ACADEMIC PROGRAMME
AIJA WOMEN NETWORK SESSION
Organised by the AIJA Women Network
Established in 2020, the AIJA Women Network is a global network of members within AIJA. The main goal of the network is to leverage the strength and capabilities of AIJA members to promote and progress the advancement of women’s careers in the legal sector. This is done through events, webinars, and online and in-person networking.
DATE & TIME
LOCATION
Friday, 27 August
12:00 – 13:15 CEST
Millennium Ballroom and online
DESCRIPTION
How to be an Ally – Let’s Build a More Inclusive Legal Sector
Join the AIJA Women’s Network for a candid, interactive discussion about how allies like you can bring out about change in the legal profession.
While allies can be discussed in the context of gender, the significance of allies to individuals and to our corporate cultures as a whole extends to diversity in religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, ability as well as gender. Our session’s goals are to have a thoughtful and open conversation and give participants some easy tools that they can implement to help themselves and others.
The session will be structured as a panel discussion, followed by in-person and virtual table discussions moderated by members of the AIJA Women Network.
Special thanks to Agata Adamczyk (Adamczyk Law, Poland), Friederike Henke (Buren NV, Netherlands), Fernanda Pacheco (Gameleira Pelagio, Brazil), and Pia Padfield (Simmons & Simmons, United Kingdom) for acting as facilitators of the break-out sessions.
SPEAKERS & MODERATORS
Stephanie Boyce
President of the Law Society of England and Wales, united Kingdom
Stephanie Boyce is the 177th, the sixth female, the first black office holder, the first person of colour and the second in-house solicitor in almost fifty years to become president of the Law Society of England and Wales.
Stephanie was admitted as a solicitor in 2002 and has a wealth of experience in corporate governance, regulatory frameworks and professional regulation.
Stephanie holds a master of laws in public law and global governance from King’s College, University of London and is a fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute.
Stephanie is a Council member of the Law Society of England and Wales representing the Women Lawyers Division, former chair of the Strategic Litigation Group and a member of the Board of the Law Society, a solicitor member of the Joint Tribunal Service and holds a number of statutory appointments with her local authority.
Stephanie has recently been appointed to the HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commissioned independent taskforce to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in UK financial and professional services.
In 2020 Stephanie was voted on to the Governance Hot 100 – Board Influencer and made the Power List 100 Most Influential Black People in the UK in 2021.
Kyle Elliott
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Canada
Kyle is the Manager of Diversity, Inclusion & Outreach Initiatives at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Canada. Kyle leads the Firm’s diversity and inclusion outreach initiatives, and also responsible for collaborating with key stakeholders to promote the Firm’s internal diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives. Prior to joining Blakes, Kyle trained at another large firm in Toronto. He is an active member of the legal community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) as the Director of Communications.
Paola Fudakowska
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdom
Paola is AIJA’s Immediate Past President and co-chair of the AIJA Women Network. Paola has 15 years experience as a litigator at a leading international private client law firm in London and Geneva. On completing an LL.M. in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights at the Geneva Academy, Paola joined the Legal Directorate at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London where she advises on a wide range of public international law issues.
jennifer maxwell
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, United Kingdom
Jennifer is the founder and co-chair of the AIJA Women’s Network, past president of the AIJA Banking, Finance and Capital Markets Commission, and a former member of the executive committee of Women in Mining UK. As a partner at the Canadian law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Jenn represents private and public companies and investors on a wide variety of Canadian business law matters, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, divestments, investments, capital market financings, joint ventures, restructurings, securities regulatory matters, and general commercial matters. Jenn has been recognized for her international expertise in Legal 500 Canada 2021.
SESSION COORDINATORS
jennifer maxwell
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, United Kingdom