H.E Kara Owen CMG CVO – Chair of the Judging Panel

Ms Owen has been British High Commissioner to Singapore since June 2019. Prior to that she served as Director for the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Paris for four years. She has been awarded with a CVO (Commander of the Victoria Order) a CMG (Companion of St Michael and St George) by Her Late Majesty The Queen for services to diplomacy. Ms Owen has a lifelong interest in the South East Asian region, stemming from her teenage years when her parents lived in the Philippines and cemented during her diplomatic postings to Hong Kong, Hanoi and now Singapore.

Ms Owen graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA in History. She is committed to lifelong learning for herself and her teams. She has a MSc from LSE in Diplomacy and International Strategy and a MSc from Cranfield University in International Human Resource Management. Alongside her diplomatic work, she has focused on diversity issues and organisational development.

Ms Owen’s husband, William Tierney, is a retired military officer (Irish Defence Force). They met while working in Aceh, Indonesia.