No matter where I go - London Beirut Jerusalem Washington Beijing or Bangalore - I'm always looking to rediscover that land of ten thousand lakes where politics actually worked to make people's lives better not pull them apart.
When I look back on my childhood I think of that short time in Beirut. I know that seeing the city collapse around me forced me to grasp something many people miss: the fragility of peace.
When I first left university I thought about going into the private sector. But I discovered when I went to interview that I could only have a career in the back office or doing HR. The attitude was 'My dear lady you cannot possibly think about going on the board.'