ArbitralWomen Historic Timeline
ArbitralWomen enjoys a rich 30-year history of achievements reported in the newsletters available on its website. The following timeline presents very briefly the main milestones of ArbitralWomen's history. The historical initiatives show how ongoing activities motivated the creation of the various committees in charge of developing such activities. Finally, we present the Presidents and the Directors who have led the organisation and contributed to developing it since 2005.
November 1993
Dinner at Le Thoumieux in Paris on 22.11.1993
Returning from an ICCA congress where Louise Barrington saw a handful of women, she invited women practicing dispute resolution to dinner. 60 gathered from around the world.
November 1993
January 2000
Yahoo Community Group
Individual contacts continued until Mirèze Philippe created a Yahoo Group to enable all members of the group remain in contact and exchange information.
June 2005
Incorporation of the Organisation & Website
The group grew. It became necessary to be more visible and enable women practising dispute resolution to find us and join us. Louise and Mirèze co-founded ArbitralWomen with the support of 80 highly reputed women practitioners.
June 2005
June 2006
Presentation of AW at ICCA Montreal
First AGM and conference organised at the occasion of ICCA Montreal. Donald Donovan invited Louise to present ArbitralWomen.
June 2008
First Gala Anniversary Celebration in Dublin
ArbitralWomen Day: AGM, conference and first gala diner organised at the occasion of ICCA Dublin by Catherine Kessedjian with the help of Klaus Reichert.
June 2008
November 2010
Second Gala Anniversary Celebration in Paris
On the occasion of this celebration launch of the Honourable Man Award.
September 2014
Third Gala Anniversary Celebration in London
2 ArbitralWomen Days: AGM, conference, first SpeedNet, gala diner and dance evening.
September 2014
November 2015
First Panel on Unconscious Bias
First panel organised to address unconscious biases and diversity in arbitration during ICC Miami. It was the first of dozens organised around the world.
March 2016
Conference Day on Diversity in Arbitration
First conference day on diversity and unconscious bias organised at Unesco (Paris). Signature by ArbitralWomen of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge.
March 2016
October 2016
First ArbitralWomen Board Working Weekend
At the President’s initiative, first AW Board working weekend organised in Chantilly (France).
September 2017
Second ArbitralWomen Board Working Weekend
Second ArbitralWomen Board working weekend organised in Milan (Italy).
September 2017
November 2018
3 Days - Special 25th Anniversary Events
Third working weekend (in NY, USA). Launch of Diversity Toolkit & Women Pioneers book. Conference day on Diversity Dividend. Fourth gala dinner to celebrate the jubilee.
February 2021
First Virtual AGM
The travel restrictions due to the worldwide lock-down led to holding the AGM for the first time remotely. It was attended by many members from around the world.
February 2021
May and November 2023
Fourth Working Weekend - 30th Anniversary Celebrations
Fourth ArbitralWomen Board working weekend organised in Luton (UK). 30th Anniversary Celebration in London, May. A second celebration was organised in Paris, November, together with a conference.
April 2025
Fifth Working Weekend & Cocktail during Paris Arbitration Week
Fifth ArbitralWomen Board working weekend in Paris (France) and cocktail organised during Paris Arbitration Week.
April 2025
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2005
News
Initiative launched by Mirèze Philippe on the website to share news from the dispute resolution community until it turned into news alerts in 2015.
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2006
Public Events
ArbitralWomen started organising events to discuss arbitration topics.
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2006
Mentorship
Initiative launched by Louise Barrington to address this need.
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2009
Moot Funding
Initiative launched by Louise Barrington to support moot competition teams.
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2015
UNCITRAL Observer Status
Initiative launched by Ileana Smeureanu to contribute to discussions on dispute resolution.
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2014
Kluwer Arbitration Blog (KAB)
Initiative launched by Ileana Smeureanu to cooperate with KAB and publish articles by ArbitralWomen members.
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2014
SpeedNet Events
Initiative launched by Lisa Tomas to help women practitioners meet.
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2010
Newsletter
Initiative launched by Mirèze Philippe of the Newsletter as a communication tool.
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2015
Social Media
Initiative launched by Lucy Greenwood to be present on LinkedIn and Twitter (now X).
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2015
Corporate Membership
Initiative launched by Lucy Greenwood to offer a discounted rate to several members joining AW from the same firm or organisation.
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2015
Women Pioneers Book
1st Women Pioneers Book featuring pioneers in dispute resolution (2nd edition in 2018).
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2015
Unconscious Bias Panels
1st panel organised to address unconscious biases and gender equality.
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2016
Young AW Practitioners (YAWP)
Initiative launched by Gabrielle Nater-Bass to help young women build their careers.
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2016
Signature of ERA Pledge
ArbitralWomen signed the Equal Representation of Arbitrators Pledge and started cooperating on some events.
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2015
TDM Special Issues
Contributed in 2015 to “Dealing with Diversity in International Arbitration” and in 2018 to “Strategic Considerations in Energy Disputes”.
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2015
Cooperation
Initiative launched by Mirèze Philippe to cooperate or partner with organisations sharing the same values.
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2017
Parental Mentorship
Initiative launched by Louise Woods to share experience between pregnant women and new mothers.
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2018
Diversity Toolkit
Grant from AAA-ICDR to support ArbitralWomen project for trainings on unconscious biases.
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2020
ArbitralWomen Connect
Initiative launched by Elisabeth Chan during the lockdown to allow members to meet.
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2022
Capacity-Building Programmes
First capacity-building programme in countries in need of dispute resolution education.
2006
Founding Co-Presidents: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Secretary: Florence Gladel
Treasurer: Amance Perrot
Directors: Lorraine Brennan • Catherine Kessedjian • Carla Kewley Potok • Loretta Malintoppi • Karen Mills • Salli Swartz • Nancy Turck • Carita Wallgren-Lindholm • Isabel Zivy
2008
Founding Co-Presidents: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Secretary: Amance Perrot
Treasurer: Barbara Steindl
Directors: Lorraine Brennan • Catherine Kessedjian • Carla Kewley Potok • Loretta Malintoppi • Karen Mills • Salli Swartz • Nancy Turck • Carita Wallgren-Lindholm • Isabel Zivy
2010
Founding Co-Presidents: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Vice-President: Lorraine Brennan
Secretary: Diana Droulers
Treasurer: Barbara Steindl
Directors: Yulia Andreeva • Bronwyn Lincoln • Karen Mills • Amance Perrot • Dorothy Ufot • Janet Walker • Rabab Yasseen
2012
President: Lorraine Brennan
Vice-President: Yulia Andreeva
Secretary: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Treasurer: Rashda Rana SC
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Beata Gessel • Bronwyn Lincoln • Debora Miller Slate • Karen Mills • Anna Pukszto • Ann Ryan Robertson • Rabab Yasseen
2014
President: Dominique Brown-Berset
Vice-President: Bronwyn Lincoln
Secretary: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Treasurer: Rashda Rana SC
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Lorraine Brennan • Lorraine de Germiny • Beata Gessel • Debora Miller Slate • Karen Mills • Gabrielle Nater-Bass • Vilija Vaitkute Pavan • Anna Pukszto • Rabab Yasseen
2016
President: Rashda Rana
Vice-President: Gabrielle Nater-Bass
Secretary: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Treasurer: Juliette Fortin, Karen Mills
Executive Editor: Karen Mills
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Clare Connellan • Beata Gessel • Lucy Greenwood • Bronwyn Lincoln • Ileana Smeureanu • Ana Carolina Weber
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset
2017
President: Rashda Rana
Vice-President: Gabrielle Nater-Bass
Secretary: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Treasurer: Juliette Fortin
Executive Editor: Karen Mills
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Valentine Chessa • Joachim Delaney • Lucy Greenwood • Elena Gutierrez • Bronwyn Lincoln • Dana MacGrath • Marily Paralika • Alison Pearsall • Ileana Smeureanu • Mary Thomson • Ana Carolina Weber • Louise Woods
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset
2018
President: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Vice-President: Gabrielle Nater-Bass
Secretary: Dana MacGrath
Treasurer: Juliette Fortin
Executive Editor: Karen Mills
Communications Director: Dana MacGrath
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Valentine Chessa • Joachim Delaney • Lucy Greenwood • Elena Gutierrez • Bronwyn Lincoln • Dana MacGrath • Marily Paralika • Alison Pearsall • Ileana Smeureanu • Mary Thomson • Louise Woods
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset • Gillian Carmichael Lemaire
2020
President: Dana MacGrath
Vice-President: Asoid Garcia-Marquez
Secretary: Louise Woods
Treasurer: Juliette Fortin
Executive Editor: Karen Mills
Communications Director: Marily Paralika
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Affef Ben Mansour • Laurence Burger • Maria Beatriz Burghetto • Valentine Chessa • Diana Droulers • Gaëlle Filhol • Elena Gutierrez • Alexandra Johnson • Sara Koleilat Aranjo • Amanda Lee • Alison Pearsall • Ileana Smeureanu • Vanina Sucharitkul • Erika Williams
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset • Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Gabrielle Nater-Bass
2022
President: Dana MacGrath
Vice-President: Louise Woods
Secretary: Gaëlle Filhol
Treasurer: Juliette Fortin
Communications Director: Amanda Lee
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Affef Ben Mansour • Maria Beatriz Burghetto • Elizabeth Chan • Cherine Foty • Sara Koleilat Aranjo • Yasmine Lahlou • Rebeca Mosquera • Patricia Nacimiento • Alison Pearsall • Rose Rameau • Rekha Rangachari • Donna Ross • Gisele Stephens-Chu • Vanina Sucharitkul • Erika Williams
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset • Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Karen Mills • Gabrielle Nater-Bass
2024
President: Louise Woods
Vice-President: Gaëlle Filhol
Secretary: Gisele Stephens-Chu
Treasurer: Marion Lespiau
Communications Director: Maria Beatriz Burghetto
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Katherine Bell • Catherine Bratic • Elizabeth Chan • Cherine Foty • Nata Ghibradze • Sara Koleilat Aranjo • Floriane Lavaud • Alina Leoveanu • Rebeca Mosquera • Nesreen Osman • Rekha Rangachari • Sally El Sawah • Mary Thomson
Advisory Council: Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset • Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Juliette Fortin • Yasmine Lahlou • Amanda Lee • Dana MacGrath • Karen Mills • Patricia Nacimiento • Gabrielle Nater-Bass • Rose Rameau • Donna Ross
2026
President: Rebeca Mosquera
Vice-President: Katherine Bell
Secretary: Nata Ghibradze
Treasurer: Alina Leoveanu
Communications Director: Cherine Foty
Co-Founders: Louise Barrington & Mirèze Philippe
Directors: Clea Bigelow-Nuttall • Catherine Bratic • Kate Corby • Dilber Devitre • Sally El Sawah • Elena Guillet • Shanelle Irani • Anna Kelly • Niamh Leinwather • Nesreen Osman • Nicola Peart • Rekha Rangachari • Mary Thomson
Advisory Board (now Advisory Council): Lorraine Brennan • Dominique Brown-Berset • Maria Beatriz Burghetto • Gillian Carmichael Lemaire • Gaëlle Filhol • Juliette Fortin • Yasmine Lahlou • Amanda Lee • Dana MacGrath • Karen Mills (5 May 1942 – 11 August 2025) • Patricia Nacimiento • Gabrielle Nater-Bass • Rose Rameau • Donna Ross • Gisele Stephens-Chu • Louise Woods