Guillermo Rishchynski

Guillermo Rishchynski was the executive director for Canada at the Inter-American Development Bank from 2016 to 2019. He also served as Canada’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from August 2011 to December 2015.

Rishchynski joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1982 after a career in the private sector in marketing and project management in Africa and Latin America. He has served at the Canadian Consulates General in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Canadian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, the Canadian Consulate in Melbourne, Australia, the Canadian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In 1999, he was appointed Canadian ambassador to Colombia, serving for three years in Bogota before returning to Canada. He served as vice president for the Americas at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Canada. In 2005 to 2007, he served as Canadian ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil. At headquarters in Ottawa, he has held a number of senior positions, including deputy director, Mexico, Latin America and Caribbean and as director of the Team Canada Task Force. He was the inspector general of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Rischchynski completed his studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where he obtained an honors BA in political science in 1975. He has also undertaken graduate studies at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

 

Rishchynski joined the Dialogue as a Member in 2020.