On July 23rd, high-ranking diplomats, foreign policy experts and other notable speakers facilitated informative sessions on careers in Diplomacy, Trade, Development, Entrepreneurship, Economic Empowerment and NGOs, Peace, Security and Climate Change.
In a fireside chat style discussion, Her Excellency Sharon J Miller, High Commissioner of Jamaica to Ottawa opened our morning session. Joined by Black Diplomats Academy 2021 fellow Nahjae Nunes of Jamaica, who expertly moderated the session; Her Excellency Miller discussed, “The behind the scenes of multilateral diplomacy.” Breakout rooms focusing on careers in Trade and Development Foreign Policy rounded out the morning portion of the career fair.
His Excellency Ambassador Robert Rae, Canada's Permanent Representative to the United Nations’ office delivered a panel style session on “Building a career in diplomacy.” 2021 Black Diplomats Academy fellow Keshana King expertly moderated the panel with Anthony Hinton (Head of the political section at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York), Vanessa Wyeth(Senior Policy Adviser at Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN), Abdel Dicko(Junior Political Advisor at Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York City), and Christina George(Senior Political Affairs Officer in the UN Secretariat Security Council Affairs Division (SCAD) . Following this panel discussion, breakout rooms opened for participants interested in careers in Non-Governmental Organizations, Peace and Security and Climate.
This career fair was coordinated to support Black youth in successfully navigating multilateral spaces, engaging in complex dialogues and negotiations with international representatives in the world of diplomacy, and participating in recruitment interactions domestically and globally.
Key Highlights
There were discussions around diversification of trade and the importance of maintaining strong international ties when it comes to responding to global and national interests. The speakers provided insights on preserving diversity and inclusion in diplomatic missions. Several remarks were made about the need to recognize marginalized groups, including women and youth as active participants in international relations, diplomatic and public sector settings. The discourse around encouraging companies to address access point opportunities for BIPOC communities was a key highlight of the career fair.
Speakers at the career fair mentioned the benefits of cultivating good diplomatic and bilateral relations in today’s world. Attendees were told to focus on strengthening their global network and relationships with organizations by developing their intercultural competence skills, building their foreign language skills, and working in accordance with the country they are connecting with. For negotiation purposes, the attendees were advised to embrace their learning and educational journey, as well as enrich their knowledge and understanding of different cultures to facilitate successful and long-term international relations.
The speakers provided the attendees with relevant examples and tactics on how to succeed in diplomatic settings while interacting with a broad range of people, including the trade industry, private sector, and civil society. With special focus on young professionals seeking to facilitate strategic agreements and participate in decision making processes, the speakers highlighted the need to develop one’s conflict management skills to support peace keeping efforts.
This engaging career fair provided young professionals with meaningful insights on how to achieve their career prospects in diplomacy, and provided them with effective strategies to foster inclusive teams in the respective organizations they affiliate with.
We appreciate the exceptional speakers for delivering a rewarding experience which aligns with the needs of our young professionals and the mandate of our work. We want to extend our gratitude to contributing organizations, Meridian International Centre, Infrastructure Canada and observers from Service Canada, Ontario region who share the vision to address barriers to participation and inclusion for Black professionals.
At DYLOTT, we continue to host events and programs to provide young professionals with specialized training and essential learning opportunities to prepare them for the job market.
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