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Speaker

Rhoda Weeks-Brown

General Counsel and Director of the IMF Legal Department, IMF

Rhoda Weeks-Brown is the IMF’s General Counsel and Director of its Legal Department. She advises the IMF’s Executive Board, management, staff and 190 member countries on all legal aspects of the IMF’s operations, including its lending, regulatory and advisory functions, as well as on issues related to the administration of the IMF. Over her career at the IMF, she has led the Legal Department’s work on a wide range of significant policy and country matters and has also lectured and written articles and IMF Board papers on the law of the IMF.

Ms. Weeks-Brown also served as Deputy Director in the IMF’s Communications Department, where she led IMF communications and outreach in Africa, Asia and Europe; played a key role in the transformation of the IMF’s communications strategy; and led IMF strategic communications on key legal and policy topics.

Ms. Weeks-Brown has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Economics (summa cum laude) from Howard University. Before joining the IMF, she worked in the Washington DC office of a large corporate law firm. She is a member of the Bar in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and also a member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. She is also a member of the Committee on International Monetary Law of the International Law Association (MOCOMILA) and the Consultative Group for the Sovereign Debt Forum, and serves on the Boards of two non-profit organizations, TalentNomics, Inc., (which focuses on developing women leaders globally) and Results for America (which works to improve outcomes for communities through results-driven social programs).

Rhoda was named one of the top 27 Global General Counsels (2020) by the Financial Times, and one of the top 5 General Counsels for Promoting Ethical Standards. Under her tenure, the IMF Legal Department has been short-listed for two Financial Times Awards, for Innovation in Strategic and Risk Advice and Most Innovative In-House Legal Team in North America.

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