Arancha González was the first woman to serve as Chief of Staff to a WTO Director-General, working in the cabinet of Pascal Lamy from 2005 to 2013. After she left the WTO, Arancha served as the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre. In January 2020, she became Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain.

Elin Østeb?Johansen was the first European woman to serve as the Chairperson for both the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body in 2011 and General Council in 2012. Very active in her role, Elin also chaired the WTO's Goods Council in 2009 and the Services Council in 2010. She was appointed as Norway's Ambassador to the WTO and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 2008. In 2014, she was appointed as the Ambassador of Norway to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Sunanta Kangvalkulkij is the first person from Asian woman to serve as Chair of the WTO General Council, in 2019, after a year of chairing the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body. Currently, she serves as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the WTO and WIPO.

Frances Lisson has been a driving force in the advancement of negotiations in several ares of WTO work, including e-commerce and domestic regulation in services, and in moving issues involving women and trade to the forefront of members' discussions in the WTO. Frances represented Australia in the Uruguay Round and other WTO negotiations. She served as Australia's Ambassador to the WTO from 2017 to 2020.

Susan Schwab served as the United States Trade Representative from 2006 to 2009. She led key negotiations, including Russia's bilateral accession agreement with the US and the resolution of a longstanding dispute with Canada over softwood lumber.

Valentine Rugwabiza is the first and only woman to serve as Deputy Director-General of the WTO. She previously served as the Ambassador of Rwanda to the United Nations in Geneva. In 2013, Valentine was appointed Minister for East African Community of Rwanda. Since 2016, she has served as Rwanda's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

Roslyn Jackson, an Australian national, was the first woman to become director in the WTO, breaking one important glass ceiling in the Organization. She took up the position of Director of the former Statistics Division in 1999. She retired in 2004.

Cecilia Malmström served as the European Commissioner for Trade from 2014 to 2019. During her term, Cecilia was a driving force in the expansion of EU's preferential trade agreements, leading to the conclusion of several bilateral agreements with major trading partners, including Canada, Japan, Singapore and Mexico. She led the EU delegation at the Nairobi and Buenos Aires Ministerial conferences.

Anabel González was the first woman to serve as Director of the WTO's Agriculture and Commodities Division from 2006 to 2009. She served as Costa Rica's Trade Minister from 2010 to 2014, when she joined the World Bank Group as Senior Director of Global Practice and Competitiveness until 2017. In this capacity, she led a team of 500 people to design and implement the World Bank's Group agenda in the areas of trade, investment climate, competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Amina Mohamed was the first African to Chair a WTO Ministerial Conference. She played a crucial role in reaching positive outcomes at the Nairobi Ministerial in 2015, such as the decision to eliminate export subsidies in agriculture. She was also the first woman to chair the Dispute Settlement Body, the Trade Policy Review Body and the General Council. Amina has served in several government positions in Kenya, including as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister. Since 2019, Amina has been the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage.

Yueijao Zhang is the first Chinese national to be appointed as a Member of the WTO's Appellate Body. She served two consecutive terms from 2008 to 2016. Prior to her appointment to the AB Yueijao served as the Chief legal counsel for China's WTO accession. She has held several positions in government and academia in China, including as Director-General of Law and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Xiaolin Chai has been the Director of the WTO's Trade in Services and Investment Division since 2017. She is the first Chinese national to serve as a Director in the WTO. Before joining the organization, Xiaolin was Minister in charge of Economy and Trade at the Chinese Mission to the European Union in Brussels.

Bridget Chilala has been the Director of the WTO Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) since 2011. She started her career in the Ministry of Trade in Zambia and rose quickly through the ranks, before pursuing an international career in trade. Bridget also served as Zambia's chief negotiator from 1994 to 1998.

Clarisse Morgan has been the Director of the Rules Division since 2018. She has been part of the WTO for its entire 25 years of existence. Clarisse joined the WTO in 1995 as an Economic Affairs Officer in the Rules Division.

Maika Oshikawa has been the Director of the WTO Accessions Division since 2018 and the first Japanese ever to serve as a WTO Director. Prior to joining the Accessions Division, she worked 22 years in several areas of the WTO, including the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation and the Office of the Director-General.

Nthisana Phillips has been the Director of the WTO's Administration and General Services Division since 2015. Before joining the WTO, she served as Director of Finance and Corporate Services for the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR). Previously, Nthisana also served as Assistant Secretary General in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States Secretariat in Brussels.

Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis is the Director of the Market Access Division at the WTO, taking that position in 2015. She has worked for more than thirty years at the GATT and WTO in different capacities, beginning her journey in the Development Division.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was formerly Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director, Operations. She has twice served as Nigeria's Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, becoming the first woman to hold both positions.