Kathleen Ferrier was born in Suriname. She studied Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. She lived and worked in Chile and Brazil (1984-1991) and in Hong Kong (2013-2018). From 2002 to 2012, she was a member of Parliament for the Christian-democratic party CDA. She has chaired the Dutch Unesco Commission since 2019. She is an expert on international relations, human rights, diversity and inclusiveness. She advised the City of Amsterdam on the creation of a Slavery museum and is involved in several initiatives on human rights and democracy.