executive team
Kenneth N. Frankel
President, Canadian Council for the Americas
Mr. Frankel has been president of the CCA since 2014 and was previously Chairman from 2007 to 2014.
He was awarded The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada in 2013 for his work on behalf of the CCA and for leadership on other hemispheric public policy initiatives. Mr. Frankel was the Legal Advisor to the Secretary General at the Organization of American States from 2008-2013.
He was co-host of the podcast “, "two gringos with questions", with Chris Sabatini (Chatham House / London) and a frequent commentator in media in Canada and elsewhere in the hemisphere.
Mr. Frankel has been a Visiting Professor of Law at Ghent University (Belgium) since 2014 where he teaches international commercial negotiation. He has also held Adjunct/Visiting Professorships at American University (Washington, D.C.), Western University (Canada), University of Pretoria (South Africa) and UCCork (Ireland). He was Chair of the Latin American Practice Group at Torys and held General Counsel and/or International Council positions for Alcatel in Canada, Spain, Poland and Germany. He started his career as a Law Clerk to U.S. Federal District Court Judge Eugene P. Spellman in Miami during the “Miami Vice” era.
Mr. Frankel was a research associate with Professor John Womack, Jr. (Harvard University) as a Reynolds Fellow in Mexico, and a political writer in Mexico and Central America as a Dartmouth College Public Affairs Fellow.
Mr. Frankel holds a A.B. cum laude, High Distinction from Dartmouth College in Latin American Studies and a J.D. from Northeastern University.
Mr. Frankel is a Board Director of Global Americans, a think tank based in Washington D.C.
Marta C. Blackwell
Vice President, Canadian Council for the Americas
Marta C. Blackwell joined the Canadian Council for the Americas in 2014. Since joining the CCA Ms. Blackwell has organized and facilitated public and private meetings between business, public sector and civil society leaders across the Americas. In addition to operational leadership of the organization, Ms. Blackwell moderates events, speaks on international platforms with leading business and government leaders, and represents the CCA with media.
Prior to joining the CCA she spent time at Bombardier Aerospace in the strategy and international business development team, where she focused on Latin America and the risk and benefits of public private partnerships. Prior to Bombardier, Ms. Blackwell spent time in public, private and NGO sectors in North America, Latin America, and South Africa.
Ms. Blackwell holds a Global Professional Master of Business Law and a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto and a B.A. (Hons) in Human Rights and Law from Carleton University.