Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is now the first African, first female and first American to become Director of the World Trade Organization.

Raised in Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala moved to America to study at Harvard and MIT. Afterwards, she started up a 25-year career at the World Bank, eventually rising to the number two position as a managing director. One of her greatest achievements is her founding of Global Alliance of Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI), which has promoted vaccine dispersal to poorer countries and those without the means otherwise.

As Okonjo-Iweala takes the helm, there will be much attention focused on how she can help resolve problems such as the world emerging out of a pandemic and the ongoing strained relations between the U.S. and China.

Max Osborne can be reached at mcosborne@stthomas.edu.