Norine MacDonald KC

Norine MacDonald KC is the President and Founder of RAINCLOUD DEFENSE the premier business and knowledge ecosystem for the defense technology sector, connecting the minds that power the world. RAINCLOUD DEFENSE, incorporated in the US, the UK and the United Arab Emirates, has 6,000 members in over 100 countries.

RAINCLOUD DEFENSE is a vertical, curated online B2B platform, designed to facilitate networking and business development within complex industries. It is a gateway to key business audiences, innovators and supply chain partners.

Norine MacDonald is a prominent global leader in the defense and security landscape and a member of the Forbes Business Council. She was formerly President and Founder of The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), an international security think tank which did extensive security sector field research in Central Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

A former Distinguished Research Fellow at National Defense University in Washington DC, MacDonald was awarded the US Department of the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service and the Distinguished Public Service Medal for exceptional service to the US Army. She was also awarded the First Class Medal of Merit by the Italian Red Cross for humanitarian actions in Afghanistan where she lived and worked for many years. 

MacDonald has international experience in the law, policy, defense and intelligence sectors. She has testified before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on National Defence in Canada, the House of Commons' Defence Committee in the United Kingdom, and the US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control in the United States.

MacDonald studied with MIT Sloan School in Artificial Intelligence. She is a lawyer holding a BA and an LLB from the University of British Columbia in Canada and also completed the AMP at INSEAD in France. She was appointed Queen's Counsel (now King's Counsel) and remains a practising member of the Canadian bar.

Ms MacDonald resides in Abu Dhabi UAE and is also the owner of a small but beautiful pub in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland with her husband General John (Mick) Nicholson Jr., US Army (R).