Thursday, March 10, 2022
4-6 pm EST
Sponsored by the Bill Graham Centre
Join the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, and the Ambassador of Switzerland in Canada, Salome Meyer, in a conversation about how women have shaped the political discourse over the past 50 years in Canada and Switzerland. Based on their own experiences in top-level national functions and their careers in international relations, Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Salome Meyer will discuss how women have become innovation drivers and changemakers in public life. The former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament, Rosemary McCarney, will be the moderator of the conversation.
Speakers
Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Speaker
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Salome Meyer
Speaker
Ambassador of Switzerland to Canada and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Rosemary McCarney
Moderator
Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament
About the Speakers
The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell is the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. As the representative of Her Majesty The Queen, Ms. Dowdeswell carries out constitutional and ceremonial duties and facilitates healthy citizen and community engagement.
Ms. Dowdeswell has served the public interest at all orders of government and in the private sector. She contributed globally as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. In Canada her diverse portfolios ranged from education and culture to environment and the management of complex public enquiries. She was the founding President and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and later the President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies. She has served on the boards of Canadian and international corporate and non-profit organizations.
Since taking office in late 2014, Ms. Dowdeswell has challenged Ontarians to think deeply about their role not just as residents of a province, but as global citizens. Building resilience and sustainability through inclusive economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and social cohesion as well as safeguarding democracy have been the focus of her mandate.
Ms. Dowdeswell has a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics and teaching certificate from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Science in Behavioural Sciences from Utah State University. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario and the recipient of numerous distinctions and fellowships. She holds 12 honorary doctorates.
Ambassador Salome Meyer is a career diplomat with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She took up her position in Canada in February 2019. Prior to this, she was the diplomatic advisor to the Swiss president, in Berne (2015-18). During this time, she also served as president of the Swiss Association of Career Diplomats (CDS). Between 2011-2015, Salome served as Deputy Head of Mission and Head of Political Affairs at the Swiss Embassy in China and, between 2007-2011, as Minister Councillor and Head of Political and Legal Affairs at the Swiss Embassy in the United Kingdom. Further assignments include postings at the Swiss Embassy in South Korea, and, in Berne, to the Europe as well as the Africa Divisions of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Before joining the Swiss diplomatic service, Salome worked with the Swiss Peace Foundation (swisspeace) on early warning of armed conflict in Sub-Sahara Africa. She was also founder and co-owner of an IT company.
She holds an MA (Lic. Phil. Hist.) in Modern History with Minors in Media & Communication Studies and Constitutional Law from the University of Berne, Switzerland.
Rosemary McCarney (BA,LLB, MBA) joined the Graham Centre in 2020 following her return to Canada from Geneva where she served as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament. Rosemary's career has spanned executive roles in the high tech private sector, the not-for-profit sector and the public sector. Early in her career she practised law in Canada and in the US and co-established a successful consultancy which led to assignments in over 100 countries. Before accepting an appointment in the diplomatic service, Rosemary led Plan Canada International where she and her team led the successful global movement Because I am a Girl and established the International Day of the Girl at the United Nations. Rosemary is an award-winning author of children's books that bring to life the human rights and responsibilities of children for one another. In addition to her commitment to the Graham Centre, Rosemary is a Senior International Relations Fellow of NPSIA at Carleton University. At the University of Toronto, Rosemary is Senior Resident Fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy at Massey College and a Visiting Professor at Trinity College where she teaches Multilateral Diplomacy and Global Governance and in 2021 Global Health Security.
