Laura Marks

Laura Marks OBE
Born	(1960-04-26) 26 April 1960 (age 61) London, UK
Spouse(s)	Dan Patterson
Children	3

Laura Marks OBE (born 26 April 1960) is an inter-faith social activist, policy adviser, writer and media commentator. Marks has founded and chaired social organisations including Mitzvah Day International and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.^[1]

Early life and career[]

Marks was raised in North-West London, attending South Hampstead High School and Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls.^[2] Her family were members of Elstree and District Reform Synagogue and Marks was a member of the youth group Habonim Dror.^[3] She graduated from University College London before training as a teacher at the UCL Institute of Education. Marks later undertook a Commonwealth Scholarship to Canada for an M.Ed. Marks joined Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO in 1987, becoming planning director.^[4] In 1997, Marks left AMV BBDO to start her own planning consultancy. Between 1994 and 1998, Marks also served as chair of the Association of Qualitative Research Practitioners.^[5]

Mitzvah Day[]

In 2005, Marks founded Mitzvah Day International, an annual day of faith-based social action that takes place in November each year.^[6] Marks has said that the inspiration for Mitzvah Day International came after she was asked to sing in an old people's home while living in Los Angeles.^[7] Since its establishment, Mitzvah Day International has both become the UK's largest faith-led day of social action and spread to numerous cities internationally with over 40,000 participants now taking part worldwide each year.^[8][9]

Other causes[]

In 2011, Marks founded and chaired the Commission on Women in Jewish Leadership and in 2020 relaunched the independent Alliance of Jewish Women and their Organisations.^[10][11] She is a trustee of both the Jewish Leadership Council and the Commonwealth Jewish Council.^[12][13] Between 2012 and 2015, Marks served as the Elected Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.^[14] In 2016, Marks became Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a UK charity that supports and promotes Holocaust Memorial Day by working to educate people about the dangers of hatred.^[15] In 2017, Marks co-founded Nisa-Nashim, a national Jewish Muslim women's network that works to connect the Jewish and Muslim communities by empowering women.^[16] As of early 2020, Nisa-Nashim has 26 local UK groups and is the fastest growing initiative between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe.^[17] Marks’ other inter-faith work with the Muslim community includes involvement with Sadaqa Day.^[18] She regularly speaks at interfaith events including the New Horizons Conference.^[19]In 2019, Marks was appointed to the Mayor of London's Equalities Diversity and Inclusion committee.^[20]

Media engagement[]

Marks sits on the board of the Jewish News.^[21] She is a regular media commentator, contributing to platforms including BBC Radio 2 Pause for Thought, BBC Breakfast, BBC London News, HuffPost, Evening Standard, The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News, The Times of Israel and the Ham & High.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

Honours[]

In 2014 Marks was made an OBE for services to interfaith relations.^[30] In the same year, The Jewish Chronicle named her one of the ten most influential British Jews in "The JC Power 100".^[31] She was awarded the Archbishop of Canterbury's Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation in 2019.^[32]

Personal life[]

Marks is married to Dan Patterson, a television producer.^[33] They have three children and live in Primrose Hill, London.^[34][35] She is a member of North Western Reform Synagogue.^[36]

Publications[]

In September 2020 Marks will be publishing a book focussed on the application of qualitative research.^[37]

References[]