Post GAIL Summit 2025 London Gathering – What did we learn?

With over 10 years of work experience in the legal sector, Keya is a passionate and dedicated lawyer and advocate. Her mission is to use the law as a tool to address social and systemic issues, and to use her expertise to support grassroots movements and organisations by democratising knowledge and use of the law.

Keya works as the Director of Programmes and Policy at the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL), a global network of legal leaders leveraging legal practice for the good of people and the planet. In her role at GAIL, she oversees the design and implementation of strategic and innovative programmes and policy initiatives that leverage legal expertise to accelerate a shift in corporate models and capital flows in ways that prioritise people and planet. She works with diverse and inspiring teams of lawyers, academics, and activists from across the world and collaborates with partners from civil society, academia, and government.

Keya is also a co-founder of Sistren Legal Collective, a community of lawyers working at the intersection of law, grassroots organising, and movement-building. The collective provides a flexible and supportive environment where lawyers can use their knowledge of the law to support leaders, activists, and changemakers from minoritised communities in the UK who are building organisations that centre social and racial justice in their work.

In addition, Keya serves as a trustee of The Chancery Lane Project, a collaborative initiative to rewrite contracts for a decarbonised world.

Olivia Woodward is a solicitor at the law firm Bates Wells, which was the first B-Corp law firm in the UK. Olivia’s practice specialises in supporting charities, social enterprises and purpose-driven businesses in England and Wales alongside international organisations who wish to operate or carry out grants or a project there.

Recently, Olivia has worked within the growing movement on Steward Ownership in the UK and Europe to consider the legal and financial challenges and the collaboration to be undertaken to keep momentum going. Olivia intends to share insights on the different forms of Steward Ownership that are available alongside consideration on different legal entity structures available and options for how assets can be used for good outside of the typical grant-giving philanthropy models.

Melissa is the Vice President of GAIL and the General Counsel at AgDevCo, an impact investor focussed on the agribusiness sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, and whose vision is a thriving commercial agriculture sector that benefits both people and planet. In addition to her work leading on the legal side of transactions entered into by AgDevCo, Melissa is also interested in finding ways that impact investors can add value to portfolio companies, and chairs AgDevCo’s technical assistance committee. Melissa is keen to find ways of connecting lawyers working in impact investing / development finance in order to share ideas and find innovative ways to improve sustainable and ethical investment practices.

Nikesh is a corporate senior associate with a particular focus on private equity, impact investment and growth capital transactions.

Nikesh has a range of experience acting for financial sponsors, institutional investors, portfolio companies and management teams on a broad range of transactions, including acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, venture and growth capital investments, disposals and other corporate matters.

Nikesh is also a member of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers and the Global Impact Investing Network.

Sarah is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Group of energy, transport and infrastructure law firm Watson Farley & Williams and a CEDR Accredited and CMC Registered Mediator, based in London. She is also the UK Regional Board Chair of GAIL and Co-Founder, Board Counsel and Lead Co-Creator at Legal Innovation for Sustainable Investments Foundation (LISI), having initially met her LISI co-founders through GAIL’s predecessor organisation, Esela.

Sarah is one of only a few lawyers to combine experience on complex and high-profile group litigation with advising on complaints to non-judicial mechanisms, such as OECD National Contact Points, UN Special Procedure mandates and private, sector-based accountability mechanisms. She also has experience drafting and developing novel non-judicial grievance mechanisms.

Sarah uses this experience to advise clients on managing liability and dispute risks in the context of compliance and regulatory advice and works with clients across several sectors on related risk management and governance issues in corporate transactions, commercial contracts, project development and financing.

Sarah is recognised by Legal 500 UK for ESG and for her work in emerging markets and has also been ranked for Business and Human Rights – Global Business Leaders in Chambers Global for the past six years.

Matt is a Senior Associate in the Corporate team at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP. Matt advises on corporate transactional matters including private M&A, corporate restructurings and reorganisations, fundraising, including PE and VC investments, and on matters of general corporate governance.

Whilst Matt acts for a broad range of clients across various sectors he has a particular focus on clients operating in the private equity and impact investing spaces. He regularly advises on complex cross-border matters, including acting as lead counsel on multi-jurisdictional transactions.

Lucy trained and qualified as a solicitor in the Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure team at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, prior to joining Trinity in November 2016. Lucy has a wide range of experience advising banks and borrowers on both the project and finance aspects of transactions in the energy and infrastructure sector, with a particular focus on Africa.

Her recent work includes advising sponsors in relation to the Namaacha wind project and Cuamba solar plus BESS project in Mozambique; the project company in respect of the expansion of the Cabeólica wind project in Cape Verde; sponsors in respect of a gas-to-power project in Mozambique; KfW in relation to the implementation of GETFiT Mozambique and lenders in respect of a merchant solar IPP in Botswana.

In addition to advising on several other energy and infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Lucy has also advised both lenders and borrowers in relation to a number of reserve-based lending, trade finance facilities, and agribusiness financings across the African continent.