On March 8, International Women’s Day, the Vance Center and IAWL hosted a virtual professional development program entitled “Count Her In: Gender Equality in the Workplace.” Lorraine McGowen, the Vance Center’s executive committee co-chair and partner at Orrick, provided opening remarks. In her introduction, McGowen outlined the Vance Center’s more than two decades of work on inclusion and diversity on the African continent, beginning with the creation of the African Legal Fellows Program more than 20 years ago, and expanding into new initiatives like a mentorship program for young Black women lawyers in South Africa, a pro bono clearinghouse in... read more
Post tagged in "Women in the Profession"
Women in the Profession Program Launches First U.S. Chapter in Miami
Posted on March 20, 2024Panelists at the WIP Miami chapter launch, Miami Beach, March 13, 2024. Photo credit: Vance Center The morning featured a panel discussion, “The Impact of General Counsels within Organizations and Law Firms on Diversity and Women’s Empowerment,” moderated by Fradyn Suárez, partner at law firm King & Spalding and a member of the inaugural WIP Miami Steering Committee. The panelists – Mariana Seixas, Senior Counsel at SoftBank Investment Advisers; Lin Cherry, Chief Talent Experience Officer at Wizeline; and Rosalía Roman Urcuyo, Chief Counsel of Non-Sovereign Operations, Legal Affairs at the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) –... read more
AWW Legal Forum Celebrates Mentorship Program, Launches Groundbreaking Survey and South African WIP Chapter
Posted on March 18, 2024AWW mentors, mentees, organizers and supporters at the AWW Legal Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 1, 2024. Photo credit: Gabriel Thomas/SP Events and Tech On March 1, the Vance Center and its South African Legal Fellows Network, through its Advancing Women in the Workplace (AWW) program, in collaboration with the United States Mission to South Africa, hosted an afternoon full of celebration and firsts. Dozens of mentors, mentees, law firm partners, judges, academics, and other supporters gathered at the Sandton offices of law firm Baker McKenzie for the Advancing Women in the Workplace Legal Forum, which featured a presentation... read more
Our Year in Review: 2023 at the Vance Center
Posted on January 5, 2024Upholding Core Elements of Democratic Governance An Independent Judiciary: Working closely with the Latin American Federation of Judges (FLAM) and other national and regional partners, the Latin America Policy Program continued to call out threats to judicial independence and support judges in asserting their key role as defenders of democracy. Our actions included a thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on threats to judicial independence, publishing country-level assessments of judicial independence in seven countries, and continuing to pursue justice for exiled Guatemalan judge Erika Aifán. Spotlight: Inter-American Dialogue on Judicial Independence The IACHR hearing inspired an... read more
Vance Center Launches Project on Women in the Legal Community in Guatemala
Posted on January 16, 2024On January 10, the Vance Center hosted a launch event for a new project, “Strengthening and protecting the role of women in the legal community in Guatemala through network building.” The project seeks to strengthen the role of women in Guatemala’s legal profession, identify solutions to challenges affecting their work, and build capacity for long-term support of women lawyers in the country. Prior to the launch event, the Vance Center distributed a questionnaire to evaluate the current state of women’s participation and visibility in Guatemala’s legal profession. More than 45 respondents answered the questionnaire; those responses formed the basis for... read more
AWW Mentorship Program Joins Global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
Posted on December 12, 2023AWW mentors at a networking event in Johannesburg, November 28, 2023. Photo credit: ENSafrica The annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign begins on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and runs through December 10, Human Rights Day. Inspired by the 2023 theme of the parallel UN campaign, “UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls,” AWW participants joined in activities geared towards ending violence against women and strengthening interest in social justice among their network of legal practitioners in South Africa. Advancing Women in the Workplace is a two-year program, now... read more