Meet Our New Director of Advisory Groups and Public Participation
We are pleased to announce that long-time CEC Secretariat professional Marcela Orozco will be taking on the role of Director of Advisory Groups and Public Participation.
Effective public participation is a cornerstone of the CEC’s mission. This new position reflects the institutional importance the CEC places on ensuring that the voices of the public, communities and our partners are meaningfully integrated into our programs and initiatives. It also acknowledges the importance of community engagement as well as the vital role of Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives in advancing environmental cooperation across North America and recognizes the critical part that our advisory groups and key partners play in our programs, initiatives, and in all CEC activities.
With over 30 years of experience in international and governmental affairs, Marcela has devoted much of her professional career to trilateral environmental cooperation, multi-sector relations, and the promotion of foreign investment and trade. Marcela has been with the CEC for 20 years and her extensive expertise includes coordinating the work of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), one of the three constituent bodies of the CEC, and the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Expert Group (TEKEG). In collaboration with the Indigenous Affairs Officer and the TEKEG, Marcela has helped advance engagement with Indigenous representatives, fostering opportunities to apply Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous perspectives into the CEC’s initiatives and activities.
Marcela also oversees the CEC’s expanding work with overburdened communities as well as the rollout of the CEC’s Private Sector Engagement Strategy, working with key community partners and private sector actors across North America.
Prior to her role at the CEC, Marcela served as Deputy Trade Commissioner of Mexico for close to a decade, at the Mexican Trade Commission in Montreal, where she promoted foreign investment projects, Mexican exports to Canada, and strategic alliances between the two countries.
As Director of Advisory Groups and Public Participation, Marcela will continue to provide high-level guidance to the CEC’s Executive Director and Secretariat, lead efforts to strengthen public and private sector engagement, advance collaboration through the CEC’s programs, international forums, public consultations, and key partnerships, and help ensure that the CEC remains an effective platform for trilateral cooperation and environmental leadership.
Please join us in congratulating Marcela Orozco on her new role!
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We are pleased to announce that long-time CEC Secretariat professional Marcela Orozco will be taking on the role of Director of Advisory Groups and Public Participation.
About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.