This is a virtual event. While there is no fee, registration is required. Registrants will be emailed join information before the event. DACOR is currently taking member-only registrations.
Join us for our next TransAtlantic Dialogue with the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office Association, the Canadian Ambassadors Alumni Network, and the Canadian Foreign Service Alumni Forum, our counterparts in the United Kingdom and Canada.
The program will be moderated by Alexandra Bugailiskis, Canadian Foreign Service, retired. The panel will be comprised of Ambassador Ron Neumann, President of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Dame Menna Rawlings, former U.K. ambassador to France, and Ambassador Bob Rae, former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York.
Alexandra Bugailiskis, who acted as moderator for this event in 2023, has agreed to do it again. After a 39-year diplomatic career ending with the position of Canadian Ambassador to Italy, Alex received this year the Order of Canada for her contributions in shaping Canada's foreign policies and her mentoring of Canadian diplomats.
Ambassador Ron Neumann is currently President of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Formerly a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Ron served three times as ambassador: to Algeria, Bahrain, and Afghanistan. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he also served as Embassy Baghdad's liaison with the Multinational Command. An Army infantry officer in Viet Nam, he was awarded a Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal. Ron earned a B.A. in history and an M.A. in political science from the University of California at Riverdale and is a graduate of the National War College.
Now President of Queen’s College, Cambridge, Dame Menna Rawlings was appointed the UK ambassador to France in 2021, a post she occupied until July this year. Her appointment marked a historic milestone, forming a first-ever all-female cohort of heads of mission to G7 missions. Before Paris, Menna served as the FCDO’s Director-General for Economic and Global Issues from 2019-20. Prior to that she was head of mission to Australia from 2015-19. Earlier postings included Washington, Ghana, Israel, Kenya and Brussels.
Ambassador Bob Rae was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York from 2020 - 2025 and was elected to the Presidency of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for 2024-25. He served as Premier of Ontario from 1990-1995, interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011-2013 and was appointed as Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar (2017) and Canada’s Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues (2020). Bob Rae is a Privy Councillor, a Companion of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Order of Ontario.
