In honor of International Women's Day, the American Arbitration Association-International Center for Dispute Resolution® (AAA-ICDR®) is proud to highlight the achievements of Chiann Bao, a prominent figure in the field of international alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and an AAA-ICDR panelist. Bao, an American who has lived abroad for much of her career, is a full-time independent arbitrator based in Singapore and an active member of the international arbitration community. She serves in leadership roles worldwide. Most recently, she was appointed co-chair of the International Bar Association Arbitration Committee. She is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of the New York International Arbitration Centre. I spoke with Bao by video about her journey in ADR.
During university, I was curious about a career in law and took many pre-law courses. My family had no lawyers, and I had limited exposure to the profession, leaving me unsure about what a legal career entailed. Like many pre-law graduates, I started as a legal assistant. Working in the corporate finance department at Cravath, Swaine and Moore during the dotcom boom was thrilling yet grueling. This experience made it clear that any legal career I pursued needed to resonate with me personally. At the time, I had a cousin who was in Asia on a Fulbright scholarship. This looked like an excellent opportunity to explore my interests, so I applied for the same scholarship. Thanks to Google—a novel search engine at the time—I searched for “law” “east and west” and “alternative dispute resolution.” The top hit featured an LLM degree in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution at the City University of Hong Kong, the only dispute resolution program in the world at the time. With the scholarship in hand, and a spot at the graduate program in Hong Kong, the world of international arbitration and dispute resolution opened up to me and this is where I found my tribe.
Neil Kaplan stands out as an important mentor that I’ve had since the beginning of my career. He offered me my first job in international arbitration as an arbitration assistant. I moved to London for this opportunity, and it was one of the most transformative experiences I’ve had in my career. I learned from him the craft of being an arbitrator as well as the importance of mentorship in paying forward the generosity of one generation of practitioners to the next.
I have had many other role models as well. Many senior states people, representing the best in the industry, have supported my career. The characteristics that I’ve admired the most are authenticity, the pursuit of excellence in and out of the field, resilience, and curiosity about people and the world beyond arbitration. Other role models are peers or members of the next generation who I’ve found friendship and true sense of collaboration for building a community where all have the opportunity to contribute and belong.
I consider becoming a panelist of the AAA-ICDR a significant milestone. I'm very proud to have achieved that only relatively recently. As an American based in Asia, it's important for me to be connected somehow to the place where I grew up and hold citizenship. Despite feeling at home in many places, it's nice to retain roots at “home base.”
My “off the beaten path” career decisions have also defined my milestone achievements. The external milestones are well defined on my resume. However, those that are most significant are very personal to me and my chosen path. Not all pursuits have been successful, but I feel that each of these pursuits have taught me something about myself and led to the drive to improve further. Reflecting on these moments triggers refreshed energy to work smarter.
Like a birthday or religious or other commemorative holiday, having a day to take stock of progress is important. International Women's Day represents a moment to reflect on where we've been and how far we've come and envision where we want to be. As a mother of three, including a 12-year-old daughter, I want them all to be able to dream without limits. I don’t want them to ever feel that any role is off-limits to them due to socially constructed walls or ceilings.
Today, it is crucial to recognize and celebrate the unprecedented achievements and representation of women in the world’s highest leadership positions. It’s not a surprise, though, to also observe that it’s still not an equal world. One could say that inequality is inherent to any society. But I would hope this will not mean that we become complacent because the goal seems impossible. Especially in international dispute resolution where we are meant to resolve cross-border, cross-cultural disputes, striving for a greater understanding of people that are not like ourselves is important. It’s progress to see better representation at conferences, and the optics of diversity are important. However, national policies, law firm expectations and the inherent bias of attraction to like-minded people do not lend themselves to a fair playing field. This, in turn, hardens a biased mindset be it conscious or unconscious. The next generation is already meaningfully moving the dial and I am hopeful that we will break down barriers for all participants.
Challenges are sometimes external and sometimes self-inflicted. The external challenges I encounter are similar to those faced by others with comparable profiles. Mostly, it’s noise: “She’s too this, not enough that.” The real challenge is whether you allow yourself to believe it and internalize it. And this is where it can be self-inflicted. Once you allow yourself to become the narrative that others define for you, a sea of limits materialize. So the challenge is to ignore the noise and carry on.
When I became secretary-general at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, I vividly remember one of my first arbitration conferences where other arbitration institution leaders surround me. Wonderful people–Bill Slate, Adrian Winstanley, Ulf Franke, Jens Bredow—all heads of their respective institutions. Being relatively new to arbitration and carrying a title that felt “big,” my pregnancy at the time only added to my sense of standing out. I looked around and couldn’t help by think, “Okay, one of these things is not like the others.” This was in 2010. Just over 10 years later, almost all arbitration institutions are led by a woman. And all institutions are making notable strides in making more female arbitration appointments.
My primary observation is that, as global as arbitration and dispute resolution practices are, they are also local. Even those that objectively might be considered “truly” international or neutral (often based on nationality) have a baseline vantage point that is informed by their upbringing and education and who they choose to surround themselves with.
One of the best outcomes of this is making amazing friends worldwide—true friends who see or approach the world similarly in that they are curious, engaged, open-minded, and always thirsty for learning and understanding others. I think that's what makes our community unique.
In addition to working smart, the main advice I would give is to know that you have the support and foundation of many people who have come before you and want you to succeed. Be confident and imagine the collective possibilities of what the international arbitration community could and should look like. Know that you have a role in shaping it, and that is something I would tell anyone who wants to enter our world: make it yours.
The networks particularly helpful to me are personal. I would not suggest you do everything I've done or try to be in this or that organization. Instead, find the individuals you can relate with and respect, and create your own village that will allow you to draw positive energy and thrive with confidence, knowing people have your back. When I talk about the organizations I belong to, it's not only about the organization itself but about that one person who has become a true friend, who has moved beyond being a professional colleague to someone I can turn to whenever I'm facing challenges, and who believes in me when I doubt myself. Cultivate that network, that web of positive energy and people who will support with no strings attached.
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