Dame Menna Rawlings DCMG | Speakers for Schools

Dame Menna Rawlings DCMG

Her Majesty’s Ambassador to France & Former Director-General, Economic & Global Issues, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Dame Menna Rawlings was appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the French Republic in August 2021.

Previously Menna was the Director-General Economic and Global Issues at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) from March 2019 until August 2020. In this role, she had responsibility for Global Britain, Asia Pacific, Americas, Africa, Overseas Territories, Commonwealth and Economic Diplomacy. She was also Board-level Diversity and Inclusion champion for the FCO.

Menna joined the FCO in 1989 and has served in a wide range of Diplomatic Service roles. She was most recently British High Commissioner to Australia from April 2015 to February 2019. Overseas, she has served in Washington DC, Accra, Tel Aviv, Nairobi and Brussels. In London she has served on the FCO Management Board as HR Director, as Private Secretary to the Permanent Under Secretary, in Press Office and in Africa and EU Directorates.

Menna holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Open University. She was awarded the CMG in 2014