LEADERSHIP

Angela Conway

Founder and CEO

Angela is a globally recognized leader in catalyzing opportunity for women and in transformation of legal systems, institutions, services, and professionals.

A social entrepreneur, global nonprofit executive, international development leader, and attorney, she brings diverse, comparative global perspectives to her work as a field-builder at the forefront of artificial intelligence and other innovation in law and in catalyzing opportunity for women in law. She holds expansive global networks, deep understanding of the global legal and technology sectors, and has led numerous pioneering initiatives to catalyze and capacitate large scale legal and justice systems change, advance gender equality, and leverage technology in complex settings in over 30 countries. Her first-hand experience includes leading transformative initiatives in novel political, technological, and legal contexts during moments of historic change and in navigating complex regulatory environments, high stakes challenges, uncertainty and extremely dynamic legal environments to bring new ideas, policies, systems, institutions, and solutions to life.

She holds extensive expertise in law-related and government innovation and as trusted cabinet-level advisor who has counseled and worked alongside dozens of Ministers of Justice, Chief Justices, Attorney Generals, and other cabinet level officials on legal system transformation. She has supported over 50 government institutions and judicial bodies in undertaking policy and programmatic initiatives, strategy, and institutional transformation. She has also advised law deans, faculty, and executive directors of national professional training bodies on transformation of legal and professional legal education and supported over 50 higher and professional legal education institutions with policy and programmatic initiatives, strategy, and institutional transformation. She has advised bar presidents and executive leaders of over 60 civil society organizations on law related transformation and programs. She has forged partnerships with business, universities, legal communities, social entrepreneurs, and philanthropy around the world to lead strategic initiatives from conception to implementation and scaling in complex, high stakes global settings.  She is a connector, weaver, and strategist expert in building global collaboration to address pressing geopolitical and legal issues and in forging partnerships with global leaders and institutions as well as individual changemakers. A thought leader and advocate, she is committed to spreading knowledge and driving transformative change. 

Prior to founding the Lady Justice Initiative, Angela served as a senior executive leader at the American Bar Association where she founded, built, scaled, and led its Middle East and North Africa Initiative. In this role, she transformed an “idea” into a 19 country initiative and operation, forging partnerships with governments, business, civil society, and higher education institutions, establishing offices and teams in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen, and leading research, design, resource mobilization, and implementation of over 140 groundbreaking initiatives, which advanced the rule of law, democracy, gender equality, justice, and good governance throughout the region. She raised and managed over $150 million in program funding from U.S. Department of State, USAID, SIDA, the Dutch, British, and MENA governments, among others, as well as the Ford Foundation. Her work included: leading the building of 4 novel public interest technology platforms  one of which helped over 12,000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey gain access to legal information and services and another which support election awareness and integrity, transforming higher and professional legal education and skills training in MENA by leading collaborations with 48 institutions to  integrate experiential and competency-based learning for law students, lawyers, judges, court clerks, and prosecutors, leading pioneering research on the status of women, rule of law, justice, human rights, and legal education, and helping establish 6 NGOs and networks of women lawyers and judges. 

Outcomes of her work include numerous initiatives that achieved institutional stickiness at scale— programs that institutions choose to fund and operate independently following donor exits; many have operated continuously for over 15 years. 

Read about Angela’s vision for building an AI era of law where women in law capture opportunity and thrive in the DC Bar’s Washington Lawyer. 

Read SpotDraft‘s recent spotlight on Angela in “Women Shaping the Future of Legal.”

Rule of Law & Democracy

Advance rule of law during political and economic disruption and transition — from post-Soviet Central Europe, throughout MENA following 9/11 through the Arab Spring and beyond, and now in the AI era of law.

Field-Building

Helped build the rule of law field. Developed diagnostic tools, research and evidence base, standards and frameworks, measurement methodology, professional networks and communities, human capital, awareness across actors and sectors, and movement and coalition architecture.

  • Diagnostic Tools and Methodology —developed rule of law diagnostic methodology and the novel de jure plus de facto frameworks
  • Research and Evidence Base — conducted country-level and regional rule of law research anchoring multilateral and national strategy across political, democratic, and economic transitions
  • Standards and Frameworks — developed professional, ethical, and institutional standards supporting rule of law advancement across systems, institutions, and professionals
  • Measurement — Developed methods and tools to evaluate effectiveness of rule of law interventions; strengthened measurement capabilities across U.S. interagency and international practitioner communities.
  • Human Capital and Professional Capability —Built professional capability and rule of law fluency among legal professionals operating novel legal and political environments
  • Awareness and Literacy — Advanced rule of law literacy among government, civil society, professional communities, and the public.
  • Movement and Coalition Architecture — Built cross-actor architecture and coalitions to advance rule of law. 

Infrastructure

Build infrastructure and operating systems to advance the rule of law.

Engagement and Mobilization
  • First-Mover Engagement at Multi-Country and National Scale — catalyzed government, civil society, and legal and business communities to engage and build rule of law scaffolding in contexts where it was lacking and/or weak. 
  • Professional Communities —engaged and capacitated judges, lawyers, bar leaders, legal education, and senior practitioners to advance rule of law through systems design and institution building.
  • Strategy Design During Transitions — convened donors, multilaterals, governments, business, and civil society to design strategy for advancing rule of law. 
  • Multi-Sector Coalitions and Movements  — built multi-country and national professional networks and civil society architecture to advance rule of law
 

Justice & Legal System & Institution Infrastructure Building

Partnered with cabinet level officials including Ministers of Justice, Women’s Affairs, and Human Rights, Chief Justices, Attorney Generals, and other government and legal community leaders to design and build national justice and legal systems from the ground up—laws, regulatory frameworks, institutions, standards, processes, and human capital, that serve as infrastructure for justice and legal systems and institutions in numerous countries. 

  • Supported legal and justice system design during constitutional process and other initiatives to upgrade and/or build new systems (Middle East, GCC, North Africa, Central Europe).
  • Supported implementation of upgrades to core operating systems such as judicial selection, judicial education, judicial ethics codes, judicial performance, execution of judgments, court-related mediation and case management, detention procedures, court management and administration, judicial administration, e.g., judicial councils and related bodies, and public legal education and consultation (Middle East, GCC, North Africa, Central Europe).

 

Legal & Justice Technology

Angela has advised and collaborated with governments and legal communities around the world to pioneer justice and legal technology solutions beginning years before “legal tech” became a market category.  Examples of her experience include leading initiatives that built:

Legal access 

  • Pioneering SMS-based mobile legal information platform that supported refugee populations in accessing legal information and support:  12,000+ subscribers (Europe & Middle East)
  • Novel national SMS-based platform supporting public education and participation in constitutional drafting process following a political revolution; 6.3M+ messages delivered; integrated citizen feedback mechanism with drafting body (North Africa)
  • Groundbreaking national SMS-based voter education and election dispute monitoring platform with real-time lawyer access (North Africa)
  • Mobile application and platforms supporting government and civil society in providing gender-based violence resources and service navigation (North Africa)

Legal Education Technology

  • Led collaborations with Ministries of Justice and Justice Leaders that built national online judicial education platforms in 4 countries-the first of their kind in the Middle East and North Africa. (GCC, Middle East, North Africa)
  • Led collaboration with GCC legal communities that built the first online continuing legal education platform for lawyers (GCC)
  • Led collaboration with a university and national government foundation that built a novel rule of law digital education platform in MENA (GCC)

Court Systems & Automation

  • National case management and workflow automation system—first of its kind, adopted nationally across all courts to enhance efficiency and transparency and build trust (Central Europe)
  • Pilot court automation and digital case management system across three jurisdictions (Middle East, Central Europe)
  • In-court video and audio recording system to enhance transparency and build trust (GCC)
  • First national electronic monitoring system for criminal offenders, enabling alternatives to detention (GCC)

Legal & Professional Education Transformation

Angela has advised and collaborated with governments, bar associations, law schools, and law firms to transform how legal professionals are educated and trained in over 30 countries—through building novel clinical programs, architecture for CLE systems, and new and reimagined training institutions for lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and court staff.  Her work has supported transformation of legal and professional legal education throughout MENA. Many of these initiatives have remained self-sustaining for a decade or more.

  • Led the establishment of the first law clinics in MENA including a human rights education clinic that has been self-sustaining for over 16 years and served as a model for others plus 11 other clinics in 7 countries. (MENA)
  • Built and led partnerships with 33 law school on curriculum reform, clinical education, and teaching methodology, faculty development, and continuing education that (MENA).
  • Led the first comprehensive restructuring of a college of law based on an adaption of the ABA legal education standards (GCC). 
  • Led comprehensive capability building of the only dedicated national lawyer training institute in MENA (North Africa).
  • Led a collaboration with major law firms and a national legal community to design and implement a pioneering intensive multi-month practical skills training course for new legal professionals addressing the gap between the study and practice of law that trained over 2,000 lawyers and 35 lawyer-trainer and operated continuously for over a decade (North Africa).
  • Led a collaboration with 6 countries on a groundbreaking effort to develop model standards for continuing legal education, which were adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
  • Led support to a country in operationalizing professional education standards and creating a now thriving market for continuing legal education (GCC).
  • Led collaborations with 13 national government judicial and prosecutor training institutes—founding two from scratch, redesigning curricula, and building faculty pipelines that trained thousands of judges and prosecutors (MENA)
  • Led collaborations with governments in multiple countries that developed competency-based education frameworks and selection standards—transforming how judges and prosecutors are evaluated, trained, and advanced (MENA).
  • Led legal education transformation across Central Europe supporting mainstreaming of experiential learning and establishment of legal clinics at multiple colleges of law. (Central Europe).
  • Illustrative Resources & Publications

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Angela has advised governments and legal communities and led projects, which built alternative dispute resolution systems. Examples include:

  • National case-management-integrated mediation system with mediator certification standards; adopted at all first-instance courts (Middle East)
  • National end-to-end ADR system design: legislation drafting, court-annexed program implementation, and judicial/clerk training (GCC)
  • National court-related mediation infrastructure: enabling legislation, 40-hour certification curriculum, mediation centers, and specialized labor conciliation program (Central & Eastern Europe)
  • Online ADR training curriculum for judges and lawyers (Middle East)
  • Legal aid clinic with integrated mediation track for underserved populations (Middle East)

Women & Leadership, Gender Justice

Women in Law

Angela has advised cabinet level officials, governments, bar associations, colleges of law, and civil society on advancing women’s leadership in the legal profession and strengthening access to justice for women and girls. Her track record includes leading initiatives spanning 17+ countries, establishing regional networks & NGOs, building professional development infrastructure, and supporting policy advocacy and law reform to advance women, including during constitutional processes.  

  • Led creation of the Arab Women’s Legal Network—17-country regional professional association, self-sustaining 15+ years
  • Led collaboration that established national women’s legal networks in 4 countries (GCC; North Africa) supporting women lawyers and judges in advancing women in law and more generally.
  • Led high level 16 country regional convenings on women’s leadership in law; built cross-border professional networks and identified transformation priorities (MENA)
  • Led GBV justice system capacity building across 4 countries—1,000+ prosecutors trained, 40-hour lawyer certification programs, national response infrastructure (supporting ministries, courts, hotlines, shelters) (North Africa, Europe)
  • Led women’s leadership pipeline programs in 3 countries -professional skills training, mentorship networks, advocacy platforms for women law students and young lawyers (GCC, Middle East)
  • Led pioneering research on the status of women during political transitions providing a roadmap for policy leaders and practitioners. 

Political Risk, Regulatory Navigation & Crisis Leadership

Angela directed strategy and operations across 19-countries in the Middle East and North Africa for nearly two decades through the region’s most volatile period including the Arab Spring, civil conflicts, and government transitions, managing high stakes initiatives with national security implications. She navigated complex and rapidly shifting political and regulatory environments where institutional frameworks were in constant flux. She:

  • Owned political risk decisions with direct consequences: personnel safety, multimillion-dollar portfolios, and institutional relationships with host governments.
  • Operated in restricted-access and politically sensitive environments maintaining continuity and government partnerships through active conflict, regime change, and political crises.
  • Made real-time strategic pivots during political crises adapting programs, relocating teams, renegotiating government relationships, while sustaining operations, business continuity, and donor confidence.
  • Managed outside counsel across 13 country offices—evaluating legal risk, advising on strategy, regulatory compliance (in-country and U.S.), reviewing contracts, and driving decision-making with in-house legal team, across emerging market and developing country jurisdictions with evolving legal frameworks. 
  • Managed OFAC sanctions compliance and counterterrorism vetting requirements across operations in sanctions-sensitive MENA jurisdictions; built screening infrastructure and ensured USG regulatory adherence across large teams.
  • Led rapid deployments standing up teams, infrastructure, and partnerships within weeks of political transitions and navigating nascent regulatory environments with no established playbook.
  • Led operations across the MENA region including 13 country offices in high-risk environments navigating constant security and political crises and related operational barriers.

Research & Publications

Credentials

Education

B.A. Northwestern University 

J.D. University of Kansas School of Law

Editor in Chief of the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia Bar

Kansas Bar

Rule of Law & Democracy

Advance rule of law during political and economic disruption and transition — from post-Soviet Central Europe, throughout MENA following 9/11 through the Arab Spring and beyond, and now in the AI era of law.

Field-Building

Helped build the rule of law field. Developed diagnostic tools, research and evidence base, standards and frameworks, measurement methodology, professional networks and communities, human capital, awareness across actors and sectors, and movement and coalition architecture.

  • Diagnostic Tools and Methodology —developed rule of law diagnostic methodology and the novel de jure plus de facto frameworks
  • Research and Evidence Base — conducted country-level and regional rule of law research anchoring multilateral and national strategy across political, democratic, and economic transitions
  • Standards and Frameworks — developed professional, ethical, and institutional standards supporting rule of law advancement across systems, institutions, and professionals
  • Measurement — Developed methods and tools to evaluate effectiveness of rule of law interventions; strengthened measurement capabilities across U.S. interagency and international practitioner communities.
  • Human Capital and Professional Capability —Built professional capability and rule of law fluency among legal professionals operating novel legal and political environments
  • Awareness and Literacy — Advanced rule of law literacy among government, civil society, professional communities, and the public.
  • Movement and Coalition Architecture — Built cross-actor architecture and coalitions to advance rule of law. 

Infrastructure

Build infrastructure and operating systems to advance the rule of law.

Engagement and Mobilization
  • First-Mover Engagement at Multi-Country and National Scale — catalyzed government, civil society, and legal and business communities to engage and build rule of law scaffolding in contexts where it was lacking and/or weak. 
  • Professional Communities —engaged and capacitated judges, lawyers, bar leaders, legal education, and senior practitioners to advance rule of law through systems design and institution building.
  • Strategy Design During Transitions — convened donors, multilaterals, governments, business, and civil society to design strategy for advancing rule of law. 
  • Multi-Sector Coalitions and Movements  — built multi-country and national professional networks and civil society architecture to advance rule of law
 

Justice & Legal System & Institution Infrastructure Building

Partnered with cabinet level officials including Ministers of Justice, Women’s Affairs, and Human Rights, Chief Justices, Attorney Generals, and other government and legal community leaders to design and build national justice and legal systems from the ground up—laws, regulatory frameworks, institutions, standards, processes, and human capital, that serve as infrastructure for justice and legal systems and institutions in numerous countries. 

  • Supported legal and justice system design during constitutional process and other initiatives to upgrade and/or build new systems (Middle East, GCC, North Africa, Central Europe).
  • Supported implementation of upgrades to core operating systems such as judicial selection, judicial education, judicial ethics codes, judicial performance, execution of judgments, court-related mediation and case management, detention procedures, court management and administration, judicial administration, e.g., judicial councils and related bodies, and public legal education and consultation (Middle East, GCC, North Africa, Central Europe).

 

Legal & Justice Technology

Angela has advised and collaborated with governments and legal communities around the world to pioneer justice and legal technology solutions beginning years before “legal tech” became a market category.  Examples of her experience include leading initiatives that built:

Legal access 

  • Pioneering SMS-based mobile legal information platform that supported refugee populations in accessing legal information and support:  12,000+ subscribers (Europe & Middle East)
  • Novel national SMS-based platform supporting public education and participation in constitutional drafting process following a political revolution; 6.3M+ messages delivered; integrated citizen feedback mechanism with drafting body (North Africa)
  • Groundbreaking national SMS-based voter education and election dispute monitoring platform with real-time lawyer access (North Africa)
  • Mobile application and platforms supporting government and civil society in providing gender-based violence resources and service navigation (North Africa)

Legal Education Technology

  • Led collaborations with Ministries of Justice and Justice Leaders that built national online judicial education platforms in 4 countries-the first of their kind in the Middle East and North Africa. (GCC, Middle East, North Africa)
  • Led collaboration with GCC legal communities that built the first online continuing legal education platform for lawyers (GCC)
  • Led collaboration with a university and national government foundation that built a novel rule of law digital education platform in MENA (GCC)

Court Systems & Automation

  • National case management and workflow automation system—first of its kind, adopted nationally across all courts to enhance efficiency and transparency and build trust (Central Europe)
  • Pilot court automation and digital case management system across three jurisdictions (Middle East, Central Europe)
  • In-court video and audio recording system to enhance transparency and build trust (GCC)
  • First national electronic monitoring system for criminal offenders, enabling alternatives to detention (GCC)

Legal & Professional Education Transformation

Angela has advised and collaborated with governments, bar associations, law schools, and law firms to transform how legal professionals are educated and trained in over 30 countries—through building novel clinical programs, architecture for CLE systems, and new and reimagined training institutions for lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and court staff.  Her work has supported transformation of legal and professional legal education throughout MENA. Many of these initiatives have remained self-sustaining for a decade or more.

  • Led the establishment of the first law clinics in MENA including a human rights education clinic that has been self-sustaining for over 16 years and served as a model for others plus 11 other clinics in 7 countries. (MENA)
  • Built and led partnerships with 33 law school on curriculum reform, clinical education, and teaching methodology, faculty development, and continuing education that (MENA).
  • Led the first comprehensive restructuring of a college of law based on an adaption of the ABA legal education standards (GCC). 
  • Led comprehensive capability building of the only dedicated national lawyer training institute in MENA (North Africa).
  • Led a collaboration with major law firms and a national legal community to design and implement a pioneering intensive multi-month practical skills training course for new legal professionals addressing the gap between the study and practice of law that trained over 2,000 lawyers and 35 lawyer-trainer and operated continuously for over a decade (North Africa).
  • Led a collaboration with 6 countries on a groundbreaking effort to develop model standards for continuing legal education, which were adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
  • Led support to a country in operationalizing professional education standards and creating a now thriving market for continuing legal education (GCC).
  • Led collaborations with 13 national government judicial and prosecutor training institutes—founding two from scratch, redesigning curricula, and building faculty pipelines that trained thousands of judges and prosecutors (MENA)
  • Led collaborations with governments in multiple countries that developed competency-based education frameworks and selection standards—transforming how judges and prosecutors are evaluated, trained, and advanced (MENA).
  • Led legal education transformation across Central Europe supporting mainstreaming of experiential learning and establishment of legal clinics at multiple colleges of law. (Central Europe).
  • Illustrative Resources & Publications

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Angela has advised governments and legal communities and led projects, which built alternative dispute resolution systems. Examples include:

  • National case-management-integrated mediation system with mediator certification standards; adopted at all first-instance courts (Middle East)
  • National end-to-end ADR system design: legislation drafting, court-annexed program implementation, and judicial/clerk training (GCC)
  • National court-related mediation infrastructure: enabling legislation, 40-hour certification curriculum, mediation centers, and specialized labor conciliation program (Central & Eastern Europe)
  • Online ADR training curriculum for judges and lawyers (Middle East)
  • Legal aid clinic with integrated mediation track for underserved populations (Middle East)

Women & Leadership, Gender Justice

Women in Law

Angela has advised cabinet level officials, governments, bar associations, colleges of law, and civil society on advancing women’s leadership in the legal profession and strengthening access to justice for women and girls. Her track record includes leading initiatives spanning 17+ countries, establishing regional networks & NGOs, building professional development infrastructure, and supporting policy advocacy and law reform to advance women, including during constitutional processes.  

  • Led creation of the Arab Women’s Legal Network—17-country regional professional association, self-sustaining 15+ years
  • Led collaboration that established national women’s legal networks in 4 countries (GCC; North Africa) supporting women lawyers and judges in advancing women in law and more generally.
  • Led high level 16 country regional convenings on women’s leadership in law; built cross-border professional networks and identified transformation priorities (MENA)
  • Led GBV justice system capacity building across 4 countries—1,000+ prosecutors trained, 40-hour lawyer certification programs, national response infrastructure (supporting ministries, courts, hotlines, shelters) (North Africa, Europe)
  • Led women’s leadership pipeline programs in 3 countries -professional skills training, mentorship networks, advocacy platforms for women law students and young lawyers (GCC, Middle East)
  • Led pioneering research on the status of women during political transitions providing a roadmap for policy leaders and practitioners. 

Political Risk, Regulatory Navigation & Crisis Leadership

Angela directed strategy and operations across 19-countries in the Middle East and North Africa for nearly two decades through the region’s most volatile period including the Arab Spring, civil conflicts, and government transitions, managing high stakes initiatives with national security implications. She navigated complex and rapidly shifting political and regulatory environments where institutional frameworks were in constant flux. She:

  • Owned political risk decisions with direct consequences: personnel safety, multimillion-dollar portfolios, and institutional relationships with host governments.
  • Operated in restricted-access and politically sensitive environments maintaining continuity and government partnerships through active conflict, regime change, and political crises.
  • Made real-time strategic pivots during political crises adapting programs, relocating teams, renegotiating government relationships, while sustaining operations, business continuity, and donor confidence.
  • Managed outside counsel across 13 country offices—evaluating legal risk, advising on strategy, regulatory compliance (in-country and U.S.), reviewing contracts, and driving decision-making with in-house legal team, across emerging market and developing country jurisdictions with evolving legal frameworks. 
  • Managed OFAC sanctions compliance and counterterrorism vetting requirements across operations in sanctions-sensitive MENA jurisdictions; built screening infrastructure and ensured USG regulatory adherence across large teams.
  • Led rapid deployments standing up teams, infrastructure, and partnerships within weeks of political transitions and navigating nascent regulatory environments with no established playbook.
  • Led operations across the MENA region including 13 country offices in high-risk environments navigating constant security and political crises and related operational barriers.

Research & Publications

Credentials

Education

B.A. Northwestern University 

J.D. University of Kansas School of Law

Editor in Chief of the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia Bar

Kansas Bar