ArbitralWomen member, Emila Onyema, together with Stuart Dutson and Kamal Shah have drafted and launched a new diversity initiative, titled “The African Promise”. The “African Promise” aims at improving the profile and representation of African arbitrators and appointing Africans as arbitrators especially in arbitrations connected with Africa. The drafters of the African Promise consider that African arbitrators should be appointed as arbitrators on an equal opportunity basis and invite arbitration practitioners, representatives of corporates, States, arbitral institutions, academics and others involved in the practice of international arbitration to sign the African Promise and to take steps to ensure the achievement of the above objectives. The African Promise is accessible here.

Season One of a new podcast series titled Tales of the Tribunal, created by Christopher Campbell, features interviews with 15 women from various generations and regions who have followed a variety of paths to pursue a successful career in international dispute resolution. Season One – launched in May and concluded in September 2019 – consists entirely of female interviewees. A majority of the women interviewed are ArbitralWomen members. There have been more than 1,000 downloads of the podcast so far. Interviewees in Season One include ArbitralWomen members Saadia Bhatty, Bettina Knoetzl, Amanda Lee, Dana MacGrath, Rose Rameau, Rekha Rangachari, Catherine Rogers, Sherlin Tung and Mica Worthy. Other women interviewed include Filipa Cansado Carvhalo, Lakshanthi Fernando, Adwoa Ghartey-Tagoe Seymour, Sarah Grimmer, Mercy McBrayer and Claudia Winkler. The women interviewed are a diverse cross-section of the international arbitration community, including law firm practitioners, in-house counsel, arbitrators, academics, professionals at arbitral institutions and arbitration centres, and others involved in the field. Some of the topics addressed by the women interviewed include how to find a job and develop a career path in the field; the importance and value of diversity; building relationships in the field; how to find and develop a relationship with a mentor; and contemporary issues and hot topics in international arbitration. For each interview, there is a brief description of the interviewee on the podcast website. Curator and host of the podcast, Christopher Campbell, is an American who has pursued his career in international dispute resolution from many different parts of the world, most recently in Florence as Visiting Counsel at Baker Hughes, a GE Company, since February 2019. He is a U.S. trained lawyer with an L.L.M. in Chinese Law from Tsinghua University. When asked what inspired him to create the Tales of the Tribunal podcast, Chris Campbell told ArbitralWomen: “The world (and business) of international law is filled with so many interesting people doing interesting work, yet I feel their stories aren’t being told.  These stories hold tales of perseverance, ingenuity and forging one’s own path—plus, they tend to be endlessly fascinating. I believe there is value to our community to hearing those stories, and I see my show as a platform to tell them.” ArbitralWomen was able to reach some of the women who were interviewed and invited them to comment on the podcast and tell us why they chose to participate.

Here’s what the ArbitralWomen members interviewed told us:

“I chose to be interviewed … because I regularly share career advice with younger lawyers, many … from under-represented jurisdictions. I was pleased to discover the podcast as a platform for diverse members of the community to share career tips and discuss the various and often non-traditional career evolution paths, which hopefully encourages lawyers aspiring to specialize in international arbitration to do so,” commented Saadia Bhatty, counsel at Gide Loyrette Nouel. “Everyone in international arbitration has a story to tell: Chris Campbell’s ‘Tales of the Tribunal’ provides a welcome forum for those stories to be told with warmth, humour and insight, shining a spotlight on what it is really like to work at the coalface in this fascinating field,” commented ArbitralWomen Director Amanda Lee, arbitrator and consultant at Seymours. “I’ve listened to almost every episode of Season One of Tales of the Tribunal.  The stories of these women are truly inspiring. There is much to be learned here about the many different paths to a successful career in international arbitration. What makes this podcast resonate for me is the low-key, conversational style in which Chris Campbell draws out each woman’s tale. It’s very personal and genuine. By the end of an episode, you feel like you actually met that woman in person,” commented ArbitralWomen President Dana MacGrath, Investment Manager and Legal Counsel at Bentham IMF. “The podcast contributes to the international arbitration community because it exposes some of the non-traditional pathways to become international arbitrators and or disputes resolution practitioners and it also provides insights to other women around the world on how to break into such practice area,” commented Rose Rameau, partner Rameau Law Firm. Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of the New York International Arbitration Center, remarked, “The podcast contributes to the international arbitration community because … the podcast opens a window to candid narratives and humour, encouraging greater cross-border collaboration, community, and conviviality.” Catherine Rogers, Professor of Law and founder of Arbitrator Intelligence, commented, “I chose to be interviewed as part of the Tales of the Tribunal podcast because an independent podcast, particularly by a new but important voice like Chris Campbell's, is a great forum to tell our story about Arbitrator Intelligence.” “The podcast contributes to the international arbitration community because it helps highlight the various paths that one can take to enter and find a place in the community. It was a pleasure for me hearing about the other interviewees’ experiences and the unique paths each has travelled, and it was inspirational to hear how much value women have contributed to the industry,” commented Mika Worthy, a partner at Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP. We were also able to reach many of the other women interviewed in Season One.  Here’s what they told us about the podcast: “The aspect of Season One of the podcast series that I believe is most relevant to women pursuing a career in dispute resolution is that it provides unique insight into the challenges and joys of building a career in in international dispute resolution, through the sharing of anecdotes and advice by practitioners with diverse backgrounds, experiences and practices, while at the same time showcasing female talent in this field,” commented Filipa Cansado Carvhalo, a lawyer with the firm PLMJ. Lakshanthi Fernando, Managing Director of CMS Holborn Asia, commented, “I chose to be interviewed as part of the Tales of the Tribunal podcast because it’s a fun, unique platform to share our stories - the joys, the challenges and opportunities - as women working in the world of international arbitration and, hopefully, inspire others to do the same.” “I chose to be interviewed … because I think the in-house counsel perspective is an important voice to add to the discussion surrounding efforts to make the ADR field more diverse.  It is a common understanding that parties ultimately choose their arbitrator, … often … it is the in-house attorney that is the ultimate decision-maker,” commented Adwoa Ghartey-Tagoe Seymour, in-house counsel at Cox Enterprises, Inc. “The diversity of an arbitration panel, especially in the international arbitration space, is truly a value-add to ensuring that parties believe they have had a well-reasoned and impartial outcome.” “The podcast contributes to the international arbitration community because it records the varied paths that can be taken,” commented Sarah Grimmer, Secretary-General of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. Claudia Winkler, an international Negotiation Trainer and founder of The Negotiation Academy™, commented, “The podcast contributes to the international arbitration community because it gives aspirants personal insights not only into the many different paths a career in international arbitration can lead them to, but also shares the challenges each of them will bring and that we are all in them together.” Congratulations to Chris Campbell and his team for producing Season One of the podcast featuring such a diverse group of women in international arbitration. We asked Chris Campbell what is in the pipeline for Tales of the Tribunal going forward. “More tales and stories!  But first, we are working on a series of episodes that will profile the Vis Moot from the perspective of students, coaches, and organizers of the competition,”  commented Chris Campbell. “Then there will be a break until early 2020 when Season 2 premiers.” For more information on Tales of the Tribunal, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Founded by ArbitralWomen Director Amanda Lee, “Careers in Arbitration” is an electronic, web-based professional development resource created in response to the challenges faced by those aspiring to enter and excel in the field of international arbitration. Starting from the premise that law firms and organizations wish to hire the best people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background or geographic location, Careers in Arbitration aspires to level the recruitment playing field by sharing details of vacancies as widely as possible and developing resources to assist those entering the field. Careers in Arbitration shares vacancies on LinkedIn using the hashtag #CareersinArbitration and encourages members of the arbitration community to do the same. This makes it easier for those searching for opportunities, wherever they are based in the world, to find suitable roles. One of the resources currently under development by Amanda Lee as part of Careers in Arbitration is the ‘Careers in Arbitration Guide to Young Practitioner Organizations’, a comprehensive resource that identifies young practitioner organisations around the world and the benefits of joining and participating in them.  This guide will be available by the end of 2019 or early 2020. You can learn more about Careers in Arbitration here and follow the hashtag #CareersinArbitration here. If you are interested in getting involved or supporting Careers in Arbitration, please write directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you know of professional opportunities that you think would be of interest to the international arbitration community, please let her know so that she can help publicise such opportunities! Founder Amanda Lee is an independent arbitrator and consultant at Seymours, London. She is a member of the Board of ArbitralWomen.

ArbitralWomen is proud to announce that it is a Media Supporter of ICCA 2020! For a limited time, members of ArbitralWomen are entitled to a 10% discount on the registration fee. Log in to the ArbitralWomen website to access the discount code here. The discount code is valid from 19 August to 18 October 2019. The XXVth Congress of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration will be held in Edinburgh from 10–13 May 2020. ICCA 2020 is titled ‘Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment?’ and will provide an opportunity to reflect on the present state of international arbitration and a platform for the exchange of new ideas for improvement. The ICCA 2020 Congress Programme Committee includes ArbitralWomen members Susan Franck, Jean Kalicki and Galina Zukova. For full details and to register, members are encouraged to visit the ICCA 2020 website here.

The ERA Pledge recently announced that it is delighted to welcome new members to its Steering Committee after a recent refresh following the Pledge’s 3rd Anniversary in May 2019. The ERA Pledge Team looks forward with excitement to working with the new Steering Committee over the next three-year term to continue to break down the barriers to the fair representation of women in arbitration and build upon the success of the Pledge to date.  The full press release issued by the ERA Pledge announcing this development is available here. The new members of the Pledge Steering Committee include a number of ArbitralWomen members: Samaa Haridi, Brenda Horrigan, Lucy Martinez, Dana MacGrath, Emilia Onyema, Alison Pearsall, Olena Perepelynska, Noradèle Radjai, Sitpah Selveratnam, Gisele Stephens-Chu, May Tai, Anna-Maria Tamminen and Ana Carolina Weber. “I am honoured to join the Pledge Steering Committee and look forward to contributing to its continued success,” commented ArbitralWomen President Dana MacGrath. “The Pledge has accelerated progress toward gender parity in arbitration by fostering dialogue about barriers to the advancement of women and identifying tangible goals for overcoming them.  I am excited about the progress that ArbitralWomen and the ERA Pledge can achieve together to improve diversity in arbitration.” The new Steering Committee will be co-chaired by ArbitralWomen member Sylvia Noury and Samantha Bakstad.  Arbitralwomen member Wendy Miles QC has stepped down as co-chair but will continue to serve on the Pledge Steering Committee together with the following members of ArbitralWomen: Cecilia Carrara, Jo Delaney, Diana Droulers, Alice Fremuth-Wolf, Lucy Greenwood, Heidi Merikalla-Teir, Gabrielle Nater-Bass, Patrizia Netal, Sherina Petit, Mirèze Philippe, Caroline Richard and Deva Villanua Gomez.  ArbitralWomen member Erin Miller Rankin has stepped down from the Pledge Steering Committee at the end of a three-year term. ArbitralWomen joins the Pledge in thanking all Pledge Steering Committee members who are stepping down for their leadership and work to support diversity. The full list of the Pledge Steering Committee members can be found here. Congratulations to the new members of the Pledge Steering Committee! We look forward to further progress toward gender parity in international dispute resolution.

ArbitralWomen members who have been appointed to the Pledge Steering Committee

	Samaa Haridi has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Based in New York, Samaa is a partner at Hogan Lovells LLP, and regularly sits as an arbitrator in international disputes. Samaa specialises in commercial and investment arbitration and is a member of the New York, California, and England & Wales bars. Samaa serves as a Vice Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee, a Vice President of the LCIA Users' Council and as an Executive Board member of ICDR Y&I.
	Brenda Horrigan has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Brenda, a partner and Head of International Arbitration in Australia at Herbert Smith Freehills, specializes in international commercial and investor-state arbitration, with particular expertise in emerging markets, and sits as an arbitrator. Brenda is admitted in Washington, DC and an Australian registered foreign lawyer. She speaks fluent English, French and Russian and elementary Mandarin. Brenda became the first female President of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration in 2019 and served for several years as Global Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School (Shanghai campus).
	Dana MacGrath, President of the Board of ArbitralWomen, has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge. Based in New York, Dana is an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel at commercial litigation and arbitration funder Bentham IMF. She has extensive experience in the field of international arbitration both as counsel and arbitrator and is on the AAA Roster of Arbitrators. She is an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School and coaches the Brooklyn Vis Moot team. Dana is a member of the Council of the American Arbitration Association–International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) and the immediate past Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
	Lucy Martinez has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Lucy acts as independent counsel and arbitrator at Martinez Arbitration. Based in Australia and the UK, Lucy has extensive experience advising private and sovereign parties in international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations, and acting as arbitrator in ICC, HKIAC, LCIA and SIAC disputes. She is admitted to the New York Bar and is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia. Lucy is ecognized by the Legal 500 and Who’s Who: Arbitration (Future Leaders).
	Emilia Onyema has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Emilia is a Reader in International Commercial Law at SOAS University of London and sits as an arbitrator. She is admitted to the Bar of Nigeria and is a non-practising solicitor of England and Wales. Emilia obtained her PhD from Queen Mary University of London and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Her appointments include serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Africa Arbitration Association and of the Board of Advisors to the Association of Young Arbitrators.
	Alison Pearsall, a member of the Board of ArbitralWomen, and co-director for the ArbitralWomen Mentorship Program, has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. The Pledge currently has 3,500 signatories (including 672 organisations), from over 110 countries. As Senior Group Counsel for Veolia Environment, based in Paris, Alison is responsible for litigation strategy development in complex arbitration and international litigation cases in Northern Europe, North America and Australia. Alison is a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and a former Member of the Court of the London Court International Arbitration.
	Olena Perepelynska has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Olena is a partner and Head of the CIS Arbitration Practice at INTEGRITES and sits as an arbitrator. Her practice focuses on international commercial arbitration, litigation and international trade. Olena speaks English, German, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Olena is recognised for her expertise by Chambers & Partners, the Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal: Arbitration.
	Sitpah Selvaratnam has been appointed to the Global Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Sitpah is co-founder of and a consultant at the law firm Tommy Thomas in Malaysia and regularly acts as arbitrator. She is well known for her expertise in maritime and corporate insolvency matters and is recognised by Chambers Asia and the Asia Pacific Legal 500. Sitpah is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the founding President of the International Malaysian Society of Maritime Law which is affiliated with Comite Maritime International. Sitpah is admitted to the Malaysian Bar and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
	Gisèle Stephens-Chu has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Gisèle is a Counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She specialises in international commercial and investor-state arbitration across a variety of sectors, with particular expertise in the energy sector. Admitted in England and France, Gisèle is based in Paris and speaks English, French and Spanish. Gisèle was listed as a future leader in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2018 and 2019.
	May Tai has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Based in Hong Kong, May is Managing Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Greater China Practice and specialises in cross-border China-related and regional Asian disputes and contentious regulatory matters. May is qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales and Hong Kong and speaks Bahasa (Malaysian and Indonesian), Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and English. She is a member of the LCIA Court.
	Ana Carolina Weber, a former member of the Board of ArbitralWomen, has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge with effect from July 2019. Based in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), Ana Carolina is a partner at Eizirik Advogados and a PhD candidate in corporate law at University of São Paulo Law School (USP). She acts as an arbitrator, tribunal secretary and counsel in arbitral proceedings in Brazil and abroad. Ana Carolina serves as Co-Chair of the Latin American Subcommittee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge and served as an ICC YAF representative in Brazil until June 2019.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has launched a new initiative designed to promote diversity among the barristers that the firm recommends to clients and instructs in matters. The diversity initiative, recently announced on Freshfields’ website on 16 July 2019, aims to ensure that Freshfields lawyers develop connections with a broad range of diverse barristers and to encourage barrister chambers to present a more diverse bench. This programme is the latest in a series of diversity initiatives launched by Freshfields. These initiatives include the Every Day Gender Equality (EDGE) commitment, which aims to empower people to take actions that will improve gender equality. Freshfields is also well known for its involvement in the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge (The Pledge). To read the article describing this initiative on Freshfields website, please click here.