Where are they now? From youth delegate to employee at the World Trade Organization
Where are they now? is a series that covers YDC alumni journeys - their career paths, their time as a YDC delegate, and how these experiences shaped their professional and personal lives.
The views in this article are expressed in Angela's personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of her organizational affiliations.
Born and raised in Shanghai, growing up in Toronto, and currently living in Geneva, Angela Minyi Hou has truly lived her life across borders. Angela first joined Young Diplomats of Canada (YDC) in 2021 when she became Head Delegate for the Canadian youth delegation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum, held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.
Fast forward four years, Angela’s experience has now come full circle as she is working full-time as a Legal and Economics Affairs Officer in the Accessions Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO). We sat down with Angela to talk about her time as a YDC delegate and her career path that has now led her back to the WTO.
From studying trade to working in trade
Coming from a very international upbringing, Angela always knew that she wanted to work in global affairs, but her passion for international trade started taking the spotlight during her master’s in Geneva. While studying at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Angela competed in the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition, a simulation of WTO dispute settlement and international moot court competition on WTO law. Participating in this competition set the foundation for her subsequent trade-focused internships at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and in the Accessions Division at the World Trade Organization - where she would end up returning four years later.
After graduating with her master’s, Angela moved back to Canada and worked for the Government of Canada through the Advanced Policy Analyst Program (APAP), a period during which she had the opportunity to work rotationally under four federal departments, including National Resources Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of Finance. During this time, Angela started her journey with YDC, participating as Head Delegate of YDC’s 2021 Canadian youth delegation at the WTO Public Forum. Angela recalls greatly enjoying her government work in Ottawa and also highlights that:
“I felt like my time in Geneva and in multilateral organizations wasn’t done yet.”
It wasn’t long before this sentiment came true! In 2023, Angela found herself back in Geneva when she joined the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Strategic Integration Specialist in its Centre for Energy and Materials. During this chapter, Angela had the chance to bring her policy experience into the domain of public-private cooperation. She learned a lot from working with stakeholders in Malaysia and Azerbaijan on projects to advance their sustainable, equitable, and secure energy transition priorities.
After a year of fulfilling work at the WEF, Angela had the opportunity to return to her old stomping grounds at the World Trade Organization as a full-time Legal and Economics Affairs Officer in the Accessions Division where she’s been working ever since!
What’s Angela’s role at the WTO today?
Angela’s return to the WTO at the end of 2024, following her internship in the Accessions Division from September 2020 to June 2021, was largely driven by a sense of mission and her passion for trade policy:
“Accessions is a special and optimistic domain of work, in my view. It is also uniquely meaningful to me personally. Day in and day out, I have the privilege of working closely with governments of economies that are working to advance their global economic integration. They are often fragile and conflict-affected states or transition economies. I feel like my work makes a humble contribution to their aspired journey towards WTO Membership, and the universality of the multilateral trading system as a whole.”
As a Legal and Economics Affairs Officer in the WTO Secretariat’s Accessions Division, Angela supports the negotiations that pave the way for acceding governments to WTO Membership. Angela currently supports the accessions of Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Algeria, Syria, and South Sudan.
Angela’s day-to-day includes trade policy work with respect to the economic regimes of acceding governments to support accession-related negotiations, as well as the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building to the officials of acceding governments, in order to support them in preparing for the rights and obligations of WTO membership and implementing WTO-aligned legislation and policies domestically.
YDC’s impact and Angela’s advice for aspiring YDC delegates
“Being a YDC delegate is a journey of self-exploration - it’s not only self-exploration of your passion and skills but also exploration of your values.”
Through her delegate experience at YDC, Angela had some career-shaping realizations, including learning about herself and her professional passion, such as her enthusiasm for facilitating negotiations and consensus-building. These key competencies now inform her role at the WTO.
Angela also says that her experience with YDC helped shape the way she thinks about trade. Thinking back to her experience as a WTO Public Forum youth delegate, Angela believes that adopting a civil society and youth advocacy lens through her Head Delegate role with YDC helped her think about policy issues from a different perspective. Seeing different sectoral priorities enabled her to consider her audience through the lens of “client-oriented” thinking in her policy work.
“Be curious and be open.”
As a youth delegate in these international spaces, Angela notes the importance of being curious, well-informed, and enthusiastic. Angela also highlights that the WTO Public Forum specifically is a unique opportunity for youth. It is an annual convening when the WTO opens its doors to civil society and other stakeholders to discuss international trade issues of the day.
Where can you find Angela next?
Angela’s involvement with YDC did not end with the conclusion of her WTO Public Forum or Y20 delegate roles! Angela will be rejoining YDC this May at the Youth 7 (Y7) Summit in Ottawa as part of the Y7 Secretariat, as Canada hosts the G7 summit this year. As Y7 Co-Chair for the Energy and Environment Track, Angela is tasked with overseeing negotiations and policy recommendations on energy and environment from youth delegates representing G7 members, along with her co-chair Ayesha Ahmad.
Angela looks forward to meeting the youth delegates in Ottawa and coming together to develop policy recommendations that reflect the voices of youth and generate positive impact beyond the negotiation room.
Interested in becoming a YDC delegate? We’re recruiting!
Enjoyed hearing Angela’s story and want to have your own YDC experience at the World Trade Organization? YDC is currently recruiting youth delegates between the ages of 18 to 30 for the 2025 World Trade Organization Public Forum.
Apply now for the 2025 delegation to the WTO Public Forum.
Applications due Monday, April 28, 2025 at 11:59 pm (PT).
Learn more about YDC’s youth delegations for the World Trade Organization Public Forum.
The views in this article are expressed in Angela's personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of her organizational affiliations.