In her role as the first-ever UK Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita has undertaken numerous country missions throughout the world, engaging in political dialogues with Heads of State, Foreign and Justice Ministers. In collaboration with legislators, international NGOs and civil society she has advocated for the rights of vulnerable groups and secured development financing for community initiatives. She has represented the United Kingdom, and led high profile negotiations, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to address the world’s most serious conflicts and humanitarian crises.
Rita has over 20 years of strategic policy and leadership experience in the heart of the UK Government. She has served in the Finance Ministry, advising on tax and environmental policy, and collaborated with prominent academics to develop a new mechanism to prioritise multi-billion-pound transport infrastructure investment in the UK. As Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for Culture, Rita worked with multi-stakeholder partners in the delivery of the London 2012 Olympic Games, including brokering a £9 billion financing package.
Rita has chaired senior Board appointments for UK non-governmental agencies and led regulatory reform of the BBC. She led the Government’s response to a highly charged phone-hacking crisis and established an independent self-regulatory body for the press industry. She oversaw the Ministry’s ambitious transformation programme and the development of UK’s flagship trade promotion initiative, the GREAT campaign. She served on the Digital Ministry’s Board and was speechwriter to Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Rita holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, and a diploma in Advanced High Performance Leadership from the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.