Join us on Tuesday 27 October at our upcoming Wellington Alumni Chapter event with guest speaker Rosemary Banks.

From Canterbury University to the global stage: A life in diplomacy and a world in transition

Drawing on her distinguished career in diplomacy, including her most recent posting in Washington, D.C., Rosemary Banks will reflect on the people, experiences and pivotal moments that shaped her journey from the University of Canterbury to representing New Zealand on the international stage. Through personal stories and insights from a career spanning decades of change in global affairs, she will explore the evolution of international relations, the people and relationships that influenced her career, and New Zealand’s place in an increasingly complex world.

Our speaker: Rosemary Banks

Rosemary Banks is currently Director of the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships Pacific Diplomatic Training Programme and is a former New Zealand Ambassador to the United States (2018–2022 and 2024–2025).

Her 40-plus-year career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade included eight overseas assignments. She served as Ambassador to France and Portugal and Permanent Representative to the OECD (2010–2014), Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2005–2009), and Deputy Chief of Mission in Canberra and Honiara. Prior to her 2018 appointment to the United States, Rosemary was a Crown negotiator for the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process.

A University of Canterbury alumna, Rosemary holds a Master of Arts in Russian with First Class Honours and an Honorary Doctorate from UC, as well as a Master of Science from the London School of Economics.

Guests are welcome; please include them in your registration.

Contact the host of Wellington Chapter Event with Rosemary Banks