Antonia Verna

Antonia is a partner of Portolano Cavallo, which she joined in 2008. Antonia is the only Italian board member of the European Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) and she is the officer for the European Regional Forum of the International Bar Association (IBA), serving as Vice-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Group. In 2021, for the third year in a row, StartupItalia, the Italian online magazine on innovation and startups, recognized Antonia as one of the “Unstoppable Women” who are changing Italy. She is passionate about innovation and has been working very hard to support gender diversity principles in the venture capital market. She has been one of the first female lawyers working in the venture capital sectors in Italy and trying to help female investors and founders to develop and transform innovative ideas into new profitable businesses.

I strongly believe that our profession is founded on the fulfillment of human rights and the principles of justice, integrity, equity. It is our duty as lawyers to promote diversity, equality, respect and inclusion within the legal profession. Diversity and inclusion principles shall help to create a fair and just environment in the legal profession and shall improve decision making, problem solving, creativity, innovation and productivity. Diverse lawyers bring diverse opinions, diverse teams make better decisions and a more diverse and equitable legal industry drives more innovative and creative solutions. Each person is unique and the diversity of gender, together with the diversity of age, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, socioeconomic standing, sexual orientation should be preserved to support and promote the full and equal participation of all professions at the workplace.