We are delighted to confirm that our guest speaker for the Tacitus Lecture 2025 will be Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre.

Appointed in 2020 by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Coke-Hamilton was tasked to lead the agency to meet the economic and trade challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global supply chain disruptions. Coke-Hamilton was previously the Director for International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD, and the Executive Director for the Caribbean Export Development Agency. She’s worked extensively with the private sector, universities and academia across the African Caribbean and Pacific countries.

A seasoned speaker and thought leader, with subjects spanning sustainable economic development, gender equality, health and energy transition, and their subsequent connection with global trade. She has a Juris Doctor in Law from Georgetown University, and an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of the West Indies.

Her lecture will be titled:

“Be that one”: How to create winds of change in an uncertain world.”

Why does history matter? In this upcoming edition of the Tacitus Lecture, the International Trade Centre’s Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton sets out why unity in the face of daunting global challenges is critical, now more than ever, and what it will take to get there. Drawing from examples across history of people, institutions, and movements that pushed for economic, social, and environment progress, even at times of crisis and upheaval, she examines what the path towards a more just world can look like—and what it takes to “be that one” who seeks out that path, even against the odds.

Invitations to book are currently being sent to Members of the Company and invited guests by email.