Our Board

Catherine is co-Founder and Executive Director of Canadian Lawyers Abroad. While a huge fan of Canada (and of her hometown, Hamilton), Catherine has always enjoyed working and living abroad. After finishing a degree in international relations and French at the University of Toronto, she filmed a documentary in Asia, “Real Travels: 60 days in Indonesia.” Catherine then completed a Master's degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and a law degree at McGill. In 1997, she worked as a Trade Policy Officer at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. Returning to Asia, Catherine practiced law at a corporate firm in Jakarta and then joined the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor as the legal advisor to the Chief Minister in the Timor Sea treaty negotiations with Australia. In 2002, Catherine joined Stikeman Elliott LLP, working in the areas of competition, trade, and constitutional law. During this time she was senior counsel on the Rt. Hon. Antonio Lamer's review of Canada's military justice system. Catherine has written a number of articles and submissions about proposed amendments to the Competition Act and testified before parliamentary committees. She is admitted to the bars of Ontario and New York. She volunteers with a number of organizations, is actively engaged in policy debates, and recently joined the Advisory Board of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. Catherine lives in Ottawa with her husband Scott Gilmore, the founder of Peace Dividend Trust, and their three young children. 

See Catherine's "World Music" selections on the Ottawa Citizen blog, The World Next Door.

Catherine est directrice générale et l’une des fondatrices d’Avocats canadiens à l’étranger. Bien que passionnée par son pays (et par sa ville, Hamilton), Catherine a toujours aimé travailler et vivre à l’étranger. Après avoir terminé son baccalauréat en relations internationales et en français à l’Université de Toronto, elle a filmé un documentaire en Asie, Real Travels: 60 days in Indonesia. Elle a ensuite fait une maîtrise en relations internationales à la London School of Economics et des études de droit à McGill. En 1997, elle a travaillé comme agente de politique commerciale au ministère des Affaires étrangères. Puis, repartant en Asie, Catherine a exercé comme avocate dans une grande entreprise à Jakarta, avant de se joindre à une mission de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies au Timor-Oriental, en tant que conseillère juridique auprès du ministre en chef pour les négociations du Traité de la Mer du Timor avec l’Australie. En 2002, Catherine est entrée chez Stikeman Elliott, pour y travailler dans les domaines de la concurrence, du commerce et du droit constitutionnel. En même temps, elle était avocate principale pour l’examen du système de justice militaire sous la direction du très honorable Antonio Lamer. Catherine a écrit un certain nombre d’articles et de rapports sur des modifications proposées pour la Loi sur la concurrence et elle a témoigné devant des comités parlementaires. Elle fait du bénévolat pour diverses organisations, elle participe activement aux débats politiques et elle siège depuis peu au conseil consultatif du Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. Catherine vit à Ottawa avec son mari Scott Gilmore, fondateur du Peace Dividend Trust, et leurs trois jeunes enfants.

Yasmin developed an interest in international affairs and Canada's role in the world while a student at King's College. The following year she further pursued this passion at the London School of Economics by completing a Master's degree in International Relations, focusing her thesis on the labour movement's response to the forces of globalization. After a year of traveling, she returned to Canada to complete an LLB at McGill University and took an interest in human rights law, legal philosophy and international trade law. She later worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on NAFTA Chapter 11 litigation, and a major Toronto law firm in the area of corporate and international trade law. She continues to work in the area of international investment arbitration and free trade agreement negotiations, and is co-founder of Canadian Lawyers Abroad – Avocats canadiens à l'étranger.

Rosella has been actively involved in international development and human rights issues for the last ten years. While completing a Master's Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy at Schiller International University, she focused her research on the international laws and agencies that served unaccompanied minor children during wartime. Subsequently, she traveled in Asia, Africa and South America working on various development projects concerned predominantly with healthcare and education. During this time, she also co-founded a non-profit organisation in San Francisco. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at McGill University in 2000, she practiced corporate law at a large Toronto firm.