The Right Honourable the Baroness Usha Prashar CBE, PC is an independent member of the House of Lords, where she has served on several Select Committees. She is a member of the European Union Select Committee and chairs the European Union Select Committee on Home Affairs. Since 2013 she has been the Deputy Chairman, British Council. In January 2017 she was appointed non-executive director of Nationwide Building Society. Her significant previous roles have included: Member, the Iraq Inquiry; Inaugural Chairman, the Judicial Appointments Commission; First Civil Service Commissioner; Chairman, the Parole Board; Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations; Chief Executive, Runnymede Trust; Chairman, Royal Commonwealth Society; Chairman, the National Literacy Trust; Chancellor, De Montfort University; member of the Arts Council and President, United Kingdom Council for International Students. She has also served as non- executive director of Channel 4 and ITV. In the 1990s and early 2000 she organised and chaired a number of sessions on NGOs and Democracy, served on the Board of Salzburg Global Seminar for four years and is currently a Senior Salzburg Global Fellow.