Guest speakers biographies
Browse through this page to find more information on our guest speakers.
Eric Biel: Eric Biel is Managing Director for Corporate Responsibility at Burson-Marsteller, advising clients on a range of policy issues covering the environment and sustainable development, human rights, labor rights, reporting and transparency initiatives, and related areas. His work includes policy development and implementation, risk assessment, strategic engagement with different stakeholders, measuring clients’environmental and other corporate responsibilityprograms vis-à-vis peers and competitors, and analyzing compliance with applicable environmental and labor standards. Prior to joining Burston-Marsteller in July 2006, Eric Biel spent three years as Deputy Washington Director and Senior Counsel oh Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights).
Prof. Richard Feinberg: Richard Feinberg is Professor of International Political Economy at the University of California, San Diego. Professor Feinberg is an authority on U.S. foreign policy, multilateral institutions, and summitry. He is also an expert on trade and investment, globalization, democratization, and non-governmental organizations. Professor Feinberg serves as director of the San Diego Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Study Center, dedicated to research, scholarly exchange and public education on subjects of interests to APEC member countries. He is co-director of the Leadership Council on Inter-American Summitry, a blue-ribbon council that evaluates progress in U.S.-Latin American relations.
Scott Jerbi: Scott Jerbi is a senior advisor for the Ethical Globalization Initiative. He previously worked for six years in the Executive Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he was a speechwriter for the High Commissioner and the focal point for the development of the Office’s activities relating to the private sector. Before joining the United Nations, Scott Jerbi was a Program Coordinator with the Amherst Wilder Foundation, a non-profit health and human services organization serving low-income individuals and families in the central neighborhoods and communities in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Scott Jerbi received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA; his graduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami, USA; and a post-graduate certificate from the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.
John Von Kaufmann: John von Kaufmann is currently Counsellor for human rights at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN in Geneva. John worked as a legal officer in the UN, Human Rights, and International Humanitarian Law section at Foreign Affairs, where he was legal advisor to the Canadian delegations to the Third Committee and to the Commission on Human Rights. John von Kaufmann also participated in the UN working group which completed the UN Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and worked on the draft UN and OAS declarations on the rights of indigenous peoples and on the issue of an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. John von Kaufmann holds a BA in international relations and political science from Brown University, and a JD in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto.
Dr. York Lunau: York Lunau joined the Novartis Foundation in 2006, reinforcing its capacity concerning Corporate Responsibility issues. York Lunau’s last position was leading the consulting activities of the Institute for Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen. His doctoral thesis (2000) was on Business Ethics and Consulting.
Dominique Michel: A lawyer and an economist, Dominique Michel has held various positions in the private sector (Belgium and Germany) and in the United Nations (New York). He was Secretary General of Belgium’s largest trade association and Employers organisations until November 2006. He joigned the International Labour Organisation in December 2006 to become Head of the Multinational Enterprises Programme.
Prof. Bernard Morard: Bernard Morard is teaching Management with at the University og Geneva. He is the dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciencce of the University of Geneva. Bernard Morard holds a Doctorate of management and a State Doctorate from the University of Aix-Marseille III. His research studies and publications focus mainly on management accounting and finance.
Soraya Ramoul: Soraya Ramouyl is Adviser in Corporate Responsibility at the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, Corporate Relations. She is responsible for developing and implementing human rights and corporate responsibility strategies for Novo Nordisk. Soraya Ramoul holds a Master in EU and international law. She has previous to her position in Novo Nordisk been a consultant in human rights and business. She is representing Novo Nordisk at various fora including the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR).
Dr. Liz Umlas: Liz Umlas is reponsible for coordinating KLD’s human rights research, with an emphasis on supply chain labor standards. She has participated as an invited expert in United Nations initiatives such as the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and has served on review boards for a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. She has taught human rights as an adjunct professor in Kent State University’s Geneva program. Prior to joining KLD, Liz was the manager of policy research at Oxfam America, and has worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, and is currently based in Geneva.
Luke Wilde: Luke Wilde is the director of TwentyFifty Limited. In 1998, he was senior management adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and began a dialogue with her about business and human rights. Over the past decade he has played a major role in developing corporate engagement and practice in the field of human rights; developing with Sally Britton the first corporate training programme on business and human rights, playing a major role in the creation of and advising the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights, contributing to publications of the UN Global Compact and speaking at major conferences, establishing the Basic Services Human Rights Network for the energy and water sector, and founding TwentyFifty Limited as a business and human rights consultancy.
Kamil Zabielski: Kamil Zabielski has worked as a Senior Executive Officer for the Council of Ethics of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund since it became operational in 2005. With a background in Human Rights and International Law, his work primarily deals with companies which are potentially breaching the human rights criteria of the Funds Ethical Guidelines. To date, he has been involved in numerous cases, most notably, the Wal-Mart disinvestment recommendation.
