Ambassador Tony Wayne describes the ambitious agenda for the recent North American Leaders Summit.

Guest
Earl Anthony Wayne, or “Tony”, as he is known, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010 as a Career Ambassador. He has held a variety of diplomatic and policy positions In Washington and U.S. embassies. From 2011 through July 2015, Wayne served as the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. During his tenure, Mission Mexico helped establish the US-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue, the Mexico-US Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council, and new energy and environmental dialogues, while in trade, investment, and tourism grew. Through the Merida Initiative and bilateral coordination efforts, law enforcement, security, defense, border and consular cooperation improved; and military-to-military cooperation reached new levels. Wayne received Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle and the State Department’s Cobb Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development. From 2009 to 2011, Wayne served in Kabul, Afghanistan, as Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs and then as Deputy U.S. Ambassador. Wayne received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award, a Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, and the State Department’s Cordell Hull Award for Economic Achievement. From 2006 to 2009, Wayne served as the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, where he promoted U.S. commercial interests, improved the U.S. image in the face of strong anti-Americanism, and strengthened cooperation against terrorism and human and drug trafficking. He received the Paul Wellstone Anti-Slavery Ambassador of the Year Award. From 2000-2006, Wayne worked for three Secretaries of State as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs (EB). EB played a lead role in organizing major international donor and reconstruction conferences. Wayne and his team built international coalitions to block money flow to terrorists, and collaborated to place terrorists and their financiers under UN and U.S. sanctions. His team helped steer negotiations of debt relief and economic reform and supported U.S. companies in commercial disputes. The longest serving EB Assistant Secretary, he received a State Department Distinguished Honor Award and a Presidential Meritorious Service Award. From 1996-2000, Wayne served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Canada. He promoted relations with the European Union and OECD. He played a key role in building G8 consensus on the situation surrounding Kosovo and in organizing the 1999 Stability Pact Summit in Sarajevo, for which he received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award.