Relaunch of the Colombian Chapter of Women in the Profession (WIP)

The Colombian chapter of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice program, Women in the Profession (WIP) Colombia, has been relaunched in Bogotá. The program promotes the development of women in the legal profession, with an emphasis on individual leadership within the professional environment.

The event was supported by Colombian lawyer Paola Lozano, co-president of the Latin American Group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Juan Pablo Velasquez, Global Director of Human Resources Consumer Business of 3M, who acted as speakers, as well as the executive committee of WIP Colombia, made up of twenty Colombian lawyers from firms such as PPU, Brigard Urrutia, Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper, Lopez Asociados, Uribe Henao, DG&A, Gómez-Pinzon, and in-house lawyers from Corona, Grupo Éxito, Parabellum Capital, IBD Invest, and EPM.

More than 100 guests attended the event, which also had the support of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce.

Diana Bogotá, President of WIP, stated "We are very happy to relaunch WIP in Colombia because it will allow us to create very powerful networks that will bring together years of experience, as well as to work with younger lawyers and support them in their development. This will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening the legal profession in the country."

Hundreds of women lawyers are part of the WIP in the American continent. For more than a decade, these lawyers have created an infrastructure that facilitates the sharing of best practices, professional training, and networking opportunities. The WIP is led by an international steering committee, which is comprised of two representatives from each local chapter, and is led by the Vance Center and its nine member executive committee. Through seminars and conferences and various meetings throughout the year, the committee shares good practices from local chapters and seeks to implement solutions to reduce the gender gap in compensation and leadership.

Since 2007, through its local chapters, WIP has organized seminars in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay, with the support of local partners and associates of law firms in the region, including corporate lawyers, lawyers in the public sector, members of the judicial branch, and law students. They have all shown their commitment in promoting diversity and inclusion in the profession.

The conferences have also resulted in new initiatives in the region, improving the opportunities and conditions of women, and specifically promoting the recruitment, retention and development of female lawyers in the region.

Through its nineteen local chapters throughout Latin America, and one chapter in Africa, the WIP program fulfills the mission of promoting women’s leadership in the region. Each chapter commits to hosting at least two events per year where female attorneys can share their ideas and create new initiatives. In addition, consistent with the efforts to promote the pro-bono work in the region that has characterized the Vance Center, each chapter carries out one pro-bono project per year that favors vulnerable women.