Agenda:
Rita Rudaitis-Renaud
Ambassador of Canada to Guatemala and High Commissioner of Canada to Belize
Rita Rudaitis-Renaud (Master’s of Public Administration [MPA], Queen’s University, 1986, BA Honours (Political Science), University of Toronto, 1984). She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in January 2001 as Associate Director, Planning Program Analysis and Planning Division, and has held positions as Director, Property Program, Executive Director, Employee Services and recently Director, Client Relations Division in the International Platform Branch.
Positions overseas included Moscow from 2007-2010 where she served as Counsellor (Management) and Consul General and was later posted to Mexico City where she served as the Minister Counsellor (Management) and Consul General from 2012-2015.
Prior to joining the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Rudaitis-Renaud was Director of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Division at the Treasury Board Secretariat. Previously, she has also worked in the Department of National Revenue Customs and Excise both at headquarters and in the region in Shawinigan, Quebec. She also worked in the Ontario Government in the Ministry of Housing and at the Canadian Institute of International Affairs.
She is married to Jean-Louis Renaud.
Damien Reeves
Economist at the Caribbean Development Bank
Damien Reeves is an Economist at the Caribbean Development Bank. His key responsibilities include monitoring and implementing country strategies, providing advice to support economic and fiscal reform, and support for the Bank’s project cycle process through project and technical assistance identification and related appraisal activities. He also coordinates regional economic analysis, and supports the Economics Department’s research programme, with a focus on transport.
Damien has previously applied economics in a number of areas. Immediately prior to joining CDB, he worked at the UK Airports Commission, the body responsible for advising on runway expansion in the South East of England. He previously held posts in the UK Departments of Transport and Environment, and was Economic Adviser for the Overseas Territories Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He also worked in a number of positions at HM Revenue and Customs, supporting policy development, budget preparation, tax casework and programme management. He holds a B.A. in Economics and German from the University of the Wales, Bangor, and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Leeds.