Inspiring Women in Law Q&A: Clara Cerdán, Co-Founder of Women In a Legal World

"I have had to overcome my own impostor syndrome"

We kick-start the year talking to Clara Cerdán, co-founder of Women in a Legal World, about the future plans of the organization following an incredibly successful year for this groundbreaking organization

LATIN COUNSEL: How can you describe the year 2022 (positive or negative) for WLW and what plans are expected for 2023?

Clara Cerdán: The year 2022 has been tremendously positive for WLW, as we have undertaken exciting new projects and have grown quantitatively and qualitatively.
Indeed, we have expanded our internal organization through different commissions that work very actively to issue technical reports and share knowledge. Likewise, we have launched the first executive leadership program in the legal sector in Spain with Harvard University and with the sponsorship of Banco Santander. In addition, we are making progress in launching new entrepreneurship programs in the legal sector with strategic allies.

We have held our third edition of the WLW awards, being the finishing touch that the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has come expressly to collect it and to get to know in depth the team behind WLW.
We have held our second edition of the WLW ambassador event, as an act of gratitude to men who support this precious project and who understand that social change is only possible hand in hand with the other half of the world, in a constructive and positive environment.

We have renewed the board of directors of both WLW and WLWY, the association’s youngest female lawyers chapter, among other great milestones.

LC: How did the idea of forming a group full of professionals from different legal specialties come about?

CC: It all started with the idea of our President, Marlen Estévez, to organize a lunch with friends attended by people related to the legal sector in a transversal way. A priori, it had no greater pretensions than to be a mere periodic meal, but we soon realized that we wanted to promote a social project to give back to life so much of what we had received; and we believed that it was essential to activate the chain of favours by creating female references for budding lawyers who were going to take the step into the working market and that is how the Mentoring project arose, for which we had to form an association. And after one project came another... because when socially responsible and restless people are connected, the result can only be unstoppable.

LC: In how many countries are WLW members present and how have you thought about expanding?

CC: At the moment WLW has its most solid base in Spain, but two years ago the internationalization of the association began, presenting it in different countries such as the United States, France and other jurisdictions with which we maintain alliances thanks to the extraordinary relationship we maintain with its ambassadors.

LC: From your perspective, could you mention some indicators to measure results in terms of diversity and inclusion?.

CC: In general, a very illustrative indicator is the increase in women in administrative bodies, management committees, office associations and, ultimately, in the decision-making centers of companies and institutions.

For this purpose, from WLW we have created the equality observatory to study, technically and objectively, the situation in which law firms, institutions and companies find themselves, offering a kind of recommendations that help promote social change.

On the other hand, the WLW women’s directors’ forum in collaboration with Esade, also aims to promote the greater presence of women on the boards of directors and management committees, always based on merit, helping to give visibility to talent.

LC: What challenges have you faced in your career as a professional woman at the diversity and inclusion level and how have you handled it?

CC: Although it is true that I have always felt like a very privileged person because throughout my professional career criteria of meritocracy have prevailed. It is also true that there have been many challenges that I have had to manage both introspectively and due to the inexorable gender biases that we all have.

Regarding the challenges of my personality, as in most many people, and especially marked in the female gender, I have had to overcome my own impostor syndrome.

As for social biases, I have had to learn to manage them with great skill, showing that when you want, you can.

LC: Being one of them, what roles does a professional woman leader in Senior Management have and how do you plan future strategies?

CC: The most important role that a professional, man or woman, has is to project her leadership responsibly and understand that her ability to influence is a gift at the service of society. In other words, the top management leader must be, above all, a generous person who seeks the best version of each of the colleagues who interact with him/her.

Only in this way will we be able to benefit our companies and more magnanimous societies. Future strategies must therefore be projected, seeking sustainable and sustained growth over time.

Clara Cerdán is in-house counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Grupo FerroAtlántica (Ferroglobe PLC), a role that she combines with her work as co-founder and Vice President of non-for-profit organization Women in a Legal World. Previously, Clara headed various legal departments at SacyrVallehermoso and was an associate in the litigation and arbitration department at Garrigues.

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