Petra Van Hilst - Connector in the Legal Ecosystem

Founder GCN, the network for General Counsel I Founder EQUAL in LEGAL I Founder General Counsel Executive Program

Petra Van Hilst is a multilingual lawyer, connector and networker in the international legal market. As a founding member of GCN, a professional network for General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers and Heads of Legal, her goal is to promote and professionalize the role of the final responsible in-house lawyer.

GCN is a forum for General Counsel to connect and identify best practices along with other players in the legal ecosystem. By bringing the relevant players in the legal market to the table, Petra believes that general counsel are able to help change the legal industry and create a more balanced playing field.

Furthermore, she founded the EQUALinLEGAL.com platform. EQUAL in LEGAL is all about sharing knowledge on EQUALITY in the global legal ecosystem. As a community, we want to learn from each other, connect people and together make the world a little better. We share stories on EQUALITY related topics like Diversity & Inclusion, Pro-Bono/Volunteering, Access to Justice, Talent & Education and Sustainability. Petra is also the initiator and Chair of the General Counsel Executive Program, an international academic program/mini-MBA for General Counsel who seek to develop their non-legal and strategic skill set.

Petra has lived in Brazil and the USA and speaks five languages. Petra holds an LLM (Master of Laws degree) from the University of Utrecht Law School in The Netherlands. Petra was also educated at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida in Gainesville, USA. Petra has vast experience working as a GC in various international corporate environments (Finance, Tech, Media & PE), giving her knowledge as to what truly drives the General Counsel and his/her team. In addition to her extensive legal experience and being a forward-thinking lawyer, Petra is a well-respected moderator, author, speaker, consultant and pioneer in the global legal industry. Building the GC community has catapulted Petra to become a visionary on the function of the GC, the operation of legal departments and the global legal market.

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Q. Best advice for women who want to go out in life and crush it!

A. Think, be yourself and just do it!

Q. What do you do to celebrate women?

A. I support and connect women friends, also when they are not feeling well.

Q. What do you want to see more of?

A. Mentoring younger women in their careers and helping them to make good choices.

Q. Recommended reading:

A. “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls — 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women” is a great book to read and particularly for and with children.

Q. The theme for this year's women's history month is Valiant Women of the Vote. What women's rights are you most passionate about?

A. EQUAL pay: we need to make sure that there is not a gender payment gap anymore. All women should advocate and demand for equal payment and move on if they do not get the same payment as their male peers.

Q. Shout out to another woman who has made a difference in your life and how she/they did that.

A. Women friends from different cultures who taught me to see things differently by adding their perspective to mine.

Connect with Petra Van Hilst online:

Monica Phillipsequalpay, generalcounsel, internationallaw, extraordinary women