Shearman & Sterling of counsel Antonia Stolper was honored by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice for her impactful work with the Women in the Profession Program during a reception at the New York City Bar Association on October 25^th, hosted in celebration of the center’s 20^th anniversary. 

Antonia is one of the founding members and a leading member of the International Steering Committee of The Vance Center Women in the Profession Program (WIP), which promotes the advancement of women in the legal profession with an emphasis on individual leadership, leadership within the legal profession, and pro bono practice to enhance the legal status of women. Antonia’s active engagement and leadership have helped the establishment of 19 WIP Chapters in 18 countries in Latin America. Antonia is currently working with the Vance Center to support women attorneys in six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to set up national WIP chapters, the first of which launched earlier this month in Nigeria.

Antonia joined the Vance Center Committee in 2005, serving as its second Chair from 2007 to 2011. Since then, Antonia has been a member of the Executive Sub-Committee and since 2020, the Vice Chair for Latin America.

Antonia has been passionately engaged with the Vance Center’s work since joining the Committee: serving as a founding member of the Lawyers Council for Civil and Economic Rights, a group of private-practice attorneys across the Americas working to advance the rule of law, support the critical work of civil society, and combat corruption throughout the region; evangelizing throughout Latin America for the adoption of the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas, which defines legal pro bono and sets forth a commitment of 20 annual pro bono hours per attorney at over 560 signatory law firms across the globe; guiding the launch of the Access to Justice Practicum for recent law graduates from Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico to pursue careers in public interest law; along with other prominent contributions.