Halla Gunnarsdóttir

Halla has an extensive background in activism, politics and policy-making. Her professional career has been centred in London and Reykjavík, Iceland, where she currently lives. Halla is the leader of VR, Iceland’s largest union and has worked for two Icelandic governments, building and implementing policies on gender equality and women’s rights, criminal justice, immigration and land reform. She served as the general secretary of the Icelandic confederation of labour (ASI), which represents a large majority of workers in Iceland, where she played a key role in designing and advocating for new economics. Halla was a founding member and later head of policy and partnerships at the Women’s Equality Party, where she lead policy development for the party. She was particularly impatient to see fundamental changes to UK’s broken childcare system, a passion she still holds.