VALENTINA VILLA IS COUNSEL IN THE MEXICO CITY OFFICE. IN ADDITION, SHE IS DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OUR FIRM. HER PRACTICE FOCUSES ON ESG, AS WELL AS IN REAL ESTATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL.
Valentina has actively worked as Mexican counsel in numerous transactions, representing domestic and international clients and has solid experience in Latin America.
In addition, Valentina has worked for well-known transnational companies such as Prudential – Latin America where she worked as VP and Chief Legal Officer for PREI Latin America overseeing fund formation matters, capital markets, lending, M&A, core real estate matters, litigation and the company’s legal needs for Mexico and Latin America. She also worked for Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V., mainly overseeing the M&A transactions of said public company; regarding Mexico as well as other territories such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. This experience has granted Valentina a business-oriented view and sustainable approach.
Valentina worked as Foreign Associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in their New York office.
Valentina received her law degree (JD) from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), graduating with honors in 2000. Valentina obtained her LL.M degree from Northwestern University Law School in 2003. She is fluent in Spanish, English and speaks basic Portuguese. Since 2022 she is certified on Sustainable Capitalism and ESG by Berkeley Law Executive Education.
In 2021, Valentina was appointed Director of Social Responsibility for our Firms. For the past 5 years, she has specialized in regulation to prevent discrimination, protection of Human Rights and promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As part of her leadership, our Firm’s policies have been reformed to meet international best practices and comply with the local regulatory framework. She is considered one of the few legal experts in Mexico on the regulatory framework on these matters. Recently the Ministry of Economy invited Valentina to participate in the Mexican committee to review the ISO 337 “Guidelines for the promotion and implementation of gender equality”.
Valentina is an expert on the Social part of achieving sustainable growth and how to drive business awareness in support of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As the first law firm in Mexico to be a signatory of UN Women in Mexico, Valentina participated as champion in Target Gender Equality, UN’s initiative and first generation locally to implement affirmative actions for gender equality.
Valentina is Board Member of Appleseed, key member of USAid-Appleseed’s Gender Equality Committee, Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Urban Land Institute for LatAm, where she promotes accessibility and better cities for all.
Based on her well-known work to impact the community Valentina has been recognized as Ambassador of Women in Finance a civil association that empowers women in the financial sector and Ambassador of Violetta, a civil association that protects women and girls from domestic violence.