Shared Priorities for our Shared Future: The United States and Canada, Writing the Future Together
Join Canadian Club Toronto on June 6 for an engaging fireside chat with U.S. Ambassador David Cohen.
Ambassador Cohen will share his perspectives and insights on bilateral political and economic priorities, including our shared commitment to opening new avenues for trade, growing integrated clean energy supply chains, cultivating cross-border investments, and creating quality jobs on both sides of the border as the United States and Canada Build Back Better together. Ambassador Cohen will answer questions about recent U.S. legislation that supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout North America, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act. Ambassador Cohen will be joined in conversation by Rita Trichur, Senior Business Writer & Columnist for The Globe & Mail.
Before his appointment by President Biden and unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen served as Senior Advisor to the CEO at Comcast Corporation as of January 1, 2020. He was previously Senior Executive Vice President at Comcast, where his portfolio included corporate communications, legal affairs, government and regulatory affairs, public affairs, corporate administration, corporate real estate and security, and community impact. Cohen also served as the company’s first chief diversity officer.
Before starting with Comcast in July 2002, Cohen served as a partner in and Chairman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. From January 1992 to April 1997, Cohen served as Chief of Staff to the Honorable Edward G. Rendell, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia.
Cohen served on many nonprofit boards, including as chair of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and its Executive Committee; as a member of the trustee board and the executive committee of Penn Medicine; as a member of the board of directors and the executive committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; as chair of the Philadelphia Theatre Company; as a member of the Board of the National Urban League; and as chair of the corporate board of advisors of UnidosUS. Cohen also previously served as a member of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. He also served on the board of directors of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and PNC Bank, National Association.
A native of New York, Cohen graduated with a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1977 and with a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School summa cum laude in 1981. Cohen has received numerous honors and recognitions, including Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Prior to his appointment to Ottawa, he lived in Philadelphia with his wife.
Rita Trichur is an award-winning journalist. She is a senior business writer and columnist with The Globe and Mail. She previously served as the newspaper’s Financial Services Editor. Rita returned to The Globe in July 2016 after spending about 2 ½ years as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She primarily covered Canadian banks and insurance companies from Toronto, but also wrote a variety of other stories for the U.S. newspaper. Prior to The Wall Street Journal, Rita spent more than three years at The Globe, initially working as a general assignment reporter in the Report on Business before covering the telecom beat. Rita has also covered financial services and economics for the Toronto Star, and has held various roles at the Canadian Press and the Ottawa Sun. She got her first byline at age 6 when the Toronto Star published her short story about a fish-stealing cat and paid her $10. She has a Bachelor of Journalism and Political Science and a M.A. in Canadian Studies – both from Carleton University in Ottawa.
