GEI Honors Madam Ambassador Mariangela Zappia with the Transatlantic Leadership Award
New York, May 21- Today we closed our 50th anniversary celebrations with a farewell tribute to Madam Ambassador Mariangela Zappia. She will soon leave Washington at the end of her extraordinarily successful tenure as Ambassador of Italy to the United States and at the conclusion of her brilliant diplomatic career. In her final posts in America, Madam Zappia has served under five Italian Prime Ministers and four American Presidents.
Madam Ambassador Zappia has also been honorary chair of GEI for many years and has time and again supported the mission of our non-profit. T
New York has always been a second home for Ambassador Zappia. Not only did she serve as Italy’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations before receiving the Washington assignment, but at the beginning of her diplomatic journey she was posted in New York as deputy Consul General in one of her first international assignments.
Throughout her career, she has championed multilateral diplomacy, from leading Italy’s engagement in development cooperation across the Mediterranean to coordinating major initiatives on women, peace, and security during the Italian G8 presidency.
We retraced the milestones of her remarkable career and engage in a timely conversation about Italian-US bilateral relations and the changing nature of the Transatlantic relation. She gave us her thoughts on how Washington has evolved and discussed the future of multilateral diplomacy in today’s changing world.
The lunch began with the conferral of the TRANSATLANTIC LEADERSHIP AWARD to Ambassador Zappia by the GEI board. Below is the award motivation:
For her visionary leadership, and her tireless commitment to promoting Italy’s values and strengthening transatlantic ties and for the historic role she played as the first woman to serve as Italy’s Ambassador to Washington and in several other key posts in her diplomatic career.
Through diplomacy and her inimitable personal touch, Madam Ambassador Zappia deepened the bond between Italy and the United States,
strengthening our common defense, setting new horizons for business relationships,
promoting our culture, and engaging both Italian institutions and communities with exceptional dedication.
Her legacy reflects a lifelong devotion to diplomacy and to elevating Italy’s voice on the global stage.