Agnes Grunwald-Spier, 65, is one of Women and Equality Minister Harriet Harman’s new Public Appointments Ambassadors.
She is part of a government campaign to increase the diversity of people on public bodies — such as the boards of hospital trusts or museums — and end the predominance of white, middle-aged men.
The Sheffield-based grandmother, who is planning to move to London this year, has quite a few positions under her belt.
A trustee of Holocaust Memorial Day, she is also involved in the Architects Registration Board, which regulates the profession, and the General Social Care Council, which, among other things, handles complaints about social workers.
A former civil servant, she tells People: “I started quite late in life. I was 40 when I had my last child. I was in my mid-50s when I started thinking of doing something.”
She served for several years on the South Yorkshire Police Authority and recently concluded a stint on an NHS advisory committee on herbal medicines.
Being an ambassador, she says, is an opportunity to tell people: “If I can do it, you can do it. I didn’t have anyone to open doors for me.”
The former chairman of the Board of Deputies’ regional council, she has also written a book on Holocaust rescuers, which is due out in the spring.
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