Marjorie Ellis Thompson has worked on Capitol Hill and in Parliament, as a lobbyist for CND and the Royal College of Nursing, head of communications for the Commission for Racial Equality and founded Saatchi & Saatchi Cause Connection.
She was also chair of CND during the first Gulf War and is co-author of Brand Spirit: How Cause Related Marketing Builds Brands with Hamish Pringle.
I had the pleasure of meeting Marjorie in 1998 when I interviewed her for my university dissertation on cause related marketing, which led to a summer internship at Saatchis.
In this conversation we reflect on the way Marjorie created diverse teams, and gave people around her opportunities through her collaborative leadership approach. Rotating chairs for meetings, taking young interns to client presentations, bringing people into Westminster to experience where decisions are made.
Marjorie had a huge impact on my early career and gave me the confidence to me my full self in my first role at Green Flag.
She opened up doors for people, invited them into the room, respected their intelligence and empowered them to be integral parts of her team.
She likes to think she remains American, when you see a wall you climb over it. Barriers need to be taken down so that citizens find out their representative democracy works.
Marjorie was inspired by a trip to Washington DC with her mother to visit a friend Sylvia Bacon. Sylvia was a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and was considered by both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States, at a time when no women had yet been appointed to the Court.
She also looks to civil rights leader John Lewis who famously said: "It's alright to get in trouble, good trouble!". It is something Marjorie has tried to do all her life. And if she's making trouble, make it for a good cause.
Marjorie has the ability to be connected and educated, but not exclude you from being in the know. She brings people along with her.
She knows how important it is that others believe in you.
A truly inspirational leader. Capable of everything.
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