Leadership

The practitioners guiding the network.

ConstructHER Global Legal Network is anchored by a distinguished Steering Council whose presence brings credibility, institutional insight, and international perspective to every initiative.

Founder

Mehak Oberoi

Global

Mehak conceptualized ConstructHER after years of working across projects, jurisdictions, and disputes within the construction industry. A consistent pattern stood out: women were contributing meaningfully to complex, high-value matters, yet their work and voices were often less visible in industry forums. The network is her effort to change that dynamic — making experience visible, encouraging rigorous professional dialogue, and ensuring fewer women navigate this industry in isolation.

Steering Council

Founder and Managing Partner

Mary Mutupa, MCIArb

iSettle Management Consultants · Lusaka, Zambia

Mary is a Legal and ADR Expert specializing in Arbitration, Construction Adjudication and Mediation, with over a decade of dispute resolution practice and 22 years of professional experience across domestic and international levels. She serves as Sole Arbitrator and Tribunal Member in commercial and investment disputes spanning construction & infrastructure, energy, mining, banking & finance, public procurement, and real estate, and handles multi-million-dollar disputes. As Founder & Managing Partner of iSettle Managing Consultants, the first independent arbitration practice in Zambia, she delivers high-level dispute resolution services across multiple sectors. A Thought Leader in ADR, she is active in publications, training, and institutional leadership to advance arbitration, mediation, and adjudication across Africa and beyond. She has 5+ years of university-level lecturing in International Commercial Arbitration, Alternative Dispute Resolution, International Trade Law, and Commercial Law, and is a Strategic Advisor & Capacity Builder with a strong track record in judicial training, skills training for arbitrators and arbitration counsel, ADR system strengthening, and multi-stakeholder engagement. She is the former Vice Chair of Ciarb Zambia Branch, a 2026/2027 Group Advisor to Young ICCA, a Member of Ciarb and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), a Steering Committee Member of ConstructHER Legal Network, a member of the African Arbitration Association, and a Board Member of the Africa ADR Practice Institute.

Director, HKA

Iryna Akulenka, FCIArb MRICS

Dubai, UAE

Construction quantum expert and dispute resolution practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience across the UAE, UK, Saudi Arabia, Oman, South Africa, Tanzania, and CIS countries. Dual-qualified in electrical engineering and construction law and arbitration, she is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a RICS Registered Expert Witness, and sits as an arbitrator across DIAC, HKIAC, LCIA, AIAC, and ADGM. At HKA she has led quantum matters across energy, infrastructure, buildings, and oil and gas projects in over 50 international disputes. A member of the ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration and ADR Steering Council, she sits on advisory boards at the American University and British University in Dubai, and was recognised in the Lexology Index – Construction Expert Witness 2025.

Former General Counsel and Arbitrator

Rashmi Kathpalia

India

Highly regarded arbitrator, mediator, and independent legal professional with close to three decades of experience in construction, energy, and EPC law. As former Head Senior VP, Legal & Compliance (India) at Technip Energies and TechnipFMC, she led legal strategy across multi-billion dollar EPC projects spanning fertilisers, hydrogen generation, and oil and gas infrastructure. She has appeared as counsel in arbitration proceedings and holds a deep track record in high-value contract negotiations, regulatory interface, and governance. She delivered the Vote of Thanks at ConstructHER's inaugural international webinar in March 2026.

Managing Partner, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners

Shweta Bharti

New Delhi, India

Managing Partner of Hammurabi & Solomon Partners and one of India's prominent dispute resolution practitioners, with over two decades of litigation and arbitration experience. She has appeared before the Supreme Court of India, all major High Courts, and international arbitral institutions including ICC, SIAC, and LCIA. Her practice spans dispute resolution, arbitration, insolvency and bankruptcy, real estate, and corporate commercial advisory. An alumna of Harvard Business School, she holds a dual MBA in International Trade and Marketing, an LLB from the University of Delhi, and an LLM in Corporate & Financial Law from Jindal Global Law School. She is the Jurisdictional Council Member for India at IPBA and a frequent speaker at domestic and international legal forums.

Partner, HFW

Jo Delaney

Sydney, Australia

Partner in HFW's construction and international arbitration practice in Sydney, with 25 years of experience in complex cross-border disputes across construction, energy, infrastructure, and investment treaty arbitration. She has conducted arbitrations under all major institutional rules — ICC, LCIA, SIAC, AAA, UNCITRAL, and ICSID — across Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, acting as both counsel and arbitrator. She is one of Australia's two members of the ICC Court of Arbitration, a member of the ACICA Practice and Procedures Board, and sits on the CIArb Practice and Standards Committee. Recognised in Best Lawyers Australia since 2019 and listed on the Legal 500 Arbitration Powerlist for Australia and New Zealand.

Global Head of Operations, ConstructHER · Associate Professor & Head, Centre for Conflict Resolution

Dr. Apoorva Dixit

School of Law, GD Goenka University · India

Legal academic, accredited mediator, and certified arbitrator specialising in ADR, corporate law, and online dispute resolution. She holds a Ph.D. in Arbitration Law and heads the Centre for Conflict Resolution at GD Goenka University, a collaborative initiative with the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM). With over a decade of teaching and research experience, she is also a certified POSH trainer and a recipient of the IIAM Excellence Award for Women in Law & Academics (2026) and the Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Best Faculty Award (2021). She has co-authored published research with Mehak Oberoi on harmonisation of institutional arbitration rules.

Senior Counsel & Head of International Arbitration, WongPartnership LLP

Koh Swee Yen, SC

Singapore

Senior Counsel and Head of the International Arbitration Practice at WongPartnership LLP, Singapore. Appointed Senior Counsel in 2022 — the youngest female active court practitioner in Singapore to receive this distinction — she handles complex, high-value, multi-jurisdictional disputes across infrastructure, energy, commodities, and investment treaty arbitration. She appears regularly before the Singapore Courts, the Singapore International Commercial Court, and in ICC, ICSID, LCIA, SIAC, ICDR, and UNCITRAL arbitrations. She is a member of the ICC Court, sits on the ICCA Governing Board, and is Co-Chair of the IPBA Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee. She has been designated by Singapore to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and is ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader in Who's Who Legal: Arbitration 2024 — a distinction reserved for the top 5% of practitioners worldwide.