As of January 8th, BritChaM welcomes Vanessa Zárate Castillo, new General Manager. Her inspiring leadership will propel the BritChaM team towards new horizons.
Background
Vanessa is a Consultant at Public Strategy Consultants, where she primarily worked with global companies, focusing on energy issues, public strategy, foreign trade, and international affairs. Currently, she remains an independent consultant in these areas, as well as in sustainability and ESG.
With over 20 years of experience in the public sector, until January 2019, she served as Sectoral Executive Director for the Energy, Mining, Telecommunications, and Infrastructure industries at ProMéxico.
Before holding that position, she worked for over five years as an Advisor for International Affairs at the General Directorate of Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). While at PEMEX, she represented the company and was part of the negotiation team for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Mexico-European Union Free Trade Agreement, and the USMCA. Additionally, she was a representative on the Board of Directors of the Mexican Association of Hydrocarbon Companies (AMEXHI) and acted as a liaison between the company and state, international, and independent oil companies, as well as with foreign governments, international agencies, and institutions related to oil and gas.
In the legislative branch, she worked in the Senate of the Mexican Republic as Technical Secretary of the Commission for North America and in the Chamber of Deputies as an Advisor on issues related to that region.
In the Federal Executive, she also served as an Advisor to two Undersecretaries for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in the Office of the Presidency for Public Policies.
She was a Councilor and Vice President of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI) and currently co-chairs the Unit for the Study of International Economics, Finance, and Investments. She is also a founder and member of Voz Experta and a member of the Australia-New Zealand & Mexico Business Council (ANZMEX).
Vanessa holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; she is a graduate in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). She has Diplomas from ITAM in European Integration Studies and Legal Aspects of Foreign Trade. Recently, she completed the specialization in Social Business at Harvard Business School, as well as the Acceleration Program for Chief Sustainability Officers organized by BIVA, IDB, IFC, and the European Union.