Lilly Nicholls (BA Hons [Political Science and Sociology], Carleton University, 1987; MA [International Political Economy], York University, 1989; PhD [International Development], London School of Economics, 1998) has 30 years of experience in international affairs. Her career has spanned 6 continents and includes leadership roles in government, international organizations and civil society. She has worked with the United Nations Development Programme in Central America and in New York, and she advised civil society networks on global poverty reduction and gender equality before joining the Canadian International Development Agency as a senior economist in 1999. She was a deputy director in the Andes Division (2001 to 2005), head of cooperation in Cuba (2005 to 2007), director of planning in the Afghanistan Task Force (2007 to 2010), and director of Mainland Southeast Asia (2010 to 2013). From 2015 to 2018, she contributed to the consultations on, and the formulation of, Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. She served as ambassador of Canada to Panama from 2018 to 2021.