Here are biographies for the two speakers at It's The Stupid Economy! - Urban Forum's Annual Conference 2009.

Vince Cable MP

Vincent Cable read Natural Science and Economics at Cambridge University, where he was President of the Union, followed by a PhD at Glasgow University.

Vince worked as Treasury Finance Officer for the Kenya Government between 1966 and 1968. After lecturing at Glasgow University in economics he worked as a first Secretary in the Diplomatic Service in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1974-1976). He was then Deputy Director of the Overseas Development Institute, which included a period working for the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, John Smith MP, as a Special Advisor. From 1983 to 1990 Vince worked as Special Advisor on Economic Affairs for the Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Sonny Ramphal.

From 1990 Vince worked for Shell International and in 1995 became Shell's Chief Economist. He was made head of the economics programme at Chatham House and since becoming an MP, has been appointed a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and a visiting research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the LSE, for a 3 year period until 2004.

Vince Cable served as a Labour Councillor in Glasgow between 1971 and 1974, before joining the Social Democrat Party. In 1997 Vince Cable was first elected to Parliament to represent Twickenham.

He joined the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet in October 1999 as Spokesman on Trade and Industry after a spell as a junior Treasury spokesman. He has been the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor since November 2003 and is currently Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He founded and, until recently, chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group on Victims of Crime and is involved in several others groups formed to discuss issues such as Policing, Pulmonary Hypertension, Overseas Development, Warm Homes, Primary Care and Public Health and Insurance and Financial services.

He has published several books and reports on international economics, trade and environmental issues including:

Protectionism and Industrial Decline, 1983

The New Giants: China and India, (Chatham House) 1994

The World's New Fissures; The Politics of Identity (Demos) 1995

Globalisation and Global Governance, (Chatham House) 1999

Multiple Identities, (Demos) 2005

Public Services: Reform with a Purpose, (Centre for Reform) 2005

The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means, (Atlantic) 2009

Tackling the fiscal crisis: A recovery plan for the UK, (Reform) 2009

Karen Chouhan

PROFILE

Selected from 1600 applicants by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust [JRCT], in May 2005, to be one of seven ‘visionaries' with ideas to change the world, Karen has over three decades of leadership in social movements to eradicate poverty, and inspire race equality and economic justice.

She has recently founded the ROOTS Research Centre of the 1990 Trust to conduct research with communities for race equality and to act a repository for a the history of race equality movements in the UK

Born in Pakistan she grew up in London, and received a degree in Phi-losophy at the University of Leicester and a masters in Race and Community Studies from the University of Bradford.

Karen is a nationally recognised expert on social movements and equality analysis and annually presents over 50 lectures and presenta-tions in universities, the civil service, local government, trade unions, and community organisations.

She runs her own consultancy www.karenchouhan.com with the prem-ise: ‘Equality for Your Business is My Business'

Experience
Karen's 30 year experience and leadership in social movements include:

Karen is the founder and Director of Equanomics-UK, a new initiative to build a UK community led alliance that re-shapes race related policy through an economic lens and analysis. Karen is the Editor of the Equanomics Index, directs the organisation's research and public pol-icy, and its central to its organisational development.

A founder member of the 1990 Trust, where she was the Chief Ex-ecutive Officer 2000 -2005 and is currently a board member with a portfolio for research and policy. The 1990 Trust is a not for profit third sector charity working on Race Relations in the UK and specialises in legislation analysis and community engagement in influencing policy change on race equality. She has recently founded the ROOTS Re-search Centre to work in partnership with Universities and public authorities on race equality social action research for and with com-munities.

A founder member of the UK Racial Justice Alliance 2009 to link the UK's key Race Equality movements to create a community led con-struction of a new approach to race equality. The first piece of work will be to develop a Racial Justice Manifesto for the forthcoming Gen-eral Election.

She started work as a volunteer in 1978 at the then Leicester Commu-nity Relations Council and her first job was as a youth worker with Asian girls in Belgrave, Leicester.

Founding member of the Black members' organisation of the National And Local Government Officers [NALGO] know today as UNISON.

A senior Lecturer at Leicester's De Montfort University for 12 years 1988 - 2000, where she was the programme leader for the MA in Community Education.

Chaired Belgrave Baheno Women's Centre- now the Peepul Centre Leicester, a multi million pound social enterprise - for 25 years until January 2008.

AWARDS

Recipient of the 2006 recognition award from the Islamic Human Rights Foundation for battling Islamophobia.

Recipient of the 2006 Special Commendation in the finals of the Women of Achievement awards organised by Leicester Chamber of Commerce.

Recipient in 2007, along with her children, of Nintendo's ‘Britain's Brainiest Family' competition.

Recipient of the 2008 ‘Woman Warrior - Trailblazer Award' from the Reverend Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow Push Coalition New York Wall Street Economic Summit.