Angela Paolini Ellard

Angela Paolini Ellard is renowned for her expertise in trade and international economic policy, resolving trade barriers, negotiating outcomes, and building coalitions. Now retired, she served as deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from June 2021 to August 2025. During her tenure, she was responsible for dispute settlement and reform, trade remedies, market access and trade facilitation, and negotiations to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. As a diplomat and key member of the senior leadership team, she supervised the secretariat’s facilitation of the successful conclusion and entry into force of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. She also oversaw the WTO budget and financial operations, providing transparency and accountability as well as sound fiscal management. Previously, Ellard had a distinguished twenty-six-year career as majority and minority chief trade counsel in the U.S. Congress. She achieved significant bipartisan trade-policy outcomes with congressional leaders and five presidential administrations, including trade-agreement negotiation and implementation, development programs, and U.S. trade and customs laws. Before her tenure on the Hill, she practiced law at major U.S. law firms, focusing on trade litigation, policy, and legislation. She earned her JD, cum laude, from Tulane Law School; her MA in public policy from Tulane; and her BA, summa cum laude, from Tulane’s Newcomb College. She speaks and lectures worldwide and has received numerous awards for her leadership and contributions to trade law and policy.