like being a “first” in government.