Guest Speakers

Sam Block leads MSCI's ESG Ratings of the global Materials Sector and is a senior contributor to its methodology development. He has also authored several investment advisory reports on ESG topics such as social license to operate, health and safety, labor and technology in South African mines, and most recently on income inequality.

Prior to joining MSCI in 2009, Sam worked as an engineer at Northrop Grumman Corporation. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and earned a MS in Environmental Management and Planning from the Whiting Engineering School at Johns Hopkins University.

Brown and Wilmanns Environmental is a nationally recognized leader in developing innovative sustainability strategies for business, government, and NGOs.

Dr. Michael S. Brown has worked in sustainability and environmental management for 30 years, leading efforts to establish trailblazing programs in industry and government. He initiated and directed the Environmental Assessment Program at Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company recognized for its state-of-the-art environmental practices, and he has worked with numerous clients in apparel and footwear manufacturing, retail, mail order, and personal care and food products, along with public-sector and nonprofit organizations. He focuses on creative approaches that provide measurable improvements in environmental and sustainability performance as well as bottom-line benefits, integrated with an appreciation for the diverse needs of different business organizations. Mike received his M.R.P. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University, specializing in environmental health policy. He has taught industrial ecology at UC Santa Barbara, written and spoken extensively on cutting-edge sustainability practices, and is co-author of the book Workers at Risk. He serves as an Assistant Editor for the Journal of Industrial Ecology.

GlobeScan is an evidence-led strategy consultancy.

Chris is a sought-after speaker and facilitator, regularly briefing clients on trends in business and society. A thought-leader on reputation, brand and sustainability, Chris is a valued advisor to global leadership companies and organizations. Chris provides expertise to GlobeScan’s project teams, and strengthens our partnerships with long-term clients and external consultancies. Chris has been with GlobeScan since 1998.

Giles is the Founder & CEO of Good Business, a strategy consultancy that helps organisations be more progressive in what they do and how they do it. Since 1996, Good Business has advised some of the world’s leading organisations, including The Gates Foundation, the Coca-Cola Company, Telefónica, Microsoft, RBS, The Walt Disney Company, Liberty Global, Virgin, KPMG, Fiat, the Welcome Trust and Kellogg’s.

Giles plays an active role in the third sector, advising a number of social enterprises and charities. He is a Founding Director of the newly-established British Paraorchestra, and is a fellow of Wellington College, assisting Anthony Seldon in the development of the eight aptitudes model of learning pioneered at the school.

Giles first book, co-authored with Steve Hilton, Good Business, Your World needs you, came in Economist Book of Brands.

David joined Cranfield as director of the new Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility in April 2007, after a thirty year career as a social entrepreneur and campaigner for responsible business, diversity, and small business development. This included founding Project North East which has now worked in more than 60 countries around the world; being the founding CEO of the Prince’s Youth Business Trust and serving as a joint managing-director of Business in the Community.

David has an Honorary Doctorate of Law from London South Bank University and was a visiting Senior Fellow at the CSR Initiative of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard (2005-10);

He is currently chairman of the national charity Carers UK championing the role of 6.5million Britons caring for a loved one.

The Guardian has recently named David as one of the top ten tweeters on sustainable leadership alongside Al Gore, Tim Cook – CEO of Apple, Sheryl Sandberg – Fasebook’s COO and Kumi Naidoo – the Heed of Greenpeace International.

3M 

10/2016 Vice President, Central East Europe Middle East Africa Area
3/2016 Director, EMEA Business Services Operations
10/2014 Director, EMEA Service Delivery and Business Services, West Europe

Non-3M
8/1986 Financial Consultant/Treasurer, Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Bovery A/S

Education
Telemark Community College, Civil and Construction Engineering, 1982
Michigan State University, B.A. General Business Administration, 1985
Michigan State University, MBA, Finance, 1986

Ulrika Hasselgren is Managing Director and Head of Sustainable & Responsible Investment. Prior to joining ISS, Hasselgren was chief executive officer and co-founder of Stockholm-based Ethix SRI Advisors, which was acquired by ISS in September 2015.

 She has advised institutional investors in sustainable and responsible investment since 1999. In 2000, she collaborated with Sweden’s national pension fund AP7 in creating its policy for responsible investment, including the development of an innovative screening methodology. With a background in communications and management consulting,

Ulrika spent 12 years with McKinsey & Company and three years with Solving International. She has been a guest lecturer on responsible investment at Stockholm University School of Business since 2002 and a frequent speaker at institutional investor conferences and seminars, globally. Ulrika is a board member of Eurosif.

Senior Engagement Manager, GES Investment Services

 Flemming leads environmental, social and governance analysis and company engagement. Flemming has nineteen years of experience of professional sustainability work including Life Cycle Assessments, GRI sustainability reporting, sustainability management systems and investment strategy advice. He is also in charge of the Carbon Risk Engagement. Former employers include LM Ericsson, Telia and Goodpoint. Flemming has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Uppsala University. He speaks Swedish, English and French.

As the European team lead for client servicing at Sustainalytics, Heather provides strategic support to clients in integrating ESG research into their investment processes. Prior to relocating to Amsterdam in 2015, Heather worked at Sustainalytics’ Toronto office since 2004, holding director positions on both the research and institutional relations teams. She sat on the executive committee of the board of directors for Canada’s Responsible Investment Association (RIA) and the steering committee of the Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN) for many years. Heather represents Sustainalytics at global conferences and speaks regularly on a variety of responsible investment topics.

Heather has an undergraduate degree from McGill University, a master’s degree from Carleton University and a bachelor of education from the University of Toronto.

Karina serves on a number of boards and advisory bodies in the UK, Italy and the US, following a 25-year career in finance, where she developed a particular expertise in corporate governance, business ethics and sustainability.  She currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Italian oil & gas company Eni SpA, where she is also a member of the Control & Risks Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Sustainability & Scenarios Committee.  She also serves on several other boards and advisory bodies, including the Board of Directors of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR); the Board of Directors of Yachad; the Global Advisory Council of Cornerstone Capital Inc.; The Advisory Council of Bridges Ventures; the Sustainable Development Advisory Panel of SAP; and the Transparency International-UK Advisory Council.

Until December 2012, Karina ran the Governance and Sustainable Investment activities of F&C Investments, a UK institutional investor (now known as BMO Global Asset Management, part of the Bank of Montreal), where she acted on behalf of client portfolios collectively worth approximately £160 billion, focusing on equity research, shareholder activism and public policy engagement.

Karina holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a BA in Political Economy from the University of Toronto.  She holds French and Canadian nationalities, and is married with three adult daughters.

An experienced sustainability executive, Peder Michael works with the world’s leading companies in consumer, financial services, transportation, healthcare, and energy sectors on business strategy and operations to help them manage sustainability risks and opportunities. He is a member of several sustainability advisory boards, including the Kingfisher Net-Positive Advisory Board and the Melton Foundation Advisory Board, and he is a member of the UN Women/UNGC Women’s Empowerment Principles Leadership Group.

Prior to joining BSR, Peder Michael was a key player in growing PricewaterhouseCoopers’ sustainable business solutions practice in Copenhagen. He also spent five years with the Danish Foreign Service, where he worked on human rights in international development and foreign policy and served on the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women. Peder Michael served on the Danish Government’s Council on Corporate Responsibility from 2009-2012.

Derya Ozet Yalgi has seven years of experience in developing corporate sustainability policies and strategies for both the financial and non-financial industry in Turkey.

During her employment at Garanti Bank since the inception of the Sustainability Team, Yalgi has been involved in numerous projects including the improvement of E&S impact measurement schemes, policy and strategy development, stakeholder engagement, coordination of the implementation of environmental, social and governance measures by a variety of departments, and reporting of sustainability performance of the Bank under a range of different sustainability reporting initiatives including the national and international sustainability indices and standards.

Yalgi has also deep expertise in the development of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions reduction projects across different sectors, GHG inventories, compliance and voluntary carbon markets. She delivered capacity building workshops on climate change and carbon markets to senior management of various companies, politicians and consultancy companies specialized in energy savings during her consultancy experience. She also worked as a consultant on Turkey’s position on ongoing climate negotiations during IMF&WBG Annual Meetings in 2009.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Istanbul Technical University and a Master’s degree in International Business Administration from Marmara University, Turkey.

Sinem Ozonur started her career in 1994 in the Turkish capital markets. She worked as Director of International Capital Markets at leading Turkish investment firms advising to institutional investors with portfolio investments in Turkey, Central Asia and the Caucasus regions. After 2003, she moved to the buy-side and worked as Fund Manager and Director in an independent asset management company.

She joined Garanti in 2006 as the VP of Investment Banking where she prepared and coordinated distribution strategies of Garanti’s mutual funds. She joined Investor Relations Department in 2007. Ozonur currently works as the Manager responsible of Strategy & Business Development at the Investor Relations Department. She overviews Bank’s Corporate Governance and Sustainability works in addition to managing relations between the Bank and the investment community and rating agencies through various means of communication.

Ozonur was born in 1971 in Istanbul, Turkey. She holds a high school degree from Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (German Gymnasium), undergraduate degree in Economics from Istanbul University. Ozonur got her Executive MBA degree from Sabanci University.

Will joined Hermes in 2015 with particular responsibility for the development of the firm’s responsible investment and ownership policies directed towards the group’s purpose of providing long-term holistic returns for savers. Will sits on the corporate governance committee of the UK’s Quoted Companies Alliance as well as that of the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales. Prior to joining Hermes Will led the corporate governance and stewardship activity at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (formerly the NAPF) from 2012 having previously worked on similar matters at Aviva plc, before this Will worked in the UK Parliament as a senior Parliamentary Researcher. Will has a MSc in Public Policy & Management and Management from Birkbeck, University of London.

Aurora has more than 13 years’ experience of analysing and engaging with global multinational companies on Environmental Social and Governance issues. In 2007 she joined GES International and has since analysed and engaged with global multinational companies on a daily basis on behalf of institutional investors focusing on ESG issues. Before joining GES International, she worked with Amnesty Business Group Sweden where she developed and produced country risk analysis reports and was a board member. Aurora has a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies with Spanish and has working experience from the service sector and the telecom industry. She speaks Swedish, English and Spanish.

• Peter Webster led EIRIS since it was founded in 1983 and is now the  Director of International Affairs for Vigeo Eiris since the merger with Vigeo at the end of 2015. He has focussed on the challenges of providing ESG ratings and research to a wide range of owners and managers, helping investors to make good use of that research and advancing the concept of responsible investment. Peter is a regular speaker on topics ranging from fiduciary duty to individual ESG areas and their global evolution as well as how responsible investment can contribute to a more sustainable and robust financial system. He was treasurer of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association for 20 years until the end of 2011 and in October 2013 was elected by PRI asset manager and service provider signatories to be a member of the PRI Advisory Council.