Ambassador Luis Gallegos
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York
Luis Gallegos, J.D., is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York. Ambassador Gallegos is currently the Chair of the United Nations Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP). Ambassador Gallegos has had a storied diplomatic career. Prior to his work in New York, he served as Ecuador’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He served as Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2011 and served two previous terms as Ecuador’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York., and has served as the Ambassador to Australia and El Salvador.. In addition to his tenure as chair of COSP, the Ambassador is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Global UN Partnership for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ICT), Honorary Chairman of the Global Universal Design Commission (GUDC) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Institute of Public Policy and Disability of American University. He also sits on numerous boards including the International Board of Special Olympics; WATERLEX; and the Advisory Group of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Ambassador Gallegos has received many recognitions for his work in human rights including the “Justice for All Disabilities Rights Award, the “Burton Blatt Leadership Award”, the “Christian Blind Mission Award”, the “Access Living Award”, and the National Spinal Cord Injury Association “Hall of Fame Award”. He has also received Special Recognition for Outstanding Service to the Humanitarian Cause of Human Rights and Handicapped Persons by The Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for the international work he has done on behalf of the disabled community.