OUR WOMAN IN LA LA LAND
FROM IRAQ TO HOLLYWOOD, DIPLOMAT REVEALS SECRETS OF HER SUCCESS IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE
Envoy The red carpet is lovely but it’s not where I do my job In her last post, she wore a bulletproof vest and needed round-the-clock armed guards.
It’s quite a contrast going from Iraq and bulletproof vests to Los Angeles and ball gowns
In her current role, she often wears a satin ballgown and rubs shoulders with many of Hollywood’s leading stars.
But Foreign and Commonwealth Office envoy Bernie Greene says it is the variety of her job that she loves so much.
In the 28 years she has worked in the diplomatic service, Bernie, 50, has been “our woman in…” everywhere from Mexico and Africa to the Middle East.
She has come to the aid of stranded Brits caught up in everything from military coups to hurricanes.
She has helped British brides escape from forced marriages and has provided much-needed travel documents for frantic grooms who lost their passports on drunken stag weekends in Las Vegas.
And while her last two postings saw her spend two years serving as deputy consul-general in Erbil, Iraq, before taking a similar post in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, she has loved all her roles.
Bernie, who was born and grew up in Clydebank, said: “I always knew I wanted to do a job that was different and see the world.
“I joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1988, getting a job on the bottom rung of the ladder. But I worked hard and climbed my way up.
“My job could take me anywhere from Africa and the Middle East to back in the UK but I like the adventure of the variety.”
Bernie says the key roles of her job have always been to support Brits abroad and promote the interests of the UK.
While she spent the first years of her career working in London, her first foreign posting was in Geneva.
Her next overseas role was in Lesotho, a landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa.
She went on to work in Trinidad and Tobago, before becoming HM consul in Monterrey, Mexico.
Bernie said: “I’ve dotted about all over the world in lots of different roles.
“In Geneva, I worked in a secretarial role in the disarmament sector, where we were dealing with issues ranging from chemical weapons to biological warfare.
“When I moved to Lesotho, not many of my family and friends had heard of the country but it has a higher profile now as Prince Harry has a charity out there helping disadvantaged children.
“I was there for three years and to say it was an interesting time politically is putting it mildly. There were numerous coups – a military coup, a police coup and even a palace coup. It could be quite tricky.”
By the time she was in Trinidad and Tobago, Bernie was working as a desk officer in a predominantly commercial role, promoting UK business within the oil and gas industry.
She got a promotion and was then stationed in Mexico.
Bernie said: “A huge part of my job is working with UK companies looking at commercial opportunities abroad and working with foreign companies looking to invest in the UK.
“But when I was in Mexico, Hurricane Wilma hit and I had to help evacuate all the Brits.
“My driver and I had headed to Merida, arriving on the Sunday, and the following morning the president ordered that the whole area be evacuated. There were a lot of problems and we spent four days at the airport, safeguarding the Brits and making sure they had food and water. But we got them all out.”
In 2011, Bernie volunteered to work in Iraq. She admits the posting was one of the most dangerous she has held but it was also deeply rewarding.
She said: “We don’t use the words ‘ dangerous place’ – we say ‘ fragile environment’.
“When I was there, the FCO advice was that it was safe for UK companies to come into Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, so a lot of my work centred on
supporting the companies that were coming out to do everything from health care reform to security-related work.
“But we also dealt with tricky consular issues including perceived forced marriage, abduction and even female genital mutilation.”
Armed security staff guarded Bernie and her colleagues day and night.
She said: “I like to run and even when I took part in a marathon around the city I had to have my armed protection run with me.
“We were based in a hotel out of the city centre, up on a hill, which meant our security could see anyone coming. We had offices on one floor and our bedrooms on another.
“We shared the hotel with the EU and Koreans so there were three organisations living and working there. I never felt in any danger.”
Bernie says “soft diplomacy” in countries such as Iraq can be just as powerful as hammering out deals over a conference table.
In Erbil, she set up a Caledonian Society and organised a Burns Night ceilidh attended by more than 300 Kurds and members of the international community.
She said: “The Kurds like to dance, we like to dance and it’s good to use shared interests to get to know people better, which helps you work together better.”
She also helped to set up the British Kurdish Film Festival.
She said: “During the war, all the cinemas in Iraq were destroyed so you had a whole generation of young people who had never been to a cinema to watch a film.
“We got a picture house in Cambridge to bring out all the technical equipment needed and worked with a director in the UK on choosing 15 movies to show.
“All the films were specifically picked for their messaging and entertainment value with a hope to inspire a new generation of f i lm- makers from Kurdistan Iraq. These included Made In Dagenham, which is about women working, Billy Elliot, which says it’s OK for men to want to study ballet rather than go into an industrial job, and The Queen, about a senior woman in power.”
After two years in Iraq, Bernie moved to America. As deputy consul-general for the Greater Los Angeles area, she spends a lot of time attending and hosting red carpet events.
She said: “It is quite a contrast going from Iraq and bulletproof vests to LA and ball gowns. Every event out here has a red carpet. We spend a fair amount of time working with those involved in the film industry.
“We want to promote the amazing talent the UK has – not just our actors but in all other parts of the industry, from special effects to studios and amazing locations.
“At Oscar time, we hold our own event where we invite all the Brits nominated and we ask them to help us promote the UK brand.
“Last year, Eddie Redmayne hosted the event. We’ve also had Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart host for us during my time in LA, as well as having support from everyone from James Corden to Gordon Ramsay.”
Bernie says some of her proudest moments in LA include taking part in LGBT Pride, including representing the UK in the first Utah Pride march.
She said: “The UK is one of just four countries that promotes LGBT equality as part of our foreign policy.
“Utah has a 60 per cent Mormon population so us being there could have been seen as controversial but I’m proud we were.”
As Bernie looks forward to finding out where her next posting will be, she says she would recommend her job to anyone.
She added: “I feel incredibly lucky to have the job I do. I’m so proud to be in a job where you really can make a difference and help promote our amazing country.”