Give Her Her Flowers: Exploring the True Meaning of Legacy

In what has become the modern and hip way of paying homage — give her her flowers while she’s still here — this first blog on my new site is my way of doing just that.

I want to “give flowers” to some of the women — both in front and behind the scenes — who make the world of international trade work.

Even today, women’s contributions to trade remain under threat. Women continue to be disproportionately negatively impacted by trade policies and outcomes. As we wrote in the introduction to the book I co-edited with fellow WTO Chairs Amrita Bahri (Mexico) and Dorotea López (Chile), Trade Policy and Gender Equality (Cambridge University Press, 2023), much of the data confirm that women are overrepresented in sectors vulnerable to liberalization, underrepresented in decision-making, and often overlooked in the design of trade rules.

But you know me — I like to make things personal. And at the risk of perpetuating the fallacy that spotlighting those who’ve reached the top somehow ignores the struggles of those still climbing, let me be clear: there’s room in the agenda to celebrate the women who’ve paved the way, without forgetting the unfinished work at the bottom.

Three Women in Trade

This past summer, I had the privilege of bringing nearly 100 trade students from universities across the globe to Geneva as part of the Annual Joint University Study Tour (JUST) — an initiative I founded with fellow trade law supervisors three years ago to give students a chance to experience Geneva, the Mecca of trade, up close.

Among all the inspiring moments on that Tour, three women’s voices stood out for me — women who have each, in their own way, embodied the kind of leadership and quiet power that make trade not just function, but thrive.

One of those voices belonged to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, who joined us during our visit to the WTO to take questions from the JUST students. One student asked her what skills are most essential to lead an international organization. Her answer was deceptively simple, yet profound: “Believe in your organization. Believe in your vision for it. And listen — really listen — to your people. But don’t stop there: DO, implement, act.”

I thought, too, of Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the ITC — and the founder of the Shridath Ramphal Centre (SRC), which I now have the honor of directing — who also spoke to the JUST students this summer. Her message was about trust: trust that has eroded in international organizations and how much work it will take to restore it. But what resonated for me most was the quiet trust she placed in herself years ago to build the SRC from scratch, and then to entrust it to others, like me, to continue its mission. The students who heard her talk walked away with a sense that trust is not just institutional — it’s deeply personal.

But the woman whose legacy I want most to highlight in this blog — and whose example, I feel, encapsulates what it means to truly serve this field — is Professor Gabrielle Marceau. This summer, I also co-organized her farewell event on her retirement after 30 years of service at the WTO. Gabrielle was one of the first people to see something in me when I was just starting out. She invited me to intern with her — a gesture that opened the door to six formative years at the WTO, followed by another six years practicing law in Geneva at one of the preeminent law firms there.

As I said during her farewell event, Gabrielle’s legacy is not just the body of academic thought she has shaped, nor even her towering contributions to the jurisprudence of trade law — although those alone would secure her place in history. Her true legacy is the lives she has touched: the countless young people she has mentored, inspired, and welcomed into this sometimes cold and complex world of international trade. It’s the way she made me — and so many others — feel like true international citizens.

Thanks to that act of faith by Gabrielle, I was introduced to the whole universe of trade and can now count among my dearest and most enduring friends, brilliant women from every corner of the globe — Mexico, the UK, China, Canada, the US, South Africa — friendships that have withstood the tests of time, politics, disagreements, and distance.

True Legacy Lies in the Lives We Touch

Of course, legacy isn’t just built by those in the limelight. It’s written quietly, too — by women like Janet, who coached one of the most impressive trade law moot court teams I’ve ever seen, working late into the night, every night, for nine straight months to see them succeed. Or by the sistas in trade, working in trade-related organizations all over the city, whom I saw one summer evening in Geneva, laughing (read: cackling!!!) and scheming about how to keep “dropping it” (and if you were there, you know what I mean!).

And now, watching the next generation — the students on the JUST who stood up, asked tough questions, and brought their full selves into the room — reminded me why I keep going back to Geneva, and why I remain committed to opening doors for others.

For me, it’s not just the institutions and the negotiations that make Geneva and the trade world special — it’s also the countless women who make trade work. Even if that agenda feels beleaguered at times, even as we continue to struggle to gain recognition for the unique perspectives women bring to trade — I will not hesitate to give kudos where they’re due.

And so: to the women in the limelight and those working quietly behind the scenes; to those at the top, or those holding the middle together, or those looking up; to those in classrooms, boardrooms, and courtrooms —

Take these flowers.
Take a bow.
And let’s keep working.

JYR Consult.