Meet Our Team

As an SAI Trainer in Brazil, Alberto Viña works primarily with wastepicker cooperatives as part of our iWrc Program. Alberto has been a social auditor since 2008 and has worked for several major auditing firms. He brings extensive experience conducting social audits as well as technical interpretation of law, including both international and local requirements regarding labor, health and safety, and environmental law in Brazil. He has conducted training on social audits for both factories and auditors.

Alberto holds a Law Degree from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie.

As Senior Manager of Strategic Engagement and Content at SAI, Alex leads a centralized team supporting content development, knowledge management, and program design in addition to communications, marketing, and strategy across SAI’s programs and for the organization as a whole. The team promotes consistency, coherency, and mission-focus across technical outputs and communications based on SAI’s shared theory of change and strategic plan. Alex worked previously as Manager of Communications and Marketing at SAI.

Before joining SAI, Alex was a coordinator and communications assistant at NYU Division of Libraries for their five-year strategic planning process and supported communications in education- and human rights-focused nonprofits. Alex has a Master of Public Administration degree from NYU Wagner School of Public Service where she focused her research on human rights in the global value chain. She has a bachelor’s degree from The University of Chicago, where she studied East Asian Languages & Civilizations and Human Rights.

Badrinath Gulur serves as the Director of Training and Capacity Building with SAI, and as Senior Accreditation Auditor at Social Accountability Accreditation Services. Since joining SAI in 2001, Badri has been involved with the development and implementation of a range of training and accreditation programs. He has instructed SA8000 auditor and advanced training courses and provided technical assistance in the field of sustainability and social accountability for organizations across a multitude of sectors in over 75 countries. Before joining SAI, Badri was the CEO of a Swiss Consulting company providing consulting and training services in the fields of social accountability, environmental, and Health & Safety Management Systems. He has previously worked as country manager, lead auditor, and senior trainer for Bureau Veritas for various management systems standards. Badri holds a master’s degree in Urban Environmental Management from the Erasmus University & Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands.

Carlos Vazquez is an Assessor, Trainer, and Facilitator for Mexico Awareness Raising, a USDOL grant project—led by Partners of the Americas and supported by SAI—that endeavors to raise awareness amongst key stakeholders about the country’s recent labor reforms. In coordination with the rest of the team, Carlos develops training materials, trains employers, hosts summits, and makes connections between SAI and key stakeholders in Mexico’s manufacturing industries. He also provides logistical support to the field team in delivering services (webinars, workshops, summits and assessments). 

Carlos has worked since 2007 in industrial facilities design as an engineer supervisor. His professional experience has focused on conceptual engineering, detail engineering, and construction-at-site, in compliance with international health and safety norms, such as OSHAS 18001, NFPA 101, NOM-STPS.

Christian Botta is an Administrative Assistant in SAI’s Finance Department. He is responsible for supporting administrative, accounting, and operational projects across the organization’s departments and programs.

Before joining SAI, Christian Botta worked as a Bookkeeper and Administrative Assistant for the American Musicological Society, a non-profit academic society affiliated with NYU. In that position, he performed various financial, membership, event planning and administrative tasks. Christian is also an accomplished professional guitarist.

Christian holds a Master of Arts in Musicology from The City College, CUNY, and a Bachelor of Music from Mannes College of Music in New York.

Christie Daly is the Director of SAI’s Corporate Programs. Christie manages service delivery to SAI’s corporate members, including Social Fingerprint evaluations, supplier and supply-chain management training, and multi-stakeholder panels. She is also responsible for developing capacity building programs for other corporate partners.
Before joining SAI, Christie worked as a Project Associate with the New York City Department of Education in the Office of Public and Community Affairs. She has previously conducted research for the NYU School of Law, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice on a wide range of business and human rights issues.
Daly holds a master’s degree from New York University Center for Global Affairs with a concentration in Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance. She received her bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College.

Claudia Derbez Fernández is the Executive Advisor for Sustentar, our project to improve labor conditions in Mexico’s tomato and chile pepper supply chains. In her role, Claudia helps to oversee day-to-day implementation of Sustentar, liaising with all stakeholders, partners, and USDOL to ensure the project goals and targets are achieved.

Claudia has an extensive background managing public and social sector projects related to labor rights, entrepreneurship, and international development. Her latest role was Sustentar Project Director from August 2022 to March 2024. Before that, she led implementation of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project “Closing Gaps: Making Social Protection Work for Women in Mexico,” where she worked directly with agricultural workers and employers in Mexico to design and implement social protection policies in the sector. She has managed and worked on additional projects in Mexico, both international and government-sponsored, focused on youth development, supporting micro-entrepreneurship for rural women and rights for agricultural workers.

Claudia holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana and an MSc in Inequalities and Social Science from the London School of Economics.

D.K.S. Moorthy, a Lead Accreditation Auditor and Client Manager with SAAS since 2010, is a Graduate Mechanical Engineer from University of Madras, India. He has many years of work experience in the fields of Construction Project Management, Project Quality Assurance, and Third-Party Certification.
Mr. Moorthy gained experience through initial association with well-reputed organizations like Larsen & Toubro, Engineers India Limited, and Det Norske Veritas (DNV), with whom he served for 28 years. Mr. Moorthy retired in September 2009 from DNV as their Head of Sustainability & Business Excellence Group in India, where he had overall responsibility for DNV’s services in the areas of CSR, Corporate Governance, Enterprise Risk Management, Business Excellence Models, and Ethical Supply Chain Management. He was responsible for DNV’s accreditation for SA8000 and BSCI audits globally and represented DNV as a member of the Advisory Board of SAI.
As a Lead Auditor in Quality (ISO 9001), Environment (ISO 14001), Occupational Health & Safety (OHSAS-18001), and Social Accountability Management Systems (SA8000), he has carried out audits of more than 1,000 organisations in Engineering, Process, Chemical, Oil & Gas, and Nuclear Industries. He has traveled widely and worked in India, the Middle East, and Europe in connection with his assignments. Mr. Moorthy is a native Tamil speaker and fluently speaks Hindi and English.

Florencia Gonzalez serves as a trainer for SAI programs in Latin America.
An accredited SA8000 lead auditor, Florencia has over 100 hours of social auditing/verifications experience, specializing in standards and codes of conduct such as ETI/SMETA, GRASP, World Bank IFC, Assa Abloy, and Conad, among others. Since 2011, she has been an instructor and consultant in the areas of sustainability and social management systems for commerce, agriculture, construction, tourism and airports.
Florencia has over 25 years of experience in sustainable tourism, including marketing, research, design and commercialization of tourism products. Her experience also includes sustainable management systems development and implementation.
Florencia holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Tourism Management from the Universidad de la Cooperación Internacional (UCI) in Costa Rica and a Postgraduate Degree in Social Responsibility from Universidad Castilla de la Mancha, UCLM in Spain.

As Senior Manager of Corporate Programs and Training at SAI, Hannah Crane manages service delivery to SAI’s corporate clients and members, including Social Fingerprint evaluations, supplier and supply-chain management training, and multi-stakeholder panels. She also develops capacity-building and training programs for corporate partners and a variety of other stakeholders.

Previously, Hannah was Senior Manager of Institutional Memberships at NationSwell, where she managed a portfolio of Institutional Members from the corporate, philanthropic, non-profit, and financial sectors. She has previously served as a Program Fellow at SAI, supporting research, writing, data analysis, and project management across our Corporate Programs and Innovations & Partnerships teams and as a research scholar and founding member of the Institute for Executive Education at NYU School of Law. Hannah has previous experience in leadership development and administration in higher education and she has been a contributing writer for HuffPost.

Hannah has an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business, a BA in Anthropology from NYU and previous coursework in Gender Politics at NYU.

As Research Project Manager at the Anker Research, Ian Prates manages and conducts research, writing, data analysis, project management and provides support for the Anker Research Institute.

Before joining SAI, Ian worked with Richard Anker and Martha Anker to develop Living Wage and Living Income estimates and reports from secondary qualitative data and national household surveys. He also has been a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, a researcher at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), and a researcher at the Observatory for Innovation and Competitiveness of the Institute for Higher Studies at the University of São Paulo (OIC/IEA/USP). His research has focused on social inequalities (with a focus on labor market, poverty, and social stratification by class, gender, and race) and the political economy of China and Latina America relations.

Ian has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of São Paulo and a BA in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil).

As a Project Manager and Coach for SAI, Isisun Zhang is responsible for providing training, technical assistance, and marketing support for various SAI programs in China.
Isisun has a professional background in social auditing and developing robust management systems for socially responsible workplaces. She has previously worked in the electronics, food, and garment industries.
Isisun is the founder of a non-profit organization called Agriculture Sustainable Development Goals. She holds an MBA from the Lanzhou University in China.

Jane Hwang serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Social Accountability International (SAI). Jane has two decades of experience at the intersection of business, human rights and international development. She has led significant growth and innovation of SAI’s programs, especially in corporate services, training and capacity building, partnerships and the incubation of new initiatives and start-ups. Jane co-created Social Fingerprint® and TenSquared—both highly effective and popular programs to measure and improve management systems, worker engagement, and social performance. She has co-authored guidance and served on working groups for international agencies such as the United Nations, The World Bank IFC, SASB, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), etc, and is on the founding Steering Committee of the Global Living Wage Coalition and the Board of the Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030.

Prior to joining SAI, Jane worked in corporate marketing and legal research, and has previous experience in behavioral sciences and medical research, as well as running a small business. She earned her BA and MBA from Columbia University.

Jane Liu has extensive experience in corporate social responsibility, having worked in a wide range of functions including auditing, consulting, and research. Before joining SAI’s full-time staff in 2019, Jane worked as an SAI consultant supporting training, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement initiatives in China.
Previously, Jane was Programme Director and Assistant Executive Director at the Institute of Contemporary Observation (ICO). She has worked in 12 different cities across China as a trainer for the International Labor Standards Advocacy Project, published the ICO’s China Labor Research Newsletter, and conducted worker education projects for more than 40,000 workers, 1,500 line supervisors, and 3,000 managers in nearly 500 factories. Her clients have included many major international brands and retailers, such as Walmart, Nike, DuPont, and Tchibo. Since 2015, Jane has served as a dialogue training facilitator on labor relations for the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) Shenzhen.
Jane holds two master’s degrees—in Journalism and in Design Art and Information Design—from Sichuan University and Kyushu University, respectively. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Culture from Sichuan International Studies University.

John Brookes serves as the Executive Director of Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS). SAAS is a division of SAI that is responsible for monitoring and assessing auditing companies that themselves evaluate conformity to social codes and standards, including accrediting SA8000 certification bodies.
John has years of experience as a management systems and accreditation specialist focused on voluntary conformity assessment and consensus standards in the field of social certification, accreditation, and monitoring. He has consulted on quality, environmental, and health and safety management systems, as well as training, auditing, and operational leadership services.
John has previously held operational, business development, and quality management positions at SGS and AIG. He also ran his own professional services business and contributed to the development of the ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Program for Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001). During this time, John also provided various pro-bono governance, audit, and paid consultative services to both SAAS and SAI, including contributions during the development and launch of the first SA8000 Standard in 1998.
Earlier in his career, John held positions as a Merchant Navy Radio Officer, Quality Engineer, Quality Consultant, and IRCA-certified ISO 9001 Lead Auditor.

John Georgantas brings to SAI 25 years of experience in senior management, strategic planning, global finance, financial analysis, and human resources. Before joining SAI, he was managing director at Roc Global Securities, an investment bank specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisition and private equity capital advisory services.
Previously, John was a partner and research director at Lydian Asset Management LP, an international convertible and credit arbitrage fund. In addition, he headed the firm’s philanthropic efforts, with grantees including Memorial Sloan Kettering and Tulane University. He has also held senior publishing analyst and management roles at Morgan Stanley and Kidder, Peabody & Co.
John has served on the boards of the McGivney Community Center and the Ensemble for the Romantic Century. In 2015, the Robin Hood Foundation selected him to participate in the inaugural cohort of LeaderLink, its non-profit financial leadership program.
John holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is fluent in Greek.

As Manager for Finance and Administration, Kelli McGrattan is responsible for the coordination of workplace operations and procedures at SAI.
She has previously worked with various organizations in the field of human rights, including Amnesty International, the International Rescue Committee, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Kelli earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida and her master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on conflicts and security from the New School in New York.

Lisa Bernstein serves as a Senior Manager for SA8000 with Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS). She is responsible for the accreditation and oversight of certification bodies that are authorized to deliver audits for the SA8000® Standard.
Lisa has deep experience in the field of accreditation and certification, having worked for SAAS and SAI since 2001. She manages policy and procedure creation for certification body accreditation and social auditing, and oversees the evaluation and assessment of accredited and applicant certification bodies. Previously, Lisa coordinated special projects, communication, and fundraising at SAI.
Before joining SAI and SAAS, Lisa was a Registered Representative and Administrative Director for Green Century Capital Management, a socially responsible investment firm. She has directed public interest and recruitment campaigns for the national association of State Public Interest Research Groups and holds a degree in environmental policy from Rutgers University.

Luisa Trujillo is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Palma Futuro in Ecuador and supports the project’s community-based programs. This includes conducting on-the-ground research about how palm oil corporations and palm cultivation affect local communities and convening “community circles” to support local collective action on issues like child and forced labor.

Luisa has first-hand research and implementation experience in using agroforestry systems to reduce vulnerability of natural and human systems. This includes the contribution of agroforestry plantations to species habitat protection and biodiversity conservation as well as the design and implementation of Integrated Landscape Management that respects local knowledge. Luisa has successfully implemented projects that promote cocoa agroforestry systems and conducted/supported research on the link between cocoa plantations and biodiversity conservation. Her experience includes work with the Tropical Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Humane Society International (HIS), and Nestle Research Center, among others.

Luisa holds a Doctorate in Botany from Central University of Ecuador, a master’s degree in Forest Management and Biodiversity conservation from CATIE – Costa Rica and a BS degree in Biology Science with minors in Botanic and education from the Central University of Ecuador.

Maria Camila focuses on the advancement, development and implementation of SAI’s work in Latin America. In this role, she develops training and conducts mapping and engagement activities for businesses and stakeholders. Previously, Maria Camila led community-based programs in Colombia as Community Engagement Coordinator for SAI’s Palma Futuro program.

An industrial designer from the Pontifical Javeriana University in Colombia, Camila is trained to be a creative professional with vision. Since 2014 she has worked for international and national organizations to design, manage, implement, and monitor various social projects. In particular, she has focused on recognizing the particular contexts and population dynamics of the various territories of Colombia within these projects. In one such project, Camila served as project coordinator for FUNDEPALMA developing, implementing, and monitoring field activities including community needs identification, engagement with key stakeholder groups, and relationship building with strategic partners.

Matthew Applebaum manages all issues related to information technology, including networks, computers, websites, and databases at SAI. He graduated from the University of Colorado and Berklee College of Music.

Michael Yeung serves as a Consultant and Coach for the TenSquared program with SAI. He has many years of experience in compliance, testing, inspection, and establishing management systems in the apparel, textiles, trims, and other industries. He has managed corporate social responsibility pre-audit, inspection, and testing support services for brands and stores, such as Hudson Jeans, IZOD, Lee, Sam’s Club, Sugar, True Religion, Weatherproof Garment Co, Wrangler, and Walmart.
Michael holds a higher diploma in Textile Chemistry and a master’s degree in Marketing. He is also a Lead Auditor of ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001.

Perumalsamy Prabakaran is a trainer, auditor, and consultant with over 25 years of industrial experience, including 14 years as an Associate Vice President – Technical with a multinational organization involved in testing, inspection and certifications. Prabakaran is an IRCA-certified lead tutor and lead auditor for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and a trainer and consultant for quality, process, and productivity improvement, operational excellence, and business strategy design and implementation. He has conducted over 900 audits in industries including automotive, education, food, health care, IT, manufacturing, and textiles across Africa, Asia, and Europe. He has also delivered training programs related to productivity and quality improvement.
Prabakaran holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Bharathiar University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in management. Prabakaran is a native Tamil speaker and fluently speaks English and Telugu with a working knowledge of Kannada and Malayalam.

In his role at SAAS, Peter Scott oversees the accreditation program for SA8000 certification bodies, including initial and re-accreditation audits and worldwide surveillance of audit and client activities. He reviews and evaluates SAAS processes, policies, and management systems for continual improvement.
Peter is a Chartered Quality Professional, a Fellow of the Chartered Quality Institute, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK). He has wide international experience, including residential periods in the USA, Canada, Northern Ireland, India, and Southeast Asia. He has performed over 3,000 second and third-party audits in over 60 countries worldwide.

Richard Rowe is an IRCA-Certified Quality Management Systems (QMS) Auditor and has carried out over 180 audits in Asia, Central America, Europe, Middle East, South America, and the United States. Richard started his career as a professional civil engineer in the United Kingdom and Malaysia, before project managing several major engineering works in Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. He has managed a multi-national consulting firm headquartered in the United States and served on the Florida Council Board of Examiners for the Governor’s Sterling Award, the Florida state award for quality.
Richard’s training specialties include quality auditing, quality management, and business development courses. His social compliance work includes over 80 codes of practice audits worldwide for a major U.S. footwear-apparel brand.
Richard received his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and his MBA from the Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom.

As Executive Advisor of Standards and Impacts, Rochelle Zaid oversees development and implementation of the SA8000® Standard, its certification system, and related tools and programs. She leads SAI’s collaboration with other standards organizations and brands, spearheading innovative initiatives to advance the human rights of workers around the world.
Rochelle previously served as Executive Director of Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS) for almost a decade. Under her leadership, SAAS grew into a leading organization evaluating, accrediting, and monitoring firms that audit and certify organizations to social standards. Prior to her tenure at SAAS, Rochelle served in various roles with SAI – most recently as Director of Training and Accreditation.
Rochelle has a background in promoting sustainability in the fashion industry. She worked as project administrator for social accountability at Eileen Fisher, where she helped establish the company’s first social compliance system. In this role, she collaborated with a progressive and visionary team in a company that was among the first to adopt the SA8000 Standard. Earlier in her career, Zaid served for eight years with the clothing company Country Miss, managing its product development department including factories and outsourcing facilities in the United States, China and Hong Kong. Respect for workers’ rights was an inherent part of the company’s culture.
Rochelle holds a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College.

Selvanathan Grapragasem has worked as an auditor and lead auditor for several certification schemes, including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.
Selva has conducted audits in diverse industries, including engineering, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing, metal stamping, printing, and wood in Asia and Europe. He holds a diploma in agriculture and a degree in business management. Selva is a native Tamil speaker and is fluent in English, Indonesian, and Melayu.

Shirley To has worked for years in the field of quality management systems and CSR auditing and is one of the most experienced SA8000 and social auditors in China. Shirley has conducted over a thousand second-party and third-party social and quality system (ISO 9001, TS 16949) audits in various industries and countries in Asia. She has also worked with brands and buyers to facilitate CSR and supply chain management projects.
Shirley holds an MBA in Technology Management/Business Management, an M.Phil in Materials Science, and a bachelor’s degree with honors in Applied Physics. She trains in English, Cantonese, Mandarin.

As Director for Innovation and Partnerships, Stephanie Wilson develops and implements diverse research, training, and capacity-building programs in collaboration with SAI’s clients and other partners. She is managing several USDOL-funded grants, including Palma Futuro, MY Voice, and Sustentar. As Director she will also develop new innovations and partnerships
Stephanie’s particular areas of expertise include occupational health and safety, living wage and remuneration, change management, and process improvement. She has implemented programs focusing on forced labor, gender issues, management systems, migration, remediation, and social auditing.
Stephanie has a long-standing interest in development and human rights and a background in volunteering in these fields in Australia and India. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations, political science, and psychology from the University of Western Australia.

As a Senior Advisor for SAI, Steven Oates provides content expertise and strategic advice on labor and human rights issues. Steven is an English solicitor, and he consults on international labor standards, corporate social responsibility, and economic and social rights, among other topics. He has previously served as Senior Adviser on Rights at Work with the International Labour Organization.
Steven holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Harvard Law School. He has also studied internationally in Moscow and Tokyo.

As Manager of Training & Capacity Building for SAI, Varsha Cherukunnon is responsible for logistical support for SAI trainings worldwide.
Varsha has previous experience as Training Coordinator for Cisco Systems in India and as a database consultant for JP Morgan (England). She has training and project coordination experience in various industries.
Varsha is a Chemical Engineering graduate and has an MBA in Human Resources. She is also a CHRMP-certified professional.

Yolanda Brenes Hernandez has previously worked as a regional manager for social accountability at Chiquita Brands International. In this role, she managed SA8000 implementation, training, and internal auditing for the company’s Latin American divisions.
Over the years, Yolanda has provided consultancy services on social responsibility for various organizations in Latin America, including Del Monte Foods, Dole Food Company, Tico Fruit, the Netherlands Development Finance Company, SGS, and the World Bank. Since 2006, she has conducted SA8000 audits as a Lead Auditor with Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS).
Yolanda holds an MBA in International Business from Universidad FUNDEPOS in Costa Rica. She teaches SAI training courses in Spanish.

Alice Tepper Marlin is the Founder and President Emerita of Social Accountability International. She has been a pioneer in the field of corporate social responsibility for half a century, introducing groundbreaking solutions to promote workers’ rights in corporate supply chains.
Alice began her career as a Securities Analyst and Labor Economist at the investment banking firm Burnham & Co. in 1966. She designed and administered the first social investment portfolio management service and was one of the first women securities analysts on Wall Street. She also served as the editor of an international tax journal at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in the Netherlands.
In 1969, Alice founded the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP) and served as its President and CEO for 33 years. CEP was a frontrunner in the social investment field and regularly published a bestselling consumer guide entitled “Shopping for a Better World.” In 1997, Alice established Social Accountability International, convening a diverse group of stakeholders to promote decent work everywhere. She led SAI as its President and CEO, spearheading the development of the SA8000® Standard into the global social certification framework it is today. Alice retired from SAI in 2015 and is currently a member of its Advisory Board and Board of Directors as well as a member of the Board of Social Accountability Accreditation Services.
Over several years, Alice has served as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Ethics at New York University Stern School of Business, which honored her as a Citi Distinguished Fellow in Ethics and Leadership in 2007.
Alice was named as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America in 2010 and has received the Right Livelihood Award and Adweek’s Woman of the Year Award. She has been a frequent public speaker on corporate accountability for several decades, appearing on CNN, Good Morning America and the Today Show. She has been profiled in various newspapers and magazines, including People, Time, The New York Times, and Vogue.
Alice earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College in 1966 and has studied securities and accounting at New York University School of Business Administration. She received the Wellesley College Alumna Achievement Award in 1999.

Anant Nadkarni previously served as Vice-President for Group Corporate Sustainability at the Tata Group. He coordinated social and environmental initiatives with nearly fifty major Tata companies through a network of over a hundred champions representing these businesses. In this role, he also partnered with the United Nations Development Programme to develop the Tata Index for Sustainable Human Development.
Anant has previously served as an alternate member in SAI’s Advisory Board.

David Zwiebel is a social accountability consultant with a background in commercial real estate development and the retail and garment industries. He has served as the Vice President of the Retail Division, Director of Architectural Design and Planning, and Senior Advisor for Social Accountability at Eileen Fisher Inc., a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of women’s clothing based in New York.
Zwiebel is long-standing Advisory Board member of Social Accountability International. He participated in the first working group sessions in 1995, which led to the formation of the SA8000® Standard and the establishment of SAI.
Zwiebel holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Dorianne Beyer, Esq. has been a national and international labor standards lawyer, author, trainer, and lecturer for over 30 years. She has applied her labor policy experience as a public consultant to such governmental agencies as the U.S. Departments of Labor, State, and Agriculture, the New York State Department of Labor, and the U.S. Army, as well as to the United Nations, the Child Labor Coalition, Burger King Intl., universities, corporations, blue ribbon panels, policy makers, the NGO community, and the media.
Dorianne started her career in labor standards at the National Child Labor Committee, where she began as National Project Director and has been General Counsel for over 25 years. She was a founding member of SAI’s Advisory Board and currently serves on the Internal Standards Committee of the Sustainable Agricultural Network of Rainforest Alliance. She has also served on the Board of the Children’s Center of the National Farm Medicine Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
In the private sector, Dorianne is a founding partner in Labor & Monitoring Consultants, llc, (LMC) which provides a wide range of private labor standards services to corporations, governments, trade associations, and law firms.
Dorianne holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from the Cambridge University, a Juris Doctor degree from the Rutgers Law School, and a bachelors degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Eileen Kohl Kaufman is Executive Director Emerita of SAI. From SAI’s incorporation in 1997 to 2014 she served as Executive Director and then Co-CEO.
Prior to joining SAI, Kaufman was the Director of Strategic Planning at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, a strategic planner at the New York City Department of Design and Construction, and a financial planner at the New York City Water Board. Upon SAI’s inception, she worked at the Council on Economic Priorities, co-authoring Paper Profits, an analysis of paper mill pollution and its control.
Kaufman is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics. Kaufman also holds a master’s degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.

Fitzroy Hilaire is the former Director of Supplier Development at Avon Products, Inc. He has also held purchasing management positions with Bristol-Myers Squibb, NBC, and Lever Brothers.

Fitzroy has served on the Boards of Directors of the NMSDC, NMBD, and TELICARE of Long Island. He is a recipient of the Entrepreneurship Award from the National Black MBA Association. He is also the former Chairman of the Boards of Directors of the New York/New Jersey Minority Purchasing Council and “Try Us” Resources.

George Jaksch is the former Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs at Chiquita International. He first joined Chiquita Brands in Colombia in 1979 as financial adviser to banana producers, assisting local banana producers in the Santa Marta region to obtain government infrastructure loans. This experience illustrated vividly how international companies such as Chiquita can contribute to local development.

After several years working for the British multinational Geest in Colombia and Spain, he rejoined Chiquita in 1987 and became operations manager of the Armuelles division on the Pacific coast of Panama, where he earned the chairman’s award for his work at introducing new technology. In 1989, George became director of quality control (Europe), based in the Netherlands, and soon afterwards was promoted to become responsible for quality assurance systems in Chiquita’s world-wide banana business.

Since 1999, George has returned to Europe, initially as director of the marketing and sales operation in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and more recently with increasing involvement in Chiquita’s corporate responsibility work and public affairs. A member of Chiquita’s corporate responsibility steering committee, George has actively and with conviction supported the evolution of the concept. As a lead auditor, he has conducted the SA8000 audits in Chiquita’s Honduran, Guatemalan and Costa Rican divisions, together with independent observers from human rights NGO’s and trade unions.

Jan started his working life as education secretary for the Finnish secondary students’ association in 1967. From 1969 to 1986 he was employed by the trade union movement and held many different positions in the commercial workers’ union.

In 1986, Jan transitioned to Geneva to join FIET, the largest founding organization of UNI Global Union, where he had been member of the board. Having worked much also with developing countries and European countries in transition, he retired from his position as Head of UNI Commerce Global Union at the end of 2009. Jan was also responsible for the European trade union work in commerce, labor relations with large retail multinationals, and European Union social dialogue in the sector.

Since then Furstenborg has worked with government agencies, companies, trade unions, and others to promote social responsibility, dialogue, and partnership. He has retained his longstanding membership on the Board of Directors and the Advisory Board (now through the Founders’ Committee) of SAI. Jan is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) since the initiative’s launch, and has played an active role in drafting the Reference Code and many of the related documents in the GSCP toolbox. He wrote a detailed study on the proposed Fairtrade textile standard for the German development ministry BMZ. In 2015, Jan was invited by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) to advise them on social and labour issues as a member of their Technical Committee.

Mike Patrick is the former Divisional Head Office Director for TNT Express based in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Patrick was responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s global strategies for corporate responsibility.

Robin Cornelius is the founder and owner of Switcher SA. He created what was to become the Switcher brand in 1981 while studying commerce at the University of Lausanne. Robin started importing casual clothes from Portugal for sale in Switzerland under the Switcher and Whale brands.

Switcher was not just another apparel company. Robin was guided by a philosophy of sustainable development. This has meant developing anti-pollution manufacturing processes, implementing energy conservation measures, and developing social programs for workers and their families. Sales took off and by 1999 over five million pieces a year were sold in Switzerland and the rest of Europe with turnover of US$40 million.

As Director of Social Consciousness and a member of the Leadership Forum for women’s clothing designer Eileen Fisher, Inc., Amy Hall supports the company’s efforts to practice “business as a movement.” Amy collaborates internally and externally to guide the company toward ever-increasing human, environmental and economic sustainability, including co-leading the company’s Vision2020 work. She also co-leads the company’s People and Culture area, together with leaders of the Human Resources, Leadership Learning & Development, and Internal Communications teams. Amy chairs the advisory board of Social Accountability International and serves on the boards of Made-By and the American Sustainable Business Council. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a sustainable M.B.A. from Green Mountain College. In 2011, Amy rode from New York City to Washington, DC, on her self-built bamboo bike as part of the Brita Climate Ride.

Andre de Freitas is the President of the Fundação Renova (Renova Foundation), a non-profit organization with a mission to implement and manage the repair, restoration and reconstruction programs in the regions impacted by the disruption of the Fundão dam, located in Brazil. Andre previously served as General Director of the Forest Stewardship Council in Bonn, Germany, and as Executive Director of the Sustainable Agriculture Network, based in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Andre has a long history of supporting social and environmental sustainability initiatives. He obtained an engineering degree in forestry from the University of São Paulo, after which he worked to improve worker’s rights by implementing certification schemes and codes of practice at the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers. He has been Social & Environmental Manager at Rabobank, where he coordinated the development and implementation of a social and environmental policy for the bank’s operations in Brazil, and worked for SAN founding member, IMAFLORA, first as an auditor and then as Executive Director.

Antonella Centra is EVP General Counsel, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs for Gucci, as well as a member of the Guccio Gucci Board of Directors and part of the Executive Committee. Previously, Antonella was General Counsel for Bottega Veneta and also worked in the legal departments of some of the world’s best-known companies including IBM, Prada, Coca-Cola Italia and Wind Telecomunicazioni, and for high-profile law firms in Italy and internationally. In her role at Gucci, she brings a breadth of experience and acumen to head up core departments of the company and to ensure strategies are global and at board level.

Anuj Jain serves as the CEO of the family-run Shingora Textiles Limited, an India-based textile manufacturer specialized in the production of scarves and home and beach products. Anuj started his career as an accounting clerk in Shingora in 2001, and today successfully leads the company with a strong focus on social and environmental responsibility.
Over the years, Anuj has enhanced Shingora’s manufacturing operations by integrating new technology into its production and business management. In less than two decades, the company has grown from a ‘cottage factory’ into a fully integrated textile mill. Shingora earned its SA8000 certification in 2007.
Anuj has a master´s degree in business administration from Temple University in the United States. He is a member of the board of the Punjab Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation.

Lara White serves as Senior Labour Migration Specialist with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. She provides policy and technical advice on labor migration issues to IOM’s staff, governments, and companies as a member of IOM’s Labour Mobility and Human Development Division. Lara’s special interests include labor migration governance and policy, ethical international labor recruitment, employment rights, and the promotion of safe labor migration practices, which reduce the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation, human trafficking, and labor abuses.

Lara is the architect of the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS), a voluntary multi-stakeholder certification process for international labor recruitment intermediaries. In this role, Lara has been developing a broad coalition of private sector, government, and civil society stakeholders to promote ethical labor recruitment practices in global supply chains to help to protect migrant workers from exploitation.

Laura Chapman Rubbo has many years of experience in corporate social responsibility, business and human rights, and international labor standards. Laura is Director of International Labor Standards at The Walt Disney Company, headquartered in Burbank, California. Disney’s International Labor Standards program seeks to foster safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces wherever Disney-branded products are made. Laura plays a key leadership role at Disney in managing strategy, policy, and programs for Disney’s global supply chain labor standards program. Among her specific responsibilities, she leads the global factory monitoring program, external stakeholder engagement and communications, industry collaboration, supply chain philanthropic investments, risk assessment, research, and training. She also co-led the creation of Disney’s human rights policy.
Laura worked previously at BSR and at Gap Inc. on business and human rights issues.
In addition to serving as an Advisory Board member for SAI, Laura is Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Committee of the United States Council for International Business, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, a member of the Board of Overseers of the University of Connecticut’s Human Rights Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Southern California’s Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab. Laura was also part of the United States delegation to the International Labor Organization’s 2014 International Labor Conference and is participating in an Advisory Group to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Responsible Supply Chains in the Textile and Garment Sector. She is a frequent speaker at corporate responsibility events.
Laura holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and German from the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Michael Toffel is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in the Technology and Operations Management unit. He is affiliated with the Harvard Environmental Economics Program, the Harvard Center for the Environment, and the Regulatory Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Toffel’s research examines how companies are managing environmental, quality, occupational safety and other working conditions in their own operations and in their supply chains. He also studies how government regulations, voluntary programs, and certification standards influence environmental, safety, and quality performance. His work ranges from academic articles based on econometric analyses of large datasets to case studies of individual companies. His work has been published in top-tier journals in operations management, organizations, strategy, and environmental engineering. He has also published articles in practitioner journals, newspapers, and blogs. Several of his research articles have been discussed in the national press and trade journals.
Dr. Toffel is a board member of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), which promotes high-quality research on corporate sustainability topics from all disciplines. He also serves on the Editorial Boards of the Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science and is a member of the Strategy Research Initiative.
Dr. Toffel received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Business and Public Policy department at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley. He also holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Master’s in Environmental Management (Industrial Environmental Management) from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and a BA in Government from Lehigh University. He has worked as the Director of Environment, Health and Safety at Jebsen & Jessen (South East Asia) Group of Companies, based in Singapore. In the United States, he has served as an environmental management consultant for Arthur Andersen, Arthur D. Little, and Xerox Corporation, and an operations management analyst at J.P. Morgan.

Shahamin S. Zaman is an economist with over 20 years of experience in the development sector. She currently serves as CEO of the CSR Centre in Bangladesh. Shahamin has previously worked for ActionAid, Ashoka Foundation, Council for Interior Design Accreditation, Department for International Development of the United Kingdom, Harvard Institute for International Development, and United Nations Development Programme. Her areas of focus include private sector development, agriculture, gender, health and population, and education.
Shahamin promotes responsible business practices collaborating closely with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the UN Foundation. In addition to her role as CEO of CSR Centre in Bangladesh, she is the focal point for the UN Global Compact Local Network in Bangladesh and a founding member of the South Asia Network for Sustainability and Responsibility.

Tamara has held senior leadership roles with both national and global organizations in her 20+ years in human resources.
In her current role, Tamara leads the Hilton Foundation’s efforts to create an inspiring and engaging atmosphere for its employees with a particular focus on establishing the strategic framework for the organization’s first global diversity and inclusion program.
Prior to joining the Hilton Foundation, Tamara led human resources teams at Gentiva Health Services and directed global human resources and talent management for CARE, the global relief organization based in Atlanta. At CARE, Tamara was responsible for directing the organization’s long-term vision, strategy, and operational initiatives in the area of global compensation, recruitment, talent management, leadership succession, and inclusion.
Tamara holds a master’s in business administration from Dowling College and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hunter College.

Nicholas Milowski is Chief Financial Officer of Cold Springs Harbor. Prior to that, he was Vice President for Finance at Fordham, Controller at the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and a Senior Manager at KPMG in both New York and Switzerland. At KPMG, Nick specialized in providing audit and attestation services to non-profit organizations.

Milowski holds two bachelor’s degrees from the College of the Holy Cross, in Economics/Accounting and in German Studies, and studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

David Pauker was formerly Executive Managing Director of Goldin Associates, a leading U.S. consulting and turnaround management firm. He has frequently been ranked among leading advisors in the turnaround industry. He has acted as CEO, chief restructuring officer, turnaround manager or financial advisor for companies or investors in apparel and textile, energy and natural resources, financial services (including brokerage, insurance and investment management), food and consumer products, information technology, manufacturing, media and telecommunications, professional services, real estate, retail and wholesale distribution.

David was appointed a Director of Lehman Brothers pursuant to its court-approved plan of reorganization and is currently its non-executive Chairman of the Board. He has frequently been called on to investigate the financial affairs of public and private companies and has been appointed by the United States Department of Justice or the courts as trustee,
examiner and mediator.

Before joining Goldin Associates, David was an executive in the apparel and retail industries. He attended Cornell University, where he received a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations; he is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law.

Joe Iarocci is a Founding Partner of the Cairnway Center for Servant Leadership Excellence. Cairnway is a leadership development firm that produces customized change programs for organizations that want to build cultures anchored in servant leadership.

Joe founded Cairnway after serving as CEO of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership and, before that, as Chief of Staff of CARE USA, one of the largest international NGOs dedicated to ending extreme poverty. Joe joined CARE in 1998 as General Counsel, was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2004 and Chief of Staff in 2008. He practiced business law in Atlanta and New York City before joining CARE.

A regular speaker and teacher on the subject of leadership, Joe currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and the Foundation Center. He received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University, his Juris Doctor degree from the Cornell Law School, a Masters in Theological Studies from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and was a Stone Scholar while a visiting student at the Columbia University School of Law.