Women To Watch 2025 honoree LaFonda Willis

LaFonda Willis is a securities lawyer, stock market strategist, thought leader, and former entrepreneur, dedicated to advancing capital markets and economic empowerment. Her sharp mind and rare blend of legal expertise, market insight, and business acumen establish her as a trusted advisor at the critical intersection where business, law, equity markets, and financial innovation converge.

In her legal practice, LaFonda focuses on financial services involving fintechs, securities, commodities, and trading and markets activity. She advises U.S. stock exchanges, alternative trading platforms, investment banking firms, crypto market participants, and global market makers in regulatory matters. She also represents publicly traded companies, registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, and crypto market participants in regulatory proceedings, arbitration, and litigation.

Before entering private practice, LaFonda served as a federal judicial law clerk for both the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Having worked in the chambers of federal judges, LaFonda gained unique insight into how federal decisions shape market-moving outcomes. She now leverages that perspective—along with her experience as a securities regulatory lawyer, stock market researcher, and former entrepreneur—to translate legal, policy, and regulatory shifts into meaningful market insights and actionable intelligence for clients in the capital markets, giving them a distinct, competitive edge.

LaFonda is also a champion for women and diversity in the legal profession and financial services industry. She currently serves as:

• A three-time ABA Presidential Appointee and Special Advisor to the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.

• Co-Chair of the Securities Regulatory & Small Business Subcommittees for the ABA Section of Litigation’s Woman Advocate Committee.

• Co-Chair of the Payments & Electronic Banking Subcommittee of the ABA Banking Law Committee.

• Strategic Advisor to the Women Business Collaborative’s Women’s Capital Summit (a premier, two-day, in-person convening of capital experts, investors, and women-owned businesses to advance access to capital for women entrepreneurs).

LaFonda’s leadership and impact have been recognized with GWAC’s President’s Award (2023) for convening best-in-class panels that inspire, uplift, and empower Black Americans and women in the legal profession and financial services industry, and GWAC’s Rising Star Award (2024) for her career accomplishments and contributions to the DC legal community and beyond.

These honors reflect not only LaFonda’s leadership, but also her commitment as a passionate advocate for access to opportunity and economic empowerment. Through multiple platforms—including speaking engagements and her podcast called At The Money™—she draws on her background in teaching, entrepreneurship, and investing, to normalize and democratize conversations about money and how to build and grow wealth.

Fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI) and committed to lifelong learning,

LaFonda loves researching investment and wealth-building opportunities in

emerging tech and the AI industry. She is passionate about sharing insights on AI and digital assets to help others capitalize on the AI revolution and rapidly evolving, wealth-generating digital economy.

LaFonda earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of

Miami (FL) Herbert School of Business, two master’s degrees, and a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from UDC David A. Clarke School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Outside of her professional work, LaFonda enjoys nature, water, and hydrotherapy, cherishes time with family and friends, and loves traveling abroad—especially to Africa and the Caribbean.