Former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern will take up a role at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government as a Distinguished Fellow and member of its World Leaders Circle.
The Circle is a global network of former heads of government working to improve governance and pioneer research across the globe. Ardern will join the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who announced his involvement with the Blavatnik School in January.
Ardern was the world’s youngest female head of government when she took office in 2017, aged 37, as New Zealand’s third female Prime Minister. She has focused on various environmental and governance efforts since her resignation in 2023, and was awarded dual fellowships at Harvard’s Kennedy School later that year.
She has previously worked with the Blavatnik School through the Christchurch Call – a political summit initiated by Ardern alongside French President Emmanuel Macron to eliminate terrorist and violent content online.
Ardern wrote on Instagram this morning: “Really excited to be joining Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government World Leaders Circle. Oxford has created this bipartisan network of leaders to share lessons learned, and contribute to thinking around the deep challenges we face as a global community.
“Joining this group will not only provide an opportunity to strengthen these connections, it will give me a chance to work alongside a new generation of leaders – students from over 60 different countries – interested in enhancing governance through empathetic leadership.”
Dean of the Blavatnik School, Professor Ngaire Woods, added: “We are delighted to welcome Jacinda Ardern to the Blavatnik School as a Distinguished Fellow and member of our World Leaders Circle. Her leadership in times of crisis, commitment to public service, and deep understanding of governance will bring invaluable insights to our global community.”
Ardern will visit Oxford in June of this year to give a talk at the Sheldonian Theatre, in conjunction with the release of her memoir, A Different Kind of Power.
