Speakers

Roberto Suarez Santos

Secretary-General - International Organisation of Employers

Roberto Suárez Santos is a highly regarded leader with a profound impact on the global landscape of employment and labour-related issues. Since his appointment as Secretary-General of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in October 2018, he has been at the forefront of shaping the future of labour policies and advocating for small, medium and large employers worldwide. Under his guidance, IOE has grown into the largest private sector network globally, comprising 159 business and employer organisation members across 150 countries. Roberto’s tenure has solidified IOE as the powerful and balanced voice of business at the international level, influencing policies and shaping the future of work on a global scale.

Some of his major achievements as Secretary General include expanding IOE’s participation in the B20, broadening the scope of the organisation’s work on gender, climate and employment, digitalisation, human rights and business as well as assuring the continued expertise on industrial relations, labour migration and sustainable enterprises. Roberto has also spearheaded vital skilling and capacity-building initiatives in Africa and Latin America. In 2023, Roberto Suárez Santos continues to lead, exemplifying dedication, expertise, and unwavering commitment to the world of employment and business.

Before assuming his current role, Roberto served as Deputy Secretary-General of the IOE from December 2012, showcasing his dedication and expertise in the field. His commitment to the cause of youth employment is evident through his tenure as ILO Programme Director, where he championed opportunities for young people in the Maghreb region. Roberto’s professional experience in the world of employment and business extends even further. He honed his skills and insights at the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organisations, where he delved into areas such as labour policies, labour relations, and the pressing issue of youth unemployment. His influence reverberated on the global stage as he assumed the role of Vice President for Labour Affairs at BUSINESSEUROPE and Vice-President of Business at the OECD’s Employment and Labour Affairs Committee. He also played pivotal roles in various follow-up committees for the European Social Fund and the EU Economic and Social Committee.

Notably, Roberto was also an associate professor of European Social Law at prestigious institutions like the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Spain. His academic background enriches his perspective and lends depth to his leadership.

Severino Lima Jr.

President - International Alliance of Waste Pickers

FOUNDER TOGETHER WITH OTHER WASTE PICKERS OF ASCAMAR IN 1999 AND COOCAMAR IN 2007.

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE (RN) IN THE CREATION OF THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT OF WASTE PICKERS (MNCR) IN 2001.

UNICATADORES (National Union of Waste Pickers) INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY

CO-FOUNDER OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN NETWORK OF WASTE PICKERS (Red Lacre).

REPRESENTATIVE OF Red Lacre ON LATITUDE R.

FOUNDING MEMBER AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WAST PICKERS (IAWP) 2024-2029

FOUNDER AND INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY OF UNICATADORES.

Base waste picker of the COOCAMAR Cooperative located in Natal-RN, he has been carrying out waste picking activities since his adolescence, starting in the city’s old landfill, founding there the ASCAMAR and COOCAMAR organizations with door-to-door selective collection work in Natal and then moving on to construction along with leaders from several states in Brazil of the MNCR National Movement of Waste Pickers with a major meeting held in Brasília in 2001, thus creating the first national meeting of waste pickers, which gave rise where in 2016 to the organization UNICATADORES National Union of Waste Pickers from Brazil currently affiliated with IAWP INTERNACIONAL ALLIANCE OF WASTE PICKER, carring out various activities of national and international relevance, alongside leaders from Chile and Colombia, they build RED LACRE Latin American and Caribbean Network of Waste Pickers with the current participation of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Dominican Republic, Mexico.

He is a delegated member of the IAWP, nominated by the Brazilian delegation to participate in the UNEA conferences on the International Plastics Treaty, with considerable participation in the INC meetings.

Severino has participated in the plastics treaty negotiations known as INCs Participates on behalf of UNICATADORES Brasil in the last International Assembly of the ILO held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, where together with the sister networks STREET NET, FITH and HOMENET they have been seeking an alliance for the construction of the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WORKERS of the CIRCULAR SOLIDARITY ECONOMY within of the precepts of the Just Transition.

Currently coordinates the participation of waste pickers in the COP 30 climate conference that will be held in Brazil in 2025 in the city of Belém, which is part of the Brazilian AMAZONIA, with the aim of promoting greater participation of the waste picking sector in this important international even

Annerieke Douma

Director of Programs - The Circulate Initiative

Annerieke is the Director of Programs for The Circulate Initiative, a non-profit organization committed to solving the plastic pollution challenge and building circular and equitable economies across emerging markets. In her role, Annerieke oversees strategic programs and partnerships at The Circulate Initiative, working closely with corporations, governments, investors, and local innovators to accelerate insights and action on the ground. She spearheads The Circulate Initiative’s Responsible Sourcing Initiative, designed to facilitate multi-stakeholder consensus and collaboration to scale sector-wide inclusive practices across the plastics value chain. She also leads The Circulate Initiative’s work on the Urban Ocean program (a collaboration with Ocean Conservancy and Resilient Cities Network), which focuses on building resilient, circular cities and mapping out blueprints for more countries to embrace a sustainable transition. Annerieke has over 15 years’ experience in sustainability, specifically devoted to supporting the shift from a linear economy to a more inclusive, circular economy across cities and industries. Prior to her role at The Circulate Initiative, she served on the Board of Directors for global impact organization Circle Economy.

Her work involved the development and management of global and regional programs, including two of the organization’s main initiatives – Cities & Regions and Circular Jobs Initiative. She was also responsible for driving partnerships with institutional, governmental, and corporate stakeholders, and led fundraising efforts for Circle Economy across different regions. Born in the Philippines and living in Indonesia, Annerieke has personally witnessed the severity of the region’s climate challenges and feels passionately about contributing to solutions that will help to protect the Earth. Within Asia, she has worked with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) to pilot new circular jobs projects across different sectors..

Annerieke has a strong understanding of Southeast Asia’s plastics ecosystem, having gained on-ground experience when she led waste management projects in Indonesia, including the Plastic in Circles – Smart Waste Collective project funded by P4G (World Resource Institute). She currently holds a seat on the Expert Group of Indonesia’s Nusantara New Capital. Recognized for her expertise and leadership in the circular economy, Annerieke has provided her insights to various global reports designed to inform stakeholder decisions and actions. This includes participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Expert Review of the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report and contributing to the development of Global Circularity Gap Report 2018 and 2019. She is currently an advisory board member for the impact-focused Chemistry Design Consultancy. Annerieke graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a master’s degree in law and holds a degree in French Arts & Literature from Aix-Marseille University (formally incorporated as Université d’Aix-Marseille). She obtained a certification in Environmental Impact Assessment from the Delft University of Technology.

Jonathan C. Drimmer

Co-Chair of the ESG Risk, Strategy, and Compliance Practice - Paul Hastings

Jonathan C. Drimmer is Co-Chair of the ESG Risk, Strategy, and Compliance practice based in Washington, D.C. office of Paul Hastings. He is Senior Advisor at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), North American Expert Advisor to the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights, and Strategic Advisor to the Secretariat of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs).

He represents and advises companies, governments, multi-stakeholder initiatives, NGOs, and others on business and human rights-related legal issues. His practice spans all aspects of business and human rights, and includes companies across a wide range of sectors, including agricultural, consumer goods, and food and beverage companies. Over his career, he has conducted or overseen hundreds of human rights and international humanitarian law-related investigations across numerous issues and geographies. He has represented and counseled companies involved in disputes in scores of judicial and non-judicial forums, such as transnational tort cases, OECD National Contact Point Specific Instances, UN Special Procedures inquiries, and human rights commission claims, served as an independent monitor for corporate grievance mechanisms in Africa following legal settlements, and been retained as an expert witness on issues related to responsible business conduct. He has advised companies and governments on cutting-edge legislative and regulatory initiatives and Parliamentary and Congressional inquiries. He has performed and supervised scores human rights assessments and due diligence exercises associated with transactions, business changes, or operational performance. He has assisted in establishing governance frameworks, management systems, and compliance programs for a wide range of entities, including companies, NGOs, and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

He is the former Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Barrick Gold, one of the world’s largest mining companies, where he developed among the first global human rights programs after the adoption of the UNGPs. He is ranked by Chambers as Band 1 for Business and Human Rights Law, on the Federal Advisory Committee for Responsible Business Conduct, on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Good Governance, and an Advisor to the Global Sustainability Standards Board. He is on the board of directors for Human Rights First, Fund for Peace, and the TRACE Foundation.

He is a former Deputy Director of the Office of Special Investigations, in the U.S. Department of Justice, a former Bristow Fellow in the Office of the U.S. Solicitor General, and has taught international humanitarian law courses at Georgetown Law Center for nearly 20 years. Based on his body of work, Mr. Drimmer has been recognized as one of the world’s leading attorneys in ethics and compliance by Ethisphere Magazine, was selected by the National Law Journal as Regulatory & Compliance Trailblazer, was recognized by Legal Era as one of the top 100 in-house counsel in the world, and was selected by Law500 as one of the 100 most influential in-house counsel in the U.S. and Canada.

Josie Lianna Kaye

Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Swiss-based social Enterprise - TrustWorks Global

Josie is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Swiss-based social enterprise, TrustWorks Global. Josie’s expertise lies in supporting businesses and investors to operate in ways that are conflict-sensitive and, where possible, peace-promoting; she has over 18 years of experience working with public and private sector actors in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Josie holds a PhD from the University of Oxford on the role of licit and illicit business actors in the dynamics of conflict and peace.

Josie has over ten years of experience working with companies on responsible business in conflict-affected and high-risk areas. As part of her role at TrustWorks she has: undertaken conflict-sensitivity and heightened human rights due diligence (hHRDD) assessment for multi-national corporations of their operations and supply chains; provided training, mentoring and accompaniment to senior leaders and operational staff on conflict-sensitivity; mediated/facilitated between companies and key stakeholder groups on contentious issues; and, advised companies on a wide range of issues related to policies, governance processes and practices in conflict contexts. Josie also recently formed part of the TrustWorks team responsible for developing the UNDP training programme for companies on hHRDD, due to be released shortly.

Josie also has extensive experience with investors having provided tailored support to diverse commercial and impact investors, as well as Development Financial Institutions/Multilateral Development Banks. For example, as part of the ongoing partnership with Geneva-based equity investor, De Pury Pictet Turrettini in the context of their Cadmos Peace European Engagement Fund, Josie leads all TrustWorks’ engagements with portfolio companies on issues related to hHRDD and conflict-sensitivity. Josie leads TrustWorks’ flagship initiative on the Peace Impact Framework designed to promote conflict-sensitive SME Facilities as part of a broader data-driven solution developed in partnership with Tunis-based data analytics experts, MajestEYE, called PeaceEYE. Josie also led TrustWorks’ engagements with the Dutch Development Bank (FMO), the Inter-American Bank (IDB) and the French Development Bank (Proparco).

Formerly, Josie worked with UN agencies, funds and programmes on issues related to mediation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, with a particular focus on land and natural resource conflicts. She began her career at Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR), where she became Assistant Director, a Staff Associate of Research and an adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, also at Columbia University.

Jonathan C. Drimmer

Partner, Paul Hastings

Jonathan C. Drimmer is a partner in the Investigations and White-Collar Defense practice of Paul Hastings, based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading attorneys on business and human rights, and is a frequent speaker, author and commentator on human rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs), the UK Modern Slavery Act, and Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues more generally.

Mr. Drimmer is known for undertaking a practical, efficient, and often creative approach that uniquely considers hard and soft law standards, as well as stakeholder expectations, to appropriately calibrate and address relevant legal and operational risks. He is the former Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Barrick Gold, one of the world’s largest mining companies. At Barrick, he developed among the first global human rights programs after the groundbreaking adoption of the UNGPs. He thus is perhaps the only private practitioner to have designed, implemented, and overseen a global human rights program regulatory for a major multi-national company. The program he built at Barrick has served as an industry standard, and elements of it have largely been duplicated by numerous other companies in and outside of the extractive sector. As one publication noted, Mr. Drimmer has “amass[ed] global accolades for compliance innovations” (Law 360, May 25, 2019), and aspects of Barrick’s human rights program are the subject of a 2016 Harvard Business School Case Study.

Mr. Drimmer regularly represents and advises companies, governments, multi-stakeholder initiatives, NGOs, and others on business and human rights and ESG-related legal issues. His practice spans all aspects of business and human rights, and includes companies in the technology, life sciences, extractive, agricultural, food and beverage, footwear and apparel, insurance, and financial services sectors. Over his career, he has conducted or overseen hundreds of human rights-related investigations across a range of issues and geographies. He has represented and counseled companies involved in disputes in numerous judicial and non-judicial forums, such as transnational tort cases, OECD National Contact Point Specific Instances, UN inquiries, and human rights commission claims. He has advised companies and governments on cutting edge legislative and regulatory initiatives, and Parliamentary and Congressional inquiries. He has performed scores of human rights assessments and due diligence exercises associated with transactions, business changes, or operational performance. He has assisted in establishing governance frameworks, management systems, and compliance programs for a wide range of entities, including companies, NGOs, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. He regularly reviews non-financial disclosures on human rights and ESG to assess potential litigation and reputational risks.

Based on his body of work, Mr. Drimmer has been recognized as one of the world’s leading attorneys in ethics and compliance by Ethisphere Magazine, was selected by the National Law Journal as Regulatory & Compliance Trailblazer, was recognized by Legal Era as one of the top 100 in-house counsel in the world and was selected by Law500 as one of the 100 most influential in-house counsel in the U.S. and in Canada. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the Global Compact Network Canada and the UN Global Compact Business for Peace initiative and served on the Board of Directors of the VPs from 2012-2014 and 2015-2017. He is a Strategic Advisor for the Secretariat of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, a Senior Advisor to the consultancy Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), and the North American Advisor to the Global Business Initiative (GBI). He is on the faculty of Competent Boards, which trains board members on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, and repeatedly has spoken at and/or chaired every major human rights conference in North America.

He previously served in the Justice Department as Deputy Director of the Criminal Division’s Office of Special Investigations, where he led cross-border investigations involving international humanitarian law violations, first-chaired numerous prosecutions, and argued federal appeals, and received the first U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Award for Human Rights Law Enforcement. He is a former Bristow Fellow in the Office of the U.S. Solicitor General, and a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has taught international law courses at Georgetown University Law Center for nearly 20 years.

EDUCATION

UCLA School of Law
Stanford University

Amaia Nichols

Amy Carr

Andrea Shemberg

Annerieke Douma

Avedis H. Seferian

Benjamin Gatland

Carla Caballeros

Claude Voillat

Daria Toschi

Didier Bergeret

Doug Cassel

Ewa Staworzynska

Filippo Spiezia

Francis West

Giles Bolton

Glenn Spencer

Jenny Holdcroft

Jason Pegat-Toquet

Jennifer Easterday

Jessica Leinwand

John Morrison

Jessica Rivas

Jonathan C. Drimmer

Josie Lianna Kaye

Kristen Albertson

Kindra Mohr

Lene Bjørn Serpa

Mark Wielga

Rachel Rigby

Richa Mittal

Roberto Suarez Santos

Sam Jones

Severino Lima Jr.

Sinisa Milatovic

Shannon Stewart

Stephanie Ferguson

Tania Espinosa

Till Olbrich

Vicky Bowman

Vivien Luk

Whitney Baird

Yousuf Aftab