![A woman wearing a white blazer sitting with her elbows on a round white table in front of a white gloss wall.](https://firstwomen.brightonmuseums.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/DameHelenAlexander-8-f1.jpg)
First Woman President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
July 2011, Centre Point, London
b.1957, d.2017
A British business woman, Dame Helen was Chief Executive of the Economist Group, successful in steering the magazine to 1 million circulation. In 2009 she was appointed the first woman president of the CBI, the voice for over 190,000 UK businesses. Among many non-executive roles, she was Chairman of UBM plc and the Port of London Authority, and co-chair of the independent Hampton Alexander review, aimed at increasing the representation of women in senior business roles.