Speakers
Third Annual Conference of the NOVA BHRE (2023)
Margarida Lima Rego
Dean of NOVA School of Law
Margarida Lima Rego is Full Professor and currently the Dean of NOVA School of Law, NOVA University, Lisbon, where she has lectured regularly since 2005.
She is scientific coordinator of the School of Law’s PhD Programme in Law. She also coordinates the NOVA Knowledge Centre for Data-Driven Law. She is currently in charge of the courses of Law of Obligations and Hard Cases (undergraduate) and the Jean Monnet Module on EU Insurance Law (master’s).
As an academic, she has taught different courses and published in a wide range of topics within Private Law, with a special focus on Contract Law. Previously, as a practitioner, she was very active in the areas of civil and commercial law. She was Of Counsel to Morais Leitão, where she headed the insurance, reinsurance and pension funds cross-practice team, having left the firm in July 2019 to pursue her academic career on a full time basis. As an attorney, she provided regular legal counselling in the setting up of varied operations on behalf of domestic and international clients, and in the drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts, with an emphasis on insurance. She is still an active legal consultant who is regularly sought on varied subject matters of Portuguese and Lusophone Law, having contributed to dispute resolutions before the courts of several jurisdictions in Europe, Africa and North and South America.
Since 1 December 2021, she is a member of the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, ESMA and EIOPA).
She was also a member of the Portuguese Bar between 2002 and 2019. Current positions include: President of AIDA Portugal; Executive Committee and Scientific Committee of AIDA Europe; Presidential Council of AIDA World. Chairwoman of the Commercial Law and Practice Commission of the Portuguese chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Pedro Oliveira
Dean of Nova SBE and Calouste Gulbenkian Chair Professor in Impact Economy
Pedro is Dean and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Chair Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics.
He is also Professor MSO at Copenhagen Business School; Academic Fellow at Cornell University’s Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures; Founder of Patient Innovation; co-founder of PPL Crowdfunding and member of the Environment & Sustainability Council at EDP Energias de Portugal.
Previously he was Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Research; Associate Dean for Research; Director of the Research Unit in Business; Academic Director of the LisbonMBA (a joint-venture between Católica-Lisbon, NovaSBE and MIT-Sloan); and Academic Director of the doctoral program in Technology Change and Entrepreneurship (offered by Católica-Lisbon, IST and Carnegie Mellon University) at Católica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics. He was also the founder and director of several exec ed programs.
Pedro also served as advisor to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and as an International Faculty Fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management.
His research has been published at Production and Operations Management (POM), Research Policy, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Orphanet, New England Journal of Medicine – Catalyst, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, among other.
He received his Ph.D. in Operations, Technology and Innovation Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and his M.Sc. and his “licenciatura” in Naval Engineering from IST. He also completed advanced training at Harvard Business School and at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Bernardo Ivo Cruz
Portuguese Secretary of State for International Trade and Foreign Investment
He is a strategic consultant in the field of Public Policy and International Relations, Correspondent Academic at the International Academy of Portuguese Culture, member of the editorial board of the Public Policy Portuguese Journal of the University of Évora Public Policy Monitoring Unit, assistant researcher at the Political Studies Research Centre of Católica University, member of the board of directors of the Clube de Lisboa, member of the board of the general meeting of the Jerónimos Monastery League of Friends and he writes a weekly opinion column for Diário de Notícias newspaper.
He has a PhD in Political Science from Bristol University in the United Kingdom 2007. He graduated in International Relations from Lusíada University in Lisbon in 1995.
He is an alumnus of the Prince of Wales’s Business and Sustainability Program by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
He was Undersecretary of State in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and Chief of Cabinet for the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs in the 17th Government under the 1976 democratic constitution, Adviser on Portugal’s Permanent Representation in the European Union during the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of Europe in 2021 and executive board member of SOFID – Sociedade para o Financiamento do Desenvolvimento (Development Funding).
He was also an economic and trade Adviser at the Portuguese Embassies in the United Kingdom and Brazil, where he headed the AICEP Business Centres for Latin America and the United Kingdom and Ireland, a member of the Strategic Board for International Relations at CIP – Portuguese Corporate Confederation and a strategic consultant in public policy and international relations for CV&A.
He founded and was Global Managing Partner of the True Bridge Consultancy Group, president of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the United Kingdom, represented the Federation of the Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (Brazil) in Europe and he was a partner at Leadership Business Consulting
He was also a Visiting Academic, Lecturer, Assistant Lecturer and Teaching Assistant at Loughborough, Cardiff and Bristol Universities in the United Kingdom, as well as an elected member of the Court of Bristol University and member of the Scientific and Pedagogical Boards of the University of Cardiff School of European Studies, editor at The London Brexit Monthly Digest – which followed Brexit from London’s perspective.
He coordinated the Madrid Club’s Mission to Support National Reconciliation in East Timor, was Secretary General of the Portuguese Committee of the European Movement and a member of the governing board of the Jerónimos Monastery league of friends and served as Honorary Consul of Botswana to Portugal.
Elise Racicot
Ambassador of Canada to Portugal
Élise Racicot (BA [Public Relations], University of Quebec in Montréal, 2001; MPA, University of Public Administration, 2018) began her career with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2002. In her first assignment, she became the first female Canadian trade commissioner in Iran.
She then worked on the integration of the Montréal regional office into the department’s national network; this was followed by 3 assignments in Brazil, including as head of mission for Quebec and, recently, as the senior trade commissioner for Canada’s Brazilian mission platform. She also served for several years on the global council of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service. She has served in various capacities at Headquarters, including in the areas of small and medium-sized enterprise export diversification, climate change, clean development finance and intergovernmental relations. She was also involved in the development of a mentoring program, aimed at equity, for women diplomats.
João Pedro Guimarães
Secretary-General of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
He is currently Secretary General of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Until 2016 his career was essentially centred on three sectors: telecoms, media and finance (asset management). Within these sectors, the areas he worked in were essentially centred on business support and control. In particular: compliance/ regulation; human resources, legal, general secretariat, risk and communication.
He worked in the Regulatory and Litigation Directorate of a sector regulator (ICP, now Anacom), was deputy for telecommunications and postal communications in a ministerial office (Ministry of Social Equipment), a member of the regulatory boards for telecommunications, cable television and cinema (at PT SGPS and then PT Multimedia, now NOS), was successively legal director, general secretary and director of a media group (Lusomundo Media, now Global Media Group). He was also Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Portugal Telecom, SGPS and Human Resources Director of the same company, responsible for the Human Resources Department of the Impresa Group, an executive director of GNB Gestão de Activos, SGPS (formerly ESAF, SGPS) and companies owned by it, both in Portugal and Luxembourg and worked as a consultant for Grow.
Bruno Ferreira
Managing Partner at PLMJ
Bruno is managing partner and partner in the Banking and Finance and Capital Markets practices, and he has over 15 years’ experience in giving legal advice in these areas.
He specialises in advising on complex transactions in Portugal and internationally, combining transactional and regulatory advice with advice on financial issues, including project finance operations, leveraged finance and asset based finance. He has a law degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra and a master’s in banking law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. He is the author of numerous books and articles on banking, corporate and securities law. He is also a member of the Portuguese think tank Governance Lab and of the Portuguese Institute for Corporate Governance. He is also a director of the Corporate Law Association in Review, which publishes one of the most prestigious legal journals in Portugal.
Claire Bright
Associate Professor and Director of the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment
Claire Bright is an Associate Professor in Private Law at Nova Law School in Lisbon as well as the Founder and Director of the Nova Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment. She is also an Associate Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. She regularly organizes courses, events and trainings in the field of Business and Human Rights. She has published widely in the field (in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) and has contributed to various expert studies and policy reports for Governments, NGOs, as well as for the European institutions (European Commission and European Parliament), for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other European and international organizations, which include:
- A study for the European Commission ondue diligence requirements through the supply chains which forms the basis of the current Draft Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. The study was welcomed by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights which observed that ‘it provides a solid and much needed foundation for enhanced policy and regulatory action to address business-related human rights impacts across sectors and global value chains.’
- A study for the European Parliament on Access to legal remedies for victims of corporate human rights abuses in third countries which was notably referred to in the paper of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on Business-related human rights abuse reported in the EU and available remedies, as well as in the Draft Report of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs with recommendations to the European Commission on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability (2020/2129(INL)).
- A study for the 11.11.11 and the Working Group on Corporate Accountability on the Options for Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence in Belgium which forms the basis of a legislative proposal currently being discussed in Belgium.
- A study on trade policy and child labour prepared for the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament entitled ’50 Billion Euros: Europe’s Child Labor Footprint in 2019′.
Panel 1: Global expectations in relation to CSDD and implementation challenges
Livio Sarendrea
Global Policy Advisor, Business and Human Rights, UN Development Programme
Livio Sarandrea, is UNDP’s Global Advisor for Business and Human Rights.
He coordinates a team of 40+ experts supporting the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 28 countries across five continents. Livio is currently based in Bangkok where, since 2016, he has also been managing the program: Business and Human Rights in Asia (B+HR Asia) in support of Governments businesses and civil society actors in the development of National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights, in the conduct of Human Rights Due Diligence and in the use of remedial mechanisms for those whose rights have been abused by companies.
He started his international career in Bosnia and Herzegovina where he served from 1997 to 2003 first as Senior Human Rights Officer for the OSCE and from 2001 for the United Nations as Chief of the Bihac Regional Human Rights Office.
From 2003 to 2010 he worked for the OSCE Mission to Serbia as Senior Coordinator for Judicial and Legal Reform and Deputy Head of Rule of Law and Human Rights Department.
He joined UNDP Mozambique in 2011 where he worked as an embedded Chief Technical Adviser in the Ministry of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission. In this function in 2014 he supported the process of drafting a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for Mozambique.
He is from Italy and holds a Law Degree with specialization in International and Criminal Law from La Sapienza University, Rome.
Rita Sacadura Orvalho
Senior Counsel, PLMJ
Rita is a senior consultant in the areas of Responsible Business, Banking and Finance and Capital Markets. With 15 years of professional experience, she advises on transactional and regulatory matters in sustainable financing, banking and finance law, and capital markets.
She has consolidated experience in compliance and regulatory matters, ESG, sustainability, corporate governance and business and human rights.
Rita holds a master’s degree in Corporate Law from the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and postgraduate qualifications in Corporate Finance from the Faculty of Law of Universidade de Lisboa and in Commercial Law from the Faculty of Law of Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She also has an Advanced LL.M in International Business Law from the Católica Global School of Law and a certificate in Sustainable Finance from the Institute for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Before joining PLMJ, Rita coordinated the Corporate & Finance Law area at TAP Air Portugal and was a principal associate at Cuatrecasas.
Carlos Martins Ferreira
Group General Counsel, Jerónimo Martins
He has a degree in Law from the Law Faculty of the University of Lisbon.
He is a Lawyer, Former Judge and General Counsel of Jerónimo Martins Group. He is also a member of the Management Committee of Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A.
Between 2019 and 2022, he was Chairman of the Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption Commission of IIC Portugal (Portuguese National Delegation of the International Chamber of Commerce)
Nuno Moreira da Cruz
Executive Director, Centre for Responsible Business & Leadership, Católica-Lisbon Business & Economics
Nuno Moreira da Cruz has a Law Degree at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, a Master’s degree in European Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and an MBA in IE Business School (Madrid). He is also a Certified Coach (Escuela Europea de Coaching, Madrid) and Mentor for Start Up’s. After a short experience in the banking sector, Nuno joined the BP Group holding several business jobs around Europe, working in Brussels, Madrid and London. He returned to Portugal to join Galp as a Board Member and was CEO of Galp Spain for five years.
He is currently Executive Director of the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership at Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics and teaches “Responsible Business” (Lisbon MBA and Masters Programs) , “Business Ethics” and “Strategic CSR” (Masters and Undergraduate programs) and “Strategy” (Master in Business & Law). He is also the Program Director for two Executive Education Programs (Responsible Business and PAGE). He is Chairman of CADin (organization that promotes the inclusion of people with special needs in society).
Anaïs Tobalagba
Legal and Policy Researcher at RAID
Anaïs Tobalagba is a Legal and Policy Researcher at RAID.
Before joining RAID, she used her expertise in business & human rights and women’s rights, to research corporations’ human rights responsibilities and their potential to prevent violence against women in mining operations. Previously, Anaïs worked in Europe, North and Central America, Africa and Australia for various government and non-government institutions including the International Committee of the Red Cross and Partnership Africa Canada (now Impact). She managed projects on national implementation of international humanitarian law, certification of conflict minerals, and access to justice for women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
She holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and has published and co-published articles on blogs and journals that include the Interpreter, Third World Quarterly and the Australian Human Rights Journal.
Michaela Streibelt
RCP European Legal Advisor
Michaela is a German lawyer and lecturer in business and human rights. She is an advisor at the German Helpdesk on Business & Human Rights, which is a governmental consultancy that advises German companies on implementing human rights and environmental due diligence. Her work for RCP focuses on drafting and disseminating model contract clauses for the German and European context and on providing updates and guidance to companies and other stakeholders regarding legislative developments in the EU. She is a member of the German team of the European Model Contract Clauses for Responsible and Sustainable Supply Chains Working Group.
She previously worked as a litigator at the law firm Luther Law Firm, and as an environmental lawyer at Dombert Rechtsanwälte. She also worked for the NGO European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in business and human rights. She graduated from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in 2011.
Panel 2: Business, Human Rights and Technology
Marcia Narine Weldon
Professor of Law, University of Miami
She is a professor and the Director of the Transactional Skills Program at the University of Miami School of Law, the general counsel of a startup, and the co-chair of the governance committee of the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade.
As the CEO of Illuminating Wisdom, an executive coaching, business strategy, and training firm, she uses evidence-based, neuroscience-informed strategies to help people transform their mindsets, skill sets, and lives. She is certified or trained in neurolinguistic programming (NLP), Dr. Amen’s Brain Health, the Happy for No Reason method, mindfulness instruction, emotional freedom technique (tapping), breathwork, hypnotherapy, and the DISC, Hogan, and CliftonStrengths behavioral assessments.
She is mental health first aid certified and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, the International Coaching Federation, and the Association of Comprehensive Energy Psychology.
She has been interviewed in or featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Guardian, the Verge, Forbes, Agenda (Financial Times), and other news outlets around the world.
Sheserved as Deputy General Counsel, as well as the Vice President, Global Compliance and Business Standards, and Chief Privacy Officer of Ryder, a publicly traded, multinational Fortune 500 company., where she oversaw the company’s global compliance, business ethics, privacy, government relations, environmental compliance, enterprise risk management, ESG, and labor and employment legal programs. She also served as the head of human resources for one of the company’s divisions before leading efforts to institute the compliance, enterprise risk management, and privacy programs from scratch. Prior to joining Ryder, she practiced employment law at two AmLaw 50 firms and clerked for the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
In May 2011, she testified before the House Financial Services Committee in Congress on the unintended impact of Dodd-Frank Financial Reform on corporate compliance programs. In 2012, the United States Secretary of Labor appointed her to the Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee, where she served for five years. She also had the honor of serving on the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust from 2014-2017.
She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree from Columbia University. She has been admitted to the bars of NY, NJ, Florida, and the United States Supreme Court.
Giulia Priora
Assistant Professor at NOVA School of Law and Coordinator of the NOVA Knowledge Centre on Intellectual Property & Sustainable Innovation
Giulia Priora is Assistant Professor at NOVA School of Law in Lisbon and Director of NOVA IPSI Knowledge Centre. She teaches intellectual property law, legal research methodologies, and EU digital policies. Her research focuses primarily on copyright law, IP theory and functions, distributive justice principles for inclusive and sustainable innovation.
She has been guest lecturer at the universities of Münster, Yangon, Trento, Szeged, Vytautas Magnus University, and visiting scholar at Columbia Law School, Hamburg University, and Bournemouth University.
She is member of CEDIS – Research Centre on Law and Society and ATRIP, permanent contributor at Kluwer Copyright Blog, and affiliated researcher at MJRC – Media and Journalism Research Center.
Gayatri Khandhadai
Head of Technology and Human Rights, BHRRC
Gaya joined the Resource Centre in February 2022 as the Head of Technology and Human Rights. She is a lawyer with a background in international law and human rights, international and regional human rights mechanisms, research, and advocacy. She previously worked with national and regional human rights groups, focusing on freedom of expression.
More recently she worked as the Asia Policy Regional Coordinator at the Association for Progressive Communications where her focus was on digital rights and policy in Asia with specific emphasis on freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and association on the internet. Her areas of expertise include capacity building, network support, policy advocacy on regulations and adoption of human rights-based approach to internet governance.
She holds an M.A. in International Law and Human Rights from the University for Peace, Costa Rica and a B.A. BL (Hons) from the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, India.
Stéphane Brabant
Head of Technology and Human Rights, BHRRC
Stéphane Brabant is the Senior Partner in Paris at Trinity International. Prior to joining Trinity International, Stéphane was a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills where he was the co-Chair of the firm’s Africa practice, Chair of Global Mining, co-Head of the firm’s Business and Human Rights group and Head of the Crisis Management group for Africa.
Stéphane has 30 years of experience as a projects and transactional lawyer, primarily in the energy and natural resources sectors in Africa. As well as advising on the structuring of complex investments between multinationals and States, Stéphane has developed a strong practice in recent years advising clients on crisis prevention and management, dispute resolution (including arbitration), corporate social responsibility and business and human rights, and was one of the experts advising John Ruggie (former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises) on the human rights capacity building obligations and responsibilities of States and multinationals. Stéphane is a member of the Advisory Board of the Business & Human Rights Project of the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, as well as former co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s CSR work group.
Stéphane is consistently ranked by the leading legal directories as a leading individual for Africa. Chambers Global 2019 says that Stéphane is widely acclaimed by sources, who say that “He really knows the culture of Africa very, very well. Beyond his legal expertise, he is very, very strong on knowing how to advise clients when they invest in Africa.” He is currently the only lawyer singled out by Chambers Global in its highest “Senior Statesman” ranking for Africa-wide Projects & Energy and he is ranked in Band 1 for Business and Human Rights. Stéphane was selected as a “Global Elite Thought Leader” for Mining by Who’s Who Legal 2019. He also received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Chambers and Partners (announced at the Chambers Africa Awards 2021 webinar -12 January 2021) in recognition of his contribution to the legal profession and to the practice of law across the African continent.
Pedro Oliveira
Dean of Nova SBE and Calouste Gulbenkian Chair Professor in Impact Economy
Pedro Oliveira is Dean and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Chair Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics.
He is also Professor MSO at Copenhagen Business School; Academic Fellow at Cornell University’s Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures; Founder of Patient Innovation; co-founder of PPL Crowdfunding and member of the Environment & Sustainability Council at EDP Energias de Portugal.
Previously he was Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Research; Associate Dean for Research; Director of the Research Unit in Business; Academic Director of the LisbonMBA (a joint-venture between Católica-Lisbon, NovaSBE and MIT-Sloan); and Academic Director of the doctoral program in Technology Change and Entrepreneurship (offered by Católica-Lisbon, IST and Carnegie Mellon University) at Católica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics. He was also the founder and director of several exec ed programs.
Pedro also served as advisor to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and as an International Faculty Fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management.
His research has been published at Production and Operations Management (POM), Research Policy, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Orphanet, New England Journal of Medicine – Catalyst, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, among other.
He received his Ph.D. in Operations, Technology and Innovation Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and his M.Sc. and his “licenciatura” in Naval Engineering from IST. He also completed advanced training at Harvard Business School and at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Matija Žulj
CEO of the agri-tech firm, AGRIVI
Matija is an impact entrepreneur committed to solving the global food problem. He is recognized as one of Europe’s Top Tech Innovators (Sifted by Financial Times) and a thought leader in the fields of food tech, AgTech and building sustainable food systems.
He is a founder and a CEO at AGRIVI, a specialized AgTech company that delivers powerful farm management software, with the vision to change the way food is produced and positively impact over a billion lives. Today, AGRIVI helps Fortune 500 companies across the globe to produce nutritious, healthy, and sustainably grown food by digitalizing their crop production and agriculture supply chains.
Matija is a regular keynote speaker at major global conferences, corporate events, EU parliament, UN FAO events, TEDx events, and universities.
He is a great advocate for sustainable food systems, the future of food, novel food business models, AgTech, food tech, digitalization of the agri-food industry, AI in agriculture, start-up eco-systems, entrepreneurship, and motivation through his thought leadership activities.
As a part of social responsibility activities, Matija serves as EIC Ambassador, OECD-FAO Advisory Group Member for Responsible Ag Supply Chains and UN Global Compact Board Member Croatia. Also, he is contributing to the community as EIT Food Policy Council Member, Advisory Board Member at European Carbon Farmers, a Mentor at Women in Food and Agriculture where he supports young female talents in achieving their personal growth, and a Faculty Council Member for the International Digital Agriculture Study at University of Osijek.
Panel 3: Responsible Disengagement
Sinisa Milatovic
Business and Human Rights specialist, UNDP
Siniša Milatović is an expert on business and human rights, and is currently serving as a Business and Human Rights Specialist with UNDP. He is responsible for developing global programming and providing expertise on business and human rights to colleagues and partners in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Siniša has 20 years’ experience as a human rights lawyer, advocate, researcher and manager of donor-funded projects in over 30 countries and territories in Asia, Africa and Europe.
He has a DPhil (PhD) from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, with a focus on corporate accountability, as well as an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Laura Iñigo Álvarez
Lecturer at NOVA School of Law and Scientific Coordinator of the NOVA BHRE
Laura Íñigo Álvarez is a postdoctoral researcher in International Law at the Nova School of Law and at CEDIS (Research Center on Law and Society). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Public Law from the University of Seville, where she graduated cum laude. She earned her PhD in Law at Utrecht University in 2019. At Nova School of Law, Laura carries out a research project focused on business and human rights and access to remedies for business-related human rights abuses. She is also the Scientific Coordinator of the NOVA BHRE and the Co-coordinator of the Master in Law and Security.
Laura has been a speaker at several international conferences, including those organised by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI). She is also a regular contributor to Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts, a member of the International Observatory on Human Rights and Business (University of Seville) and the Spanish Bar Association. Her main research interests are international human rights law, international humanitarian law and armed non-state actors, international criminal law, and business and human rights.
Miguel Ferreira
BPI | Fundação “la Caixa” Chair Professor in Responsible Finance and Vice-Dean for Faculty and Research of Nova SBE
Miguel A. Ferreira is the BPI | Fundação “la Caixa” Chair Professor of Responsible Finance at Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE). He is the Vice-Dean of Faculty and Research at Nova School of Business and Economics and the Academic Director of the Nova Finance Knowledge Center. He is also a research associate of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). He has a PhD in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master in Economics from Nova SBE, and a Bachelor in Business from ISCTE-IUL.
His research interests include corporate finance, sustainable finance, and asset management. His research has been published in academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and Management Science. He is among the top 100 most prolific authors in the top three finance journals of all time in the world, and he has been the most cited Portuguese economist since 2000. He has received several research grants and awards, including a European Research Council (ERC) grant, la Caixa Foundation Social Research Call, and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. He was the President of the European Finance Association.
He teaches corporate finance in the bachelor program. He is also an independent board member at BPI Asset Management and a Scientific Advisor for Economics studies at Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. He has extensive experience teaching finance in graduate degree programs and executive education programs and is an expert witness and consultant for companies, financial institutions, central banks, and government agencies.
Céline da Graça Pires
Business and Human Rights specialist
Céline da Graça Pires, Business and Human Rights Specialist, External Advisor at BSR, Research Associate at Nova University Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment and Business and Human Rights Lecturer at Leuphana University (Lüneburg, Germany).
Cannelle Lavite
Co-Director ECCHR
Cannelle Lavite is a French trained lawyer and director of the Business and Human Rights program at the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). In this capacity, she leads several transnational litigation projects concerning business actors involved in international crimes as well as violations of economic, socio and cultural rights. Her work includes the criminal complaint filed in France against the French multinational Lafarge for complicity in crimes against humanity and endangering of peoples’ lives in Syria. Cannelle Lavite holds a Master in civil law from the University of Toulouse Capitole and a Master in international governance from the University Lyon II and Université de Montreal (Canada).
Leonard Feld
Advisor on Human Rights, Business and Tech at the Danish Institute for Human Rights
Leonard Feld is an Advisor on Human Rights, Business and Tech at the Danish Institute for Human Rights. He holds an LL.M. and a PhD from the European University Institute as well as a German law degree from the University of Bonn. His area of expertise covers international standards and European Union law on responsible business conduct, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), the Conflict Minerals Regulation, and the EU Forced Labour Ban. Aside from his advisory role, Leonard regularly holds guest lectures on relevant topics at different European universities.
Panel 4: Due Diligence and Remedy
Karin Buhmann
Professor of Business & Human Rights, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and Director of the Centre for Law, Sustainability and Justice
Karin Buhmann is Full Professor of Business & Human Rights, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and Full Professor and Research Director at the Centre for Law, Sustainability and Justice, University of Southern Denmark.
Professor Buhmann currently leads two research projects on meaningful stakeholder engagement in the Arctic to ensure a green transition with respect for human rights. Professor Buhmann holds a LLM from the University of Copenhagen, a Master’s degree in International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Lund, a PhD in law from the University of Aarhus, and an advanced doctorate from Roskilde University, based on ten years of research of the emergence of the BHR regime.
She is the founder or co-founder of several global or regional research networks, including of GREEN-SORT, the Global Research and Engagement Network for Socially Sustainable Transitions, and The BHRights Initiative’, a platform on Business & Human Rights for interdisciplinary research and teaching across law and management; and the University of the Arctic (UArctic) Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Resources and Social Responsibility.
Lucila de Almeida
Nova School of Law, Abreu Chair of ESG Impact and Coordinator of the NOVA Green Lab at NOVA School of Law
Lucila de Almeida is the Abreu Chair of ESG Impact and Coordinator of the NOVA Green Lab at NOVA School of Law. She is Part-time Assistant Professor at the European University Institute and Wageningen University & Research, co-Director of the Regulatory Delivery Programme and a member of the Coordination Committee at the Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies. Her fields of research are energy, environmental and climate law. She holds a PhD in European Law from the European University Institute, an LL.M in Comparative, European and International Law from the European University Institute, a Master in Law and Development from FGV São Paulo, and a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte.
Hugo Albuquerque
Legal Manager, SOMINCOR
Hugo Albuquerque is Legal Manager of SOMINCOR, the Secretary of the company and the Chairman of the General Assembly. He is also Vice-President of the National Association of Extractive and Manufacturing Industry (ANIET) for the mining sector. Hugo Albuquerque holds a Master’s Degree in Law from Católica University and four post-graduate degrees in law from Lisbon University, Coimbra University and Católica University.
Alison Holm
Assistant Professor, NOVA SBE
Alison Holm is Assistant Professor (Professora Auxiliara) at Nova School of Business and Economics in the Strategy & Entrepreneurship area, and Research Associate at NOVA BHRE.
Her research and teaching focuses on corporate responsibility in the global setting. In her research, she studies complaints of corporate misconduct filed against multinational enterprises. Alison holds expertise on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises drawing on her prior experience as a Policy Analyst at the Centre for Responsible Business Conduct of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Paris.
Alison holds a PhD in Responsible Management from Copenhagen Business School, a CEMS Master in International Management and a Master of Science in Business and Development Studies. In 2019, she received the Elite Forsk Prize from the Danish Ministry for Higher Education and Science (USD 30 000), granted to 20 PhD Fellows across all scientific fields in Denmark. In 2023, she was a finalist for the best dissertation award in the field of International Business at the Academy of Management Annual Conference.
Joseph Wilde-Ramsing
Director of Advocacy at SOMO
Joseph is a researcher, advocate and network coordinator with broad experience and expertise in corporate accountability across a wide range of sectors, including energy, extractives, manufacturing and finance. After leading the OECD Watch network for 15 years between 2005-2020, he now serves as a Senior Advisor to the network. He frequently assists communities and workers in documenting human rights and environmental violations, asserting their rights and seeking remedy for corporate abuse. Joseph serves as an Independent Advisor to the Social and Economic Council (SER) of the Netherlands and is on the Advisory Board of the Dutch National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines.
Concluding Remarks
Lídia Farropas
Head of Sustainable Development Unit, Directorate-General for Economic Activities of the Portuguese Ministry of Economy and Sea
Lídia has a degree in Agricultural Engineering – Specialisation in Plant Protection from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (2003), a master’s in Management from ISCTE Business School INDEG_Graduate (2011), a postgraduate in Project Management from ISCTE Business School INDEG_Graduate (2009) and an Advanced Studies Course in Public Management from the National Institute of Administration (2005/2006).
Since 24 February 2020, she is Head of Division, on a replacement basis, of the Sustainable Development Division of the Directorate of Corporate Sustainability Services of the Directorate-General for Economic Activities (DGAE); (2019-2020) Senior Statistical Technician at the Directorate of Agriculture and Environment Services of the National Statistics Institute (INE); (2016-2019) Senior Technician in the Circular Economy Division of the Directorate of Corporate Sustainability Services of the Directorate-General for Economic Activities (DGAE); (2013-2016) Senior Technician in the Farm Support Division of the Directorate of Services for the Promotion of Agricultural Activity of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DGADR); (2006-2013) Senior Technician at the Rebelo da Silva Agricultural Chemical Laboratory of the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV).
Laura Iñigo Álvarez
Lecturer at NOVA School of Law and Scientific Coordinator of the NOVA BHRE
Laura Íñigo Álvarez is a postdoctoral researcher in International Law at the Nova School of Law and at CEDIS (Research Center on Law and Society). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Public Law from the University of Seville, where she graduated cum laude. She earned her PhD in Law at Utrecht University in 2019. At Nova School of Law, Laura carries out a research project focused on business and human rights and access to remedies for business-related human rights abuses. She is also the Scientific Coordinator of the NOVA BHRE and the Co-coordinator of the Master in Law and Security.
Laura has been a speaker at several international conferences, including those organised by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI). She is also a regular contributor to Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts, a member of the International Observatory on Human Rights and Business (University of Seville) and the Spanish Bar Association. Her main research interests are international human rights law, international humanitarian law and armed non-state actors, international criminal law, and business and human rights.
Alison Holm
Assistant Professor, NOVA SBE
Alison Holm is Assistant Professor (Professora Auxiliara) at Nova School of Business and Economics in the Strategy & Entrepreneurship area, and Research Associate at NOVA BHRE.
Her research and teaching focuses on corporate responsibility in the global setting. In her research, she studies complaints of corporate misconduct filed against multinational enterprises. Alison holds expertise on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises drawing on her prior experience as a Policy Analyst at the Centre for Responsible Business Conduct of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Paris.