Feb. 3 - First Monday Forum with NZ Ambassador Rosemary Banks: The Changing Face of New Zealand Public Diplomacy

Ambassador Banks will discuss the place of public diplomacy projecting national identity and as a tool of diplomatic tradecraft. She will explore the different dimensions of New Zealand’s public diplomacy-– from the All Blacks rugby team to pavlova meringue-based dessert. 

The First Monday Forum is co-sponsored by PDCA and its partners the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and the GWU Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication.

The event will take place at GWU's Lindner Family Commons (1957 E Street, NW, Room 602, Washington, D.C. 20052) and will also be available via Zoom. For those who arrive before 11:40 a.m., a light lunch will be provided.

To register to attend in-person, click here.

To register to watch the Forum via Zoom, click here.

(Photo: Ambassador Banks is wearing a Kākahu (feathered cloak). The New Zealand Embassy is the kaitiaki (guardian) of this taonga (treasure) and it is worn on special occasions when Embassy staff are representing Aotearoa.)
 
Ambassador Banks may be one of the few Ambassadors who has presented her Letter of Credence twice:
She first served as Ambassador under President Trump. After two years, she returned to New Zealand.
She subsequently was appointed as Ambassador a second time.

Rosemary Banks (born 1951) is a New Zealand diplomat who serves as the Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States since 2024 and between 2018 and 2022] She is the first woman to hold the position.

Education

Banks graduated with an MA in Russian from the University of Canterbury, and received an MSc from the London School of Economics. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by the University of Canterbury in April 2015.

Career

 

Banks served as New Zealand deputy high commissioner to the Solomon Islands between 1985 and 1987, and to Australia from 1992 until 1995.

As Deputy Secretary in New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Banks spearheaded the development of a new emergency response system, following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the 2002 Bali bombings, and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

She was New Zealand's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from June 2005 to June 2009 and Ambassador to France and Permanent Representative to the OECD from 2010 to 2014. In 2018, Banks succeeded Tim Groser as New Zealand ambassador to the United States.

Banks has also served as a Crown negotiator for the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process.