Lana Marks

Lana J. Marks (born November 18, 1953) is a South African-born American fashion designer who founded the eponymous fashion brand Lana Marks. She is the current United States Ambassador to South Africa. She presented her diplomatic credentials to the South African government on January 28, 2020.

Early life and education

Lana Bank was born in East London, South Africa. Her father, Alec Bank, had immigrated from Lithuania as a child; he was an affluent property developer and a leader in the Jewish community. She attended Clarendon High School for Girls in East London, and speaks Xhosa and Afrikaans.

Marks is an avid tennis player, having played for Bermuda, having won bronze medals for the United States in the Maccabiah Games in 1985, playing in the South African Open, and also made it to the qualifying rounds of the French Open.

Career

Marks was the CEO and designer of Lana Marks, a fashion accessories brand that specializes in exotic leathers and is known for creating some of the world's most expensive handbags. When she won an Academy Award in 2007, Helen Mirren carried her handbag to the stage to accept her award. Her daughter currently runs the brand.

Marks has served on the Women's Leadership Board at John F. Kennedy School of Government. She was also selected to take part in the “Women and Power: Leadership in the New World” event. Marks has participated in Georgetown University’s lecture series, speaking to MBA students.

The Lana Marks company has stores in Palm Beach, New York, Beverly Hills, and Dubai.

Ambassador to South Africa

Her appointment to the position was leaked from an inside source within the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa's foreign affairs department. On November 14, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated her to be the United States Ambassador to South Africa. She was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019. She was sworn into office on October 4, 2019, and arrived at her posting on November 9, 2019, presenting her diplomatic credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa on January 28, 2020.

Marks has stated that her primary goals include youth and women’s empowerment. During her first sixty days, Marks also stated that she was making considerable strides to resolving many of the snags in the relationship between the United States and South Africa, including the need to boost investor confidence, and HIV epidemic control. She also launched two major initiatives, to invite all of Africa's leaders to a US-Africa investment summit in Washington, and to lift South Africa into a top 20 US trading partner. Marks forced out her deputy from the post, veteran career foreign service officer David Young. Though this was allegedly related to attempting to place her son in a senior role in the embassy, a senior embassy official called this "patently ridiculous," and Marks issued a statement complimenting Young, clarifying that their management styles were different.

Personal life

Marks has been married to Dr Neville Marks, a practicing psychiatrist affiliated with JFK Medical Center, since 1976. Marks and her husband later lived in Bermuda before moving to Florida in 1987. She has two children.

Marks was a personal friend of Diana, Princess of Wales. According to Marks, the two women had planned a four-day trip to Italy for the end of August 1997. Marks canceled at the last minute when Marks's father had a heart attack. Diana went to Paris with her partner Dodi Fayed where they were killed in a car accident.

Since 2010, Marks has been a member of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to Marks, she joined because other country clubs in Palm Beach did not admit Jewish members.