Dr. Renata Vargas Amaral, appointed under minister for International Affairs and Development of the Ministry of Planning and Budget of Brazil, is an experienced international trade lawyer, with an extensive and proven record of successful engagement at the World Trade Organization (WTO), bilateral and regional trade negotiations, domestic trade policy and market access. For more than 15 years, she has advised governments and private stakeholders on international trade matters. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law, where she co-directs the certificate program on the WTO and U.S. Trade Law and Policy.

Dr. Amaral is the founder of Women Inside Trade, a nonprofit that aims to contribute to the empowerment of women through its global network of professionals, specialized training, and leadership development. In 2019, she was the only Brazilian selected to participate in the WomenLead Institute’s Global Women in Management program. In 2021, she was appointed an academic member of Conex, the Brazilian Chamber of Foreign Trade and Investment’s Private Sector Advisory Board at the Ministry of Economy of Brazil. She has served as a member of the WTO Gender Research Hub and the Charitable Trust Committee of the Association of Women in International Trade in Washington, DC.

She is a senior independent consultant and a regular guest lecturer in international trade law and policy at universities in Brazil, and her analyses and commentaries are regularly featured in the media in Brazil and the United States.