WELCOME TO THE SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LEGAL CAREERS SYMPOSIUM

9:00-9:45 am | November 19, 2021 | Washington Foreign Law Society Networking Event

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Michael Teodori

Congressional Affairs Specialist 

Michael is a Congressional Affairs specialist for Eni SpA, Italy's leading energy company. He handles legislative dossiers and congressional engagement relevant to the company's clean energy initiatives in the United States. Michael joined Eni from the Italian Embassy in Washington DC, where he worked on US-Italy relations as a Congressional Liaison Officer in the US politics and Congressional affairs office. Michael previously held positions at the European Parliament, at the Center for Democracy and Technology, and at a corporate law firm based in Milan (Italy). Michael holds a Law degree from the University of Pavia (Italy) and a joint M.A. in transatlantic affairs from the College of Europe (Bruges) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (Medford, MA). 

Giuliana Cane

Executive Secretary, IDB Group Administrative Tribunal 

Giuliana Canè, an Italian national, has been appointed by the IDB Board of Executive Directors to serve as the Executive Secretary of the IDB Group Administrative Tribunal, starting on January 19, 2016. Ms. Canè joined the IDB from the World Bank where most recently she was Legal Counsel in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Previously, she worked in various departments of the World Bank Group, including the Investment Climate Advisory Service and the Legal Department (2010-2014 and 2004-2007). Prior to rejoining the World Bank, she worked at the Italian Prime Minister’s Office where she was in charge of the Investment Chapter of the G8 Italian Presidency (2008-2009). She began her legal career with the law firm Baker & McKenzie in Rome (2001 – 2002). Ms. Canè holds degrees from Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. in International Legal Studies), the College of Europe in Bruges (Master in Law in European legal studies), and LUISS-Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy (Laurea in Giurisprudenza). She is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the District of Columbia (inactive), the US Supreme Court, and in Italy (inactive). She serves as a Board Member of the Washington Foreign Law Society and as Board Member of Georgetown Law Center European Law Alumni Advisory. She speaks English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Pascale Helene Dubois
Independent International Anti-Corruption Advisor 

Pascale Helene Dubios is an Independent International Anti-Corruption Expert and Lecturer who has been involved with anti-corruption efforts for over two decades. She retired from the World Bank Group (WBG) in 2020 where she was the Vice President of the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT), the WBG’s department which investigates fraud and corruption related to WBG-financed projects -- in addition to promoting corporate compliance and prevention. Ms. Dubois previously served as the World Bank’s first-ever Chief Suspension and Debarment Officer, and prior to that, she managed the groundbreaking Voluntary Disclosure Program in INT. She also worked as a lawyer advising the Africa region of the WBG for seven years. Before joining the WBG, Ms. Dubois was in private practice in the USA and Belgium for 10 years. Ms. Dubois has been an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center since 2009, where she teaches a course on international anti-corruption. She also frequently lectures at other institutions, including at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Vienna, Austria, and the HEC Business School in Montreal, Canada. In addition to being a founding member of the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute (VACI) Advisory Committee, Ms. Dubois is a member of the Board of Governors of the Washington Foreign Law Society, as well as a member of the Advisory Board to the International Bar Association’s Anti-Corruption Committee. She is also the Rapporteur and a Member of the Steering Committee of the “White Paper on the Fight against Corruption” which will be published on the occasion of the French Branch of the International Law Association’s upcoming 150th anniversary. She previously served as the Co-Chair of both the International Bar Association’s Anti-Corruption Committee and the American Bar Association Section of International Law’s Anti-Corruption Committee. Ms. Dubois received the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to the Compliance Industry, Women in Compliance Awards, and was named one of Ethisphere Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007”. Ms. Dubois received her Lic. Jur., cum laude, from the University of Ghent, Belgium, and her LL.M. from New York University. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

10:00-10:45 am | November 19, 2021 | Non-governmental Organizations

Opeyemi Awolesi

Senior Attorney, The Nature Conservancy

Opeyemi Awolesi (Ope) is a Senior Attorney with the Corporate Services team at The Nature

Conservancy, where she advises on contracts, finance, IT, marketing, and Privacy issues. Prior to this role, Opeyemi served as a Compliance and Privacy Consultant to TNC, where she advised on human rights, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and privacy issues. An experienced attorney licensed in New York and Nigeria, Opeyemi is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and has advised and structured complex cross-border transactions for multinational organizations, including Procter & Gamble where she led the Legal department in the West Africa region. Opeyemi is an alumna of The George Washington University Law School, where she obtained an LL.M. in Business and Finance Law. In her spare time, Opeyemi enjoys hiking and discovering new trails, writing inspirational articles to help people overcome adversity, volunteering within her community’s leadership and empowerment institute, or dancing.

Niranjali Amerasinghe
Executive Director, Action Aid
Niranjali is the Executive Director of ActionAid USA. She is responsible for overall management and leadership of the U.S. office, engagement with the global federation, and leading the fight to end poverty and injustice. Prior to joining ActionAid, Niranjali was a Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute and led the Finance Center’s policy work on international climate finance and the Green Climate Fund. She also directed the Climate & Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). Niranjali has worked at the intersection of climate change and human rights, and has extensive experience with international climate negotiations, forest governance, and accountability. She also helped develop legal strategies to shift finance away from fossil fuel investments. Niranjali has an LL.M in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University Law School and an LL.B from the University of Bristol. She has been quoted in The Economist, Reuters, The Guardian, Scientific American and has also appeared on the BBC’s The Conversation. She was born and raised in Sri Lanka, is trained in classical music, and is an avid gardener.

11:00-11:45 am | November 19, 2021 | Organization of American States

Cristina Narvaez

Consultant, Section of Competitveness, Innovation and Technology, OAS

Cristina Narváez is a Consultant at the Organization of American States, planning and executing international programs to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive, sustainable economic development. In her role, Ms. Narváez works collaboratively with numerous teams to coordinate the Americas Competitiveness Exchange (ACE) program and the Americas Competitiveness Forum. Previously, Ms. Narváez was a Visiting Scholar at The University of Iowa College of Law, where she researched digital rights and corporate social responsibility. She worked at The Due Process of Law Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and Philippi, Prietocarrizosa, Ferrero, DU & Uría (Colombia), conducting legal research and providing legal advice on corporate social responsibility, technology transfer, and intellectual property management. Ms. Narváez is an attorney specializing in commercial law from Los Andes University (Colombia), and she earned a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property Law from The George Washington University Law School. Additionally, she has training on technology transfer and intellectual property management from the WIPO Academy Summer School (South Africa) and corporate social responsibility and sustainable development from The University for Peace-UN Mandated (Costa Rica). She is a guest lecturer in the International Diploma on Innovation of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile). Ms. Narváez is a passionate advocate for corporate social responsibility, gender equality, and environmental conservation.

Mariel Ortega
Human Rights Lawyer, Section of Promotion, Technical Training, Cooperation and Public Policies, Inter-American Commission of Human Rights

Mariel Ortega is a Dominican Human Rights Lawyer, with a decade of experience in human rights law, currently, she’s working at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in the Section of Promotion, Technical Training, Cooperation, and Public Policies. Her areas of focus have been gender, equality, and non-discrimination, LGBTI+, migration, and children's rights. Mariel is a WCL 2014 alumni from the LL.M in Human Rights Law and Gender and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Legal Argumentation with the University of Alicante. Mariel has worked in different areas of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights including the LGBTI Rapporteurship and the Petitions and Cases Section where among other tasks she participated in the writing submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the Consultative Opinion 24 regarding Gender Identity and Marriage Equality. Likewise, she has worked as a lawyer in different civil society organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she participated in the litigation of strategic cases on gender issues before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights like the Case of Paola Guzmán Albarracín vs. Ecuador, which was the 1st case before the I/A Court regarding the sexual exploitation of girls in the context of the education system; and more recently on the Manuela and family case vs. El Salvador, which is the first case before the I/A Court regarding the criminalization of obstetrics emergencies in El Salvador in the context of the total ban of abortion services. Moreover, Mariel has worked with several UN Agencies like UNDP, UNHCR, and UNICEF.

1:00-1:45 pm | November 19, 2021 | Inter-American Development Bank

Teresa Faria

Principal Specialist Attorney

Teresa M. Faria is a principal specialist attorney at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she oversees sovereign and sovereign-guaranteed operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.  Before joining the IDB in 2007, Teresa worked as associate general counsel at Conservation International Foundation, a US-based international non-profit organization, and prior to that, she worked as an associate in a major Washington, DC-based law firm.  Before moving to the US to get her LLM from Georgetown Law, Teresa worked at two Brazilian law firms in Rio de Janeiro, including one year seconded to a financial institution.  She has extensive experience in cross-border transactions in a broad base of industries and countries globally.  In the past, Teresa served in leadership positions with the American Bar Association’s Section on International Law and published in the areas of oil revenue management, legal reform, and public-private partnerships.  She is admitted to practice in the US and in Brazil and holds a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

Maria Eugenia Moya

HR Senior Specialist, Labor and Employee Relations 

Maria Eugenia Moya is an HR Senior Specialist, head of the Labor and Employee Relations group at the Inter-American Development Bank.  Maria is a Venezuelan attorney with more than 13 years of professional experience in Labor & Employment law, workplace conflict and HR.  Prior to the IDB, she was an Associate for the Labor & Employment group of the Baker & McKenzie office in Caracas, Venezuela. Maria earned her law degree from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2007, and her LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2012.

2:00-2:45 pm | November 19, 2021 | International Monetary Fund

Gustavo Pinto
Senior Counsel, Legal Department, IMF

Gustavo Pinto joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2014 and is a Senior Counsel in the Legal Department. He holds a Ph.D. from the Law School of the University of São Paulo, and a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School. He also holds a double degree from the Law School of the University of São Paulo (BBL) and Business School of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (BBA). Prior to working at the IMF, he worked for 6 years as a corporate associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and prior to that as Chief of Division at the Brazilian Department of Justice. As part of the IMF’s external mobility program, he has also worked for 3 years at the New Development Bank in Shanghai, China. As Senior Counsel at the IMF, he is in charge of a portfolio of 16 member countries, providing advice and guidance to the IMF’s governing bodies, Management, and internal departments, on substantive and procedural matters concerning the Fund’s legal framework and general issues of public international law relevant to the work of the Fund. He is responsible for advising on the legal and governance aspects of the various areas of Fund’s work such as lending, surveillance, exchange systems, data provision and misreporting, transparency, and technical assistance.

Rebecca Ego
Legal Expert, Expertise France

Rebecca graduated with an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University Law School. She works with the IMF's Legal Department on the Governance Team and will be joining the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law Team as a consultant.  She is also a legal consultant at Expertise France, an international development agency working on public sector development in Beirut, Lebanon. While at GW Law, Rebecca interned with the World Bank. While pursuing her LL.B., she worked with the  Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A national of Lebanon and the United States, Rebecca is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.