Paula Tavares is an international lawyer and gender expert, with more than 15 years of experience in international development and comparative law with a focus on gender equity and women's rights. Her work as a Senior Legal and Gender Specialist with the World Bank focuses on promoting gender-informed legislation and policy making, improving the legal framework protecting women from discrimination and gender-based violence, and enhancing women’s economic opportunities. Ms. Tavares serves as an Adjunct Professor at the American University Washington College of Law, where she teaches courses on Gender, International and Comparative Law and on Trade and Gender, while also serving as faculty host for the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program at WCL with a focus on human rights and law. Ms. Tavares is also a Global Fellow for the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center where she focuses on cross-cutting gender issues throughout the Institute’s research, policy and though leadership work.

Ms. Tavares is a licensed Brazilian attorney and holds a master’s degree (LL.M.) in International Law from the Georgetown University Law Center and a specialization in International Relations from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. She is a guest lecturer at different universities in the US and abroad and a member of the Gender Equality Initiative Advisory Group at George Washington University. She is a regional lead of Women Inside Trade, a non-profit international organization that aims to contribute to the empowerment of women through its global network of professionals, specialized training and leadership development, and the co-founder of the Washington DC chapter of the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil, an advocacy group for women leaders that has more than 100,000 members worldwide and works on urgent social issues from women’s economic empowerment to domestic violence. She also volunteers with different civil society, human rights and women’s organization groups toward advancing women’s rights, gender equality and social justice. Her experience prior to joining the World Bank in 2010i includes working for the Brazilian government on legislative affairs and multilateral trade integration issues, in particular the Mercosur, private sector initiatives and non-governmental organizations.