Women Executives in the Media network: 3rd meeting BBC, London, 3 February 2016 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Cressida Rose Dick, CBE, QPM is a Director-general at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Cressida Dick was born, brought up and educated in Oxford. She joined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 1983 and served at all operational ranks across London before transferring to Thames Valley Police as Superintendent Operations and then Area Commander for the city of Oxford. In June 2001 Cressida returned to the Met in a Chief Officer role, as Director of Diversity and later as Commander of Serious and Organised crime. Cressida undertook Command roles in the Met’s response to 9/11, the Tsunami, the 2005 bombings and many other major incidents in London and overseas. She is an experienced firearms, public order and security Commander and has led many of the Met’s highest profile and complex crime investigations, such as Stephen Lawrence, phone hacking, Parliamentary expenses and Official Secrets Acts enquires. She also led teams in Specialist Operations (Counterterrorism, Protection and Security) and was National Lead for Police Counter Terrorism for 3 years, including during the Olympics. For eleven years she chaired the National Negotiator Group, having trained as a negotiator in 1989. She became the first female Assistant Commissioner in the Met in 2009. In 2014 Cressida became the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Crime and Operations - a wide portfolio of 12000 staff, responsible for tackling all (non terrorist) serious crime in London, major events and public order and operational support (such as forensics, surveillance, intelligence, police firearms and other specialist functions). She is also former president of the British Association of Women Police and takes a keen interest in encouraging and supporting women into leadership and specialist roles in policing. Earlier this year Cressida joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as part of the senior leadership..