Anita Vandenbeld has been the Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa West-Nepean since 2015. She has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence (2019-2021) and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development since 2021. Anita was chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, the Special Committee on Pay Equity, the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus and is founding chair of the all-party Democracy caucus.

Anita worked for over a decade in international democratic development in over 20 countries. She managed a global online network to promote women’s political participation (iKNOWpolitics.org). She was an advisor with United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh; Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of the Central Assembly and Political Parties Section of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Mission in Kosovo; coordinated an anti-corruption campaign with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina; and was resident director of the National Democratic Institute in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Anita is a recipient of the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal for her work in Kosovo.

Anita is a contributing author to the ‘Oxford Handbook on Transnational Feminist Movements’ and ‘Turning Parliament Inside Out’. Anita is a member of the Parliamentary Rapid Response Team of Parliamentarians for Global Action; a founding member of the International Parliamentary Network for Education and she has founded the Women Legislators in Defence, Security and Peace portfolios global network.

Anita Vandenbeld has a Bachelor degree in Canadian History from the University of Calgary and a Masters Degree in History from York University.