Norine MacDonald

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Norine MacDonald QC is the President and Founder of The Senlis Council, an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris, and field offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City.

The Council provides innovative analysis and recommendations on the connections between foreign policy, security, development and counter-narcotics policies. It convenes politicians, high profile academics, independent experts and NGOs in order to accomplish its mission. It aims to work as the dialogue partner with senior policy-makers at the national and international levels in order to foster high-level exchanges and new ideas on bridging security, development and counter-narcotics policies.

Since 2005 Ms MacDonald has led an extensive programme in Afghanistan focusing on global security development. Through field research, The Senlis Council investigates the relationship between counter-narcotics, military, and development policies and their consequences on Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts. The Council’s reports and video footage provide a unique insight into the deteriorating development and security situations on the ground, especially in southern Afghanistan, and make policy recommendations to a broad audience of senior policy-makers and experts in NATO countries.

As President of The Gabriel Foundation, Ms MacDonald sits on the board of the Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation (NEF). This is a platform which brings together twelve of the leading philanthropic organisations in Europe. Within NEF, Ms. MacDonald is the Managing Director of the NEF – Mercator Fund, which launches and supports initiatives on Europe’s role in global social issues.

Ms MacDonald is also a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Crisis Group. In February 2007, she was awarded the First Class Medal of Merit of the Italian Red Cross for outstanding contribution to international humanitarian cooperation.

Ms MacDonald’s international experience in law, academic research, policy, advocacy and philanthropy, endows the Council with an exclusive perceptivity into the synergies between development, security, public health and drug policy. She has testified before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and Standing Committee on National Defence in Canada, and the House of Commons’ Defence Committee in the United Kingdom.

Ms MacDonald’s work has been featured in a long list of publications including the Sunday Times, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph, while she has also appeared on CNN, BBC, CBC, CTV and Al Jazeera International.

Before founding The Senlis Council, Ms MacDonald was a partner in the law firm Bull, Housser and Tupper, specialising in Commercial Litigation, Charities and Tax law. Moreover, Ms MacDonald held several prominent offices as a Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Ms MacDonald holds a BA and an LLB from the University of British Columbia, and completed the Advance Management Program at INSEAD, France in 2005. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997.