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Meet the Ambassador of Iceland to the United States, Svanhildur Hólm Valsdóttir

Svanhildur Hólm Valsdóttir has been the Ambassador of Iceland to the United States since 2024.

Previsously, she was appointed as Secretary General of The Iceland Chamber of Commerce in 2020. Svanhildur graduated as a lawyer from University of Iceland and holds an MBA degree from Reykjavik University. She also has been a political advisor to the Minister of Finance and Economic affairs.

We met the Ambassador at the National Press Club on Oct. 8, 2025, when she was part of a panel to discuss the film, The Day Iceland Stood Still. The movie is making waves around the world, including a showing on where she joined the filmmakers were joined after the screening in a panel discussion that included the

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The Ambassador shares: “I’m so grateful to Hrafnhildur, Pamela, and Gríma for ensuring that the story of the women’s day off is told by the women themselves. Fifty years on, it’s vital to remember this remarkable moment of solidarity, when women across Iceland stood together and refused to accept lower pay or fewer opportunities. Their courage changed the course of our society, and we all continue to benefit from their fight for equality.”

The women’s day off is still impacting Iceland, she believes. “We mark this day regularly, and it always reminds us to ask: are we still moving toward full equality? What remains to be done? The first Gender Equality Act was passed a year after the women’s day off. Since then, Iceland has introduced gender quotas on corporate boards, an equal pay standard, 12-month parental leave shared equally between parents, universal affordable childcare, gender budgeting, and gender assessments for new laws. Equal parental leave and affordable childcare probably play the biggest overall role in ensuring that people raising families can truly share both the responsibility of earning a living and caring for their children.”

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