Laura Marks

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]

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]

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]

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]

Marks was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours 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]

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to inter-faith relations, Holocaust education and commemoration, and women's empowerment.[33]

Marks is married to Dan Patterson, a television producer.[34] They have three children and live in Primrose Hill, London.[35][36] She is a member of North Western Reform Synagogue.[37]

In September 2020 Marks will be publishing a book focussed on the application of qualitative research.[38]