Archives: People

THÉO JAEKEL | SENIOR ASSOCIATE

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Théo Jaekel is a lawyer specialized in business and human rights and international law. He brings over a decade’s experience working with multinational companies, both as in-house and external legal counsel, research-based civil society organizations, as well as academia.

Théo’s hands-on experience in the implementation of international standards and legal frameworks on business and human rights includes designing and embedding due diligence processes across value chains and global operations, conducting in-depth and on the ground research and investigations in high-risk countries, establishing governance and accountability structures as well as supporting clients on legal cases.

Théo is a frequent, and internationally recognized, panel speaker and lecturer at several universities, and has held several non-executive board seats for international organizations.

Théo holds an LL.M. in international law from Stockholm University and his previous experiences include managing the global legal human rights team at Ericsson Group as Director, Business and Human Rights, establishing and leading the human rights practice group at Vinge law firm, and conducting research projects and investigations on corporate accountability, including field work in high-risk and conflict-affected areas for Swedwatch. Théo currently works as an independent business and human rights advisor.

As a trained and certified SA8000 auditor, Théo conducts social audits in a wide range of sectors and geographies, including extractives, ICT manufacturing and apparel.

SUBAJINI JAYASEKARAN | SENIOR ADVISOR

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MAIREAD KEIGHER | SENIOR ADVISOR

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As an Senior Advisor with Shift, Mairead works hand-in-hand with companies and other strategic partners to build capacity to identify, prioritize and mitigate human rights risks. She blends her background in business, technology, CSR and human rights disclosure to help companies fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights. From 2016-2019, she managed Shift’s Reporting Program, a flagship initiative aimed at developing corporate capacity for improved human rights disclosure in line with the UNGPs and equipping other stakeholders to understand and interpret this disclosure, particularly through the expansion of the UNGP Reporting Database. As part of this program, Mairead worked closely with Mazars LLP through the development of the UN Guiding Principles Assurance Guidance.

Prior to joining Shift, Mairead worked for 16 years for Microsoft in Europe in both strategic and operational positions, the second half of which as Corporate Affairs Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. In this role Mairead coordinated across Microsoft’s 28 subsidiaries to engage with governments and bring a consistent policy and corporate social responsibility strategy to life. She participated on behalf of Microsoft in multi-stakeholder initiatives on key topics linked to business and human rights. Prior to this role, Mairead led Partner Marketing across Central and Eastern Europe and had European operational responsibility for the company’s Anti-Piracy programs.

BARBARA KONEVAL | HEAD OF FINANCE

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As Shift’s Head of Finance, Barbara manages the financial aspects of our collaborations and activities. She is responsible for financial management and accounting, contracts, grants and operational compliance.

Barbara brings over fifteen years of experience in operations roles with sustainability organizations focused on environmental and social responsibility. She previously managed the training program for the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), a national network of over 675 colleges and universities committed to tracking greenhouse gas emissions and planning for climate neutrality.

Prior to her work with the ACUPCC, Barbara worked on climate and sustainability research and the development of a sustainability rating system for Fortune 500 companies. She spent four years at the Oregon Natural Step Network, coordinating operations and professional development events for a network of over 300 businesses, higher education institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations interested in sustainability.

Barbara has an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, the first graduate program in the US to offer an MBA focused on environmentally and socially responsible business practices. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Human Ecology from Rutgers University. Barbara is also a licensed “SCORE” assessor – a tool that helps organizations evaluate the effective integration of sustainability into their operations. She is a United States national.

MICHELLE LANGLOIS | SENIOR ADVISOR

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As a Senior Advisor with Shift, Michelle works with companies, financial institutions and other strategic partners to support their implementation of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs).

Michelle has a decade of experience analyzing the maturity of companies’ human rights reporting and played a central role in promoting the uptake of the UN GUIDING PRINCIPLES REPORTING FRAMEWORK, including through developing Shift’s UN GUIDING PRINCIPLES REPORTING DATABASE. She is also a leading expert in the application of the UN Guiding Principles to new and emerging legislation and standards. Her work includes analyzing the implications of these standards for leading companies and financial institutions that have commitments and practices that are aligned with the UNGPs. She is also involved in Shift’s work supporting the development of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (EFRAG) under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

As part of Shift’s Business Learning Program, Michelle supports financial sector and FMCG partners, working closely with partners on human rights due diligence, including the identification of salient human rights issues, E&S risk assessment frameworks, grievance mechanisms, stakeholder engagement and internal capacity building – including for procurement departments, portfolio managers, and front-line teams.

Michelle is a (non-practicing) lawyer specialized in international human rights law. She completed her articling position at a major Canadian corporate law firm and graduated summa cum laude from the Master of Laws program in International Human Rights Law at the University of Notre Dame. Michelle is based in Canada and speaks English and French.

LLOYD LIPSETT | SENIOR ASSOCIATE

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As a Senior Associate with Shift, Lloyd engages with our collaboration partners on an everyday basis, with a particular focus advising companies in the extractives sector and in emerging markets. As a leading expert on human rights impact assessments, Lloyd has a deep understanding of the impact on communities and workers of large scale infrastructure, extractives and natural resources projects.

Lloyd is an international human rights lawyer with 25 years of experience working with companies, governments, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and indigenous peoples on corporate impacts on people.  Lloyd has led or participated in over 75 on-the-ground assessments in challenging contexts around the world.

Lloyd has particular expertise on indigenous peoples rights, economic, social and cultural rights, stakeholder engagement and grievance mechanisms. He regularly publishes and makes presentations on a wide range of human rights issues relevant to companies, industry associations and governments.

Lloyd previously served as the senior assistant to three presidents of the Canadian human rights organization Rights & Democracy from 2003 to 2008, and participated in all aspects of the organization’s management and programming, including the development of a community-based human rights impact assessment methodology. He began his career as a corporate litigator at McMillan Binch in Toronto. He successfully represented clients at all levels of the courts of the province of Ontario and in the Canadian federal court system and developed a specialization in class actions, mediation and dispute resolution. Lloyd is a graduate of Queen’s University and McGill University and is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. He is a Canadian and United States national and speaks English and French.

HELEN MEEKINGS | SENIOR ADVISOR, ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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As a Senior Advisor, Helen develops and leads Shift’s work at the nexus of human rights and environment, climate and biodiversity. Helen is an energetic, collaborative and experienced senior leader bringing with her more than 20 years’ experience in sustainability and climate change, 11 of which have been in the international finance sector. Helen has worked at the senior executive level, leading climate and ESG organizational change, including in the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). She has also led international negotiations and UK government policy development relating to climate, sustainability and export finance.

Helen is experienced in delivering the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles from a business and government perspective, particularly in her role with UK Export Finance, where she headed their environmental and social risk management team for a number of years. She has worked with business, financial institutions, standard setters and civil society on interrelated sustainability issues at both corporate and project level. This includes significant experience in the implementation of the IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles, and with OECD requirements such as the OCED Common Approaches and Guidelines for Multilateral Enterprises. More recently, Helen has advised and supported businesses and financial institutions with evolving international ESG requirements, such as those of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), EU and Global Reporting Initiative.

Helen is a strategic thinker supported by strong practical knowledge and skills gained from working internationally throughout her career and across many industrial sectors. Helen is a civil and public health engineer by training, and a professionally qualified chartered engineer and chartered environmentalist in the UK.

JONATHAN MILLÄNG | SENIOR ADVISOR

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As a Senior Advisor, Jonathan has a primary focus on social dimensions of corporate reporting standards, frameworks and practice, including Shift’s engagements with the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD), and the Sustainability Reporting Board of EFRAG (European Financial Reporting and Advisory Group) as well as on the EU’s wider sustainable finance agenda.

Jonathan has one decade of ESG strategy, reporting, and policy experience. Before joining Shift, he spent five years with the Stockholm-based specialist management consultancy firm Ethos. Here he was a member of the executive management team and served as Senior Advisor and Head of Sustainable Finance while leading a team of sustainability experts. While at Ethos, he worked with multiple Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 firms on projects focused on capacity building and strategic implications ahead of and during the rollout of the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance (SFDR, EU Taxonomy, CSRD) and global reporting frameworks such as the IFRS Sustainability Standards (ISSB) and TCFD.

Prior to his tenure as Head of Sustainable Finance at Ethos, he co-founded a venture-backed climate-focused impact startup and filled numerous sustainability and advocacy roles within the public and private sector – on the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign, the Swedish Campaign for Zero Emissions, NextGenerationEU, Sustainable Innovation, and as board member at PUSH Sweden and Wellstreet VC.

Other than that, he has worked in stints as a grape picker, groundworker, garbage collector, waiter, deckhand, tutor, translator, and stonemason’s assistant. Jonathan is bilingual in Swedish and English.

Jonathan has a B.A. in Political Economy from University of California, Berkeley. He has also undertaken graduate studies in International Affairs with a focus on International Finance and Economic Policy at Columbia SIPA in New York.

ASHLEIGH OWENS | DIRECTOR | FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS LEAD

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As Director / Financial Institutions Lead, Ashleigh engages directly with financial institutions, companies and investors as they embed respect for human rights into their operations and business relationships. She also leads on pieces of research under our Valuing Respect Project, which is focused on developing better ways to evaluate business respect for human rights. Ashleigh has a breadth of experience approaching the Guiding Principles from business, legal and academic perspectives and brings a holistic view to Guiding Principles implementation.

Ashleigh was previously Executive Director at Ernst & Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services. At EY Japan, she led a team of consultants supporting policy-making, educational program and governance design, stakeholder dialogue and due diligence strategies for multinational and domestic companies across a variety of industries.  As founder of the EY Human Rights Network, she led the enhancement of EY’s human rights capabilities across EY’s global network. In her role she was a frequent speaker and moderator of dialogues at multi-stakeholder fora and functioned as a connector between civil society, government and corporate actors with a common goal of empowering business to respect rights.

From 2012 to 2014 she conducted research at the United Nations University in the field of Sustainability Science, specializing in business and human rights. She prepared research for the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and spent time at the UN Global Compact New York and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ashleigh later sat on the UN Global Compact’s Human Rights and Labour Working Group and drafted the Global Compact’s 2015 Guide on How to Develop a Human Rights Policy.

Ashleigh is a lawyer qualified in Australia and England & Wales and specialized in intellectual property law, labor law and public international law. She has advised governments and companies on state human rights obligations, companies on the nexus between bilateral investment treaties and human rights and fellow lawyers on integrating the Guiding Principles into legal advice. In 2007 she won the Intellectual Property Society of Australia & NZ prize.

Ashleigh has authored or contributed to a number of publications including: Business and Human Rights: Corporate Japan Rises to the Challenge (joint publication between EY Japan and Global Compact Network Japan), Corporate Social Responsibility Can Save Japan (Op-ed in Japan Times), Cumulative Human Rights Impacts (in UN Global Compact/ Maplecroft Business Dilemmas Forum) as well as several legal publications on intellectual property law in Australia and English translations of Japanese High Court judgments. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)’s Division for Prosperity.

Ashleigh has degrees in Law and Asian Studies from the University of Western Australia, with studies also conducted at the University of Vienna and Sophia University in Japan. She has a Masters of Science in Sustainability from the United Nations University and has undertaken the institution’s Leadership for Sustainability program. Ashleigh is an Australian national, and is fluent in Japanese.