 Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply humbled and filled with emotion. Let me start by expressing my appreciation and my gratitude. First let me recognize my fellow candidate and all those running for elected office. The large number of candidates is a true testament to how much countries value the ITU. I also want to pay respects to Secretary General Hulien Zhao and his leadership of ITU. Secretary General Zhao, Deputy Secretary General Johnson, Director Manevich, Director Li, thank you for the close collaboration and friendship. To the United States Administration, and we have at least I think nine agencies present and of course others working from the home team, I thank you. I thank you for believing in me and for putting me forward as a candidate for this immensely important position. It was a whole of government effort. I'm grateful for your support, your dedication and all that hard work. I also want to recognize the private sector for their continuous backing. It was a real team effort. I want to recognize my husband, Jesus, my daughter Cecilia, Santiago, Anna, Alejandro. They're here with me. I thank you for being my rock, my greatest supporters, always encouraging me, and always being so, so patient. To my friends and colleagues from around the world that have given me so much encouragement throughout this process, I thank you. That brings me to you, the Member States. I want to thank you for putting your trust in me to lead this great organization. It's an honor for me and for my country. I arrived at the ITU as a young 20-something with still much to learn, but I knew two things. I wanted to do good and I wanted to serve the international community. At that point, I never imagined that one day I would lead this organization. I've worked for this moment for more than three decades, pioneering impactful initiatives to advance digital inclusion for all, from giga to equals, our smart village work, the broadband commission, Generation Connect, and much more. Because I fully believe in the power and potential that connectivity brings to economies, to healthcare, education, employment, women and youth empowerment. Four years ago, you elected me as your Director of Development. Our team had ambitious plans. We came together to create a BDT that was fit for purpose. It was not an easy task. Change never is. But we leveraged the commitment, the passion, and the talent of the amazing BDT team, coupled of course with your cooperation, your support, and we made a difference. We delivered on our mandate with a successful World Telecommunications Development Conference. It's been a tremendous privilege to serve as your Director, and I look forward to your support as we take the ITU to the next level. Ladies and gentlemen, I recognize that I take up this mantle at a very challenging time for the world, escalating conflicts, a climate crisis, food security, gender inequalities, and SDGs that are falling further and further behind. But for us as ITU and its members, it provides an opportunity to make a transformational contribution. Our sector is one of continuous innovation that can and will be a key enabler to facilitating resolution to many of these issues. I also bring a special skill set to this work. I'm the proud mother of four. They are my drive to create a better world, to be determined, creative, and to find solutions. As Secretary General, I will continue to drive this organization, this institution, to be innovative, increasingly relevant for member states, and better positioned for all of us to better embrace digital development and our digital environment. What we do now affects generations to come. We are riding on a powerful wave of innovation and growth, and we must use this opportunity to improve people's lives, especially those that are excluded. Whether it's today's children or our children's children, we need to provide them with a strong and a stable foundation for growth. Our success depends on a united effort. The ITU is a union. It's a union of members, each of you representing countries, companies, universities, and other institutions. And together, we are united. We are united in our hope and in our conviction that we can work collectively to make a better connected world for our communities and future generations. At this plenipotentiary, we will jointly develop our vision for the next four years in our strategic plan, and that will reflect our unity of purpose. When talking about unity, we must also recognize and respect diverse views, those differences enrich us. But there's so much that unites us. We can all agree on the need to invest every bit of our energy in connecting the unconnected. It's no longer a want, it's a must. We can all agree on the need for partnerships like Partner2Connect that mobilize billions in commitments demonstrating our ability to collaborate. We can all agree on the need to raise ITU's performance, to make us more transparent, more accountable to you, our members. We may have our differences, but the beauty of our organization is our process, where together we search for unity and resolution. We have much to do, and to do it, we will need you, our members. We will need you to be involved. We need your energy, we need your ideas, and we need your total commitment. And you have my total commitment. Many of you have heard me speak about my father and his many life lessons. My dad encouraged me in my studies, in my career choices, always making it clear that girls can do just as much as boys can. And I was the only girl, I have three brothers. He was my greatest supporter, and he would have been so proud today. But my mom has also been a huge champion throughout this process. She's filled with more energy than me, and Hulene, you often say I have too much energy. She has more energy than me, and she gets full credit for teaching me the art of multitasking. I know she's following remotely from our hometown in New Jersey, and she's probably doing three other things at the same time. So, hi mom. Mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, today we made history. After 157 years, we shattered the glass ceiling. I am so very grateful to all of you for your support, and I hope this day will be an inspiration for other women to follow, and I do look forward to that. As the UN Secretary General has said, we, the leaders, must deliver for we, the peoples. We need to deliver affordable, trusted, and meaningful connectivity to all. The world is counting on us, and I am counting on all of you. Growing up in New Jersey, it may not surprise you to know that I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan. In one of his songs, Bruce says, talk about a dream, try to make it real. Personal connectivity has been a dream for far too many years. Let's unite and make it real. Connect and unite. Thank you everyone.