Shorna-Kay Richards is a Jamaican career diplomat currently serving as the Jamaican Ambassador to Japan. She previously served as the Director of the Bilateral Relations in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and served as Vice-Chair of the UN Disarmament Commission.

Education

Richards had her secondary education at Bishop Gibson and Hampton High Schools for girls before proceeding to the

University of West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the Tertiary education, higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking Country, cou ...

where she received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree and a master’s degree in International Policy and Practice from the Elliot School of International Affairs,

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, USA.

Career

She began her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in September 1994 and rose through the ranks to Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations in New York and served as Jamaican representative to the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

, OAS in Washington, DC and later transferred to Jamaican High Commission in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After ending her mission in South Africa, she returned home and was appointed Director of the Bilateral Relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served in this position until her appointment in 2020 as Ambassador to Japan and accredited to other Asian countries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Shorna-Kay University of the West Indies alumni George Washington University alumni Jamaican women ambassadors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Jamaican officials of the United Nations Ambassadors of Jamaica to Japan High commissioners of Jamaica to Australia Ambassadors of Jamaica to Indonesia Ambassadors of Jamaica to South Korea High commissioners of Jamaica to Malaysia High commissioners of Jamaica to New Zealand Ambassadors of Jamaica to the Philippines