Coffee Chat: A Conversation with Dessima Williams, Grenadian Diplomat and Former UN Ambassador

Join Vice Dean Scott Taylor on Wednesday, April 13th at 11 am ET in McGhee Library for a conversation with Dessima Williams, Grenadian diplomat and former ambassador to the UN.

Registration is Required for this in-person event

About Guest Speaker: Dr. Dessima Williams is a Grenadian diplomat, scholar, and former Ambassador to the United Nations. scholar. Williams served as Grenada’s Ambassador from 2009-2013, and as the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS) leading a 40-island global climate-change effort through climate change negotiations. She has been an advocate for children and women’s rights and has been a long-time supporter of sustainable development. In 2016, Williams was appointed Special Adviser for Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations. She has served as Strategic Adviser to Oxfam International on climate change.
Prior to her appointment as UN Ambassador,  she was a professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Brandeis University.  Williams has taught at secondary, college and university levels and is an advocate for the rights of women and children, for farmers and for rural development. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Grenada Education and Development Programme (GRENED) which works with rural, young school-aged girls and boys and supports them as emerging leaders.  Williams received a Ph.D. in international relations and a master’s degree in international development from American University and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in international relations.

Light Refreshments will be provided.

Sponsored by the SFS Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (ISD).