With a career that spans medical research, leadership roles in higher education and then banking, Dame Susan chairs the Global Steering Group of GEFI (Global Ethical Finance Initiative) which, in partnership with the DIFC, delivered the Path to COP28 (the first and largest finance-focused campaign for COP28). She also chairs the boards of Scottish Water, Business Stream, and the North American Income Trust.

The first woman to head a UK or European clearing bank as Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, she was also a director of the Bank of England, Senior Independent Director of both J Sainsbury's plc and SSE plc and lay member of Court at Edinburgh University. She was founding chair of Scotland's Fiscal Commission, the country’s official, independent economic and fiscal forecaster and recently became a non-executive director on the board of the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility.

Focused on the creation of long-term value in business and enterprise, she works with the UK’s Place-based Climate Action Network and previously led a business-focused collaboration on carbon reduction and a sustainable Scottish economy. A leading voice on ethics in finance, she chaired the Financial Services Culture Board and supported the Chartered Banker Institute by leading her industry to support the creation of professional standards for bankers. Susan also helped develop numerous social finance and impact investing entities in the US and the UK.

Susan was recently appointed independent Chair of Forth Green Freeport which seeks to deliver a green growth strategy for Scotland’s industrial corridor.

Alongside several honorary degrees and professional fellowships, Dame Susan is a Freeman of the City of London.