Mission
Advance the growth of women in leadership through education, mentoring and networking opportunities.
WILA serves as a gathering point for education on the international efforts to advance the skills and leadership of women, and offers international networking and mentorship opportunities.
LESI is well positioned to bring women and men together from around the world to share experiences in professional advancement and cultivate a culture of inclusion and support for the advancement of women in licensing.
Leadership
2025-26
- Chair & Speaker Series – Pamela Cox (LES USA/Canada)
- Vice Chair for Mentorship Program – Judith Miller (LES A&NZ)
- Deputy Vice Chair for Mentorship Program – Claire Le Floch (LES France)
- Vice Chair Communications – Bruna Lins (LES Brazil)
- Deputy Vice Chair Communications – Maithili Shroff
- Vice Chair YMC – Emanuela Bianco (LES Italy)
- Board Liaison – Sophie Pasquier (LES France)
- Ambassadors: appointed per country
WILA Ambassadors
| Name | Region |
| Judith Miller | Australia & New Zealand |
| Candida Ribeiro Caffe | South America |
| Cecilia (Xianying) Lou | China |
| Marta Sznajder | Poland |
| Claudia Scapicchio | Italy |
| Claire Le Floch | France |
| Dr. Samantha Williams | Britain & Ireland |
| Kathleen de Belder | Benelux |
| Carmen Correa Martin | Benelux |
| Stephanie Pautke | Germany |
| Junko Sugimura | Japan |
| Natalia Gulyaeva | Russia |
| Pauline Khor Hong Ping | Malaysia |
| Ia Modin | Scandinavia |
| Richa Pandey | India |
| Booma Yandava | USA/Canada |
| Ferzana Haq | Singapore |
| Rosita Li | Hong Kong |
| Patricia A. O. Bunye | Philippines |
| Grace Shao | Taiwan |
| Eliza Stefaniw | Thailand |
| Karin Hofmann | Austria |
| Eszter Szakacs | Hungary |
| Michele Burnier | Switzerland |
| Madelein Kleyn | South Africa |
WILA Mentor Program – 2025-26
- WILA’s global mentoring program is now establishing pairings for the 2025/26 season. If you would like to participate, contact Judith Miller.
- This program supports an inclusive business culture within the licensing community by making female role models more visible and transferring key values of professional excellence and networking within LESI.
- In addition to the traditional model of senior practitioners mentoring junior protégés, the WILA mentor program also includes peer to peer mentoring.
“The mentorship program is very useful and I very much enjoy my conversations with [my mentor]. The guide was also useful in providing a structure for our conversation.”
Social Media & Scholarship
- Bruna Lins and Maithili Shroff generate content to post monthly, especially take-aways from the speaker series
- Junko Sugimura is working with Professor Takenaka, past WILA International Women’s Day speaker, to do an interview-style recording and after that to draft an article for submission to les Nouvelles.
2025-26 Speaker Series
- September 2025: The Neuroscience of Leadership – Speaker: Gina Steele, Steele Leadership, Inc.
Moderator: Pamela Cox, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun, LLP (LES USA/Canada) - October 21, 2025: Author Kate Zernike will discuss her book, The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science.
Moderators: Nabeela Rasheed, Cullinan Therapeutics, Inc. and Pamela Cox, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun, LLP (LES USA/Canada) - January 20,2025: Cross-cultural communications and negotiations – Speaker: Tasneem Chopra OAM, Cross Cultural Consultant; Moderator: Judith Miller, Wrays (LES ANZ).A recording of this session is available at https://vimeo.com/1159588886/fdee9ba9e2. Some key takeaways are
- Misunderstanding of culture leads to unintended effects
- Women don’t lack capacity, they lack opportunities
- Hiring diverse candidates is a best practice to address these cross-cultural negotiations
- March 8, 2026: International Women’s Day – inspirational interview with the past LESI Presidents (pre-recorded interviews available for use by the local societies for their celebrations)
- April 28, 2026 at LESI Annual Meeting:
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- WIPO WILA Mock Mediation: Healthcare IP & Contract Dispute, Moderator: James Sobieraj (LES USA/Canada)
Speakers: John Ritter, Princeton University (LES USA/Canada)
Charles Valauskas, Valauskas Corder LLC (LES USA/Canada)
Linda Kawano, GroupOptima (LES USA/Canada)
Pamela Cox, (LES USA/Canada)
Gina Bicknell, (LES Britain & Ireland)
- Encore of IP Serious Game: How to Do Business and Have Fun – A Smart and Innovative Way of Conceiving IP in Smart Cities
Speakers: Emanuela Bianco, Saglietti Bianco (LES Italy)
Guido Quiram, Michalski Hüttermann & Partner (LES Germany)
Tom Oliver, Powell Gilbert (LES Britain & Ireland)
Magnus Hakvåg, House of Knowledge
- For more information go to https://lesi2026.org/