Ivonne A-Baki presented her letters of credence as ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador to the President of the United States Donald J. Trump on February 6, 2020. She is an artist, painter, diplomat, peace negotiator, humanist, and politician. A multifaceted woman who is driven by her ideals. She studied arts at the Sorbonne University and obtained Masters’ Degrees in public administration and in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1993). She is fluent in English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic. Ambassador A-Baki was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador of Arab Lebanese parents. She got involved from a very young age in the world of arts through dance and classical music that have inspired her the magic and power of art to unite ideals, cultures, people and nations. During a visit with her parents to Beirut, Lebanon, she met her husband Mr. Sami Abd-ElBaki, and raised three children: Mohammad, Faisal, and Tatiana. In 1990 she moved to the United States of America and became an artist in residence at Harvard University. At that time she created the Harvard Arts for Peace Foundation by organizing many joint exhibitions and art shows between countries in war as a way of achieving her goals in building bridges and finding solutions. In parallel, she established the Beyond Boundaries Foundation to improve the health of the poor people of the Republic of Ecuador. This foundation was responsible for the eradication of river blindness (onchocerciasis).

Currently, the Foundation is focusing its efforts to educate people about the diagnosis and early treatment of tuberculosis and diabetes. Ambassador A-Baki has had a very distinguished career as diplomat, politician and academic. In 1981, she was appointed as Honorary Consul of Ecuador in Beirut. Between 1992 and 1998, she was appointed as Honorary Consul of Ecuador in Boston. Between 1994 and 1997, Ambassador A-Baki was member of the board of directors of the “Conflict Management Group”, led by Prof. Roger Fisher, in Harvard University. She participated in conflict resolution negotiations around the world during this period. She had an active participation on the achievement of the Peace Agreements between Ecuador and Peru, signed in October 26th, 1998. She was advisor to the President of the Republic of Ecuador during this process. In 1998, she was appointed as Ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador to the United States of America, where she was posted until 2002. During her tenure, Ambassador A-Baki successfully procured the extension of the Andean Trade Preferences (ATP), which were granted by the United States for fighting the drug trafficking in the western hemisphere. In 2001, after the tragic spill from the oil tanker Jessica in the Galapagos Islands, Mrs. A-Baki urgently created the Galapagos Conservancy Foundation which has achieved important goals to create consciousness for protecting the environment in many countries and protecting fragile species. She is a founding member and president of the Foundation. In 2002, Mrs. A-Baki was a candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Ecuador. She represented a social justice platform aiming to shrink the great gap between the affluent rich and the desperately poor people, by a vision of education and sustainable development. Her message goals were to foster the cultural and economic integration of Latin America, and to eradicate corruption. Between 2003 and 2005, Mrs. A-Baki became the first woman to be posted as Ecuador’s minister of foreign trade, industry, regional integration, fisheries, and competitiveness. On this position she began the negotiation of trade agreements with several significant trade partners including the United States of America and the European Union. As such, she was member of the board of directors of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), President of the National Foreign Trade and Investment Council of Ecuador (COMEXI) as well as member of the board of directors of Petroecuador (the Ecuadorian National Oil Company). In 2004, Ambassador A-Baki was awarded the Global Citizen Prize by the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, shared with Mr. Muhammad Yunus. Between 2006 and 2009, she represented Ecuador at the Andean Parliament. In 2007 she was elected unanimously President of this organization for a two years term. In 2007 she was elected president of the Committee of Economic Affairs of the Andean Parliament. Between 2007 and 2009, she was elected president of the Commission for Economic Affairs of the European Latin – American Parliament (EUROLAT). Between 2010 and 2013, she was designated as chief negotiator for the Yasuni-ITT initiative, aimed to preserve the most biodiverse place on the planet, the Yasuni National Park (located in Ecuador). From 2010 to date, she has been a goodwill ambassador for the UNESCO Dialogue of Civilizations, in recognition of her contribution to the organization’s work in the field of dialogue among cultures. From September 2017 to February 2020, she was designated ambassador of Ecuador to Qatar and ambassador non-resident of Ecuador to Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, and Syria.