Sarah Altschuller serves as Business & Human Rights Counsel in Verizon’s Business & Human Rights Program. In this role, Sarah supports Verizon’s commitment to integrating attention to human rights impacts into its legal and business operations.  She also seeks to identify and respond to technological trends that may create human rights risks. Prior to joining Verizon in 2018, Sarah was Counsel in Foley Hoag LLP’s Corporate Social Responsibility Practice, where she advised corporate clients on how best to assess and address the human rights impacts of their operations and to respond to emerging legal and regulatory requirements specific to human rights. In 2018 and 2017, she was recognized by Chambers Global as among the top lawyers in the field of business & human rights.

Sarah co-teaches a seminar on business & human rights law at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to law school, Sarah was a research analyst with the socially responsible investment firm, KLD Research & Analytics. Sarah received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science from Williams College.

Erika is the Chief Impact Officer at Pathstone. She sits on the firm’s Investment Oversight Committee and Market Strategy Committee. She also chairs Pathstone’s Impact Committee and Thematic Research effort.

Erika’s mission is to bring the disciplines of finance, economics, and sustainability to bear in pursuit of a more regenerative and inclusive form of capitalism. Over the course of her 25-plus years on Wall Street, she developed a deep belief in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis as a critical input to investment decision-making.

Prior to joining Pathstone, Erika was founder and CEO of Cornerstone Capital Group, a sustainable and impact investment advisory firm she founded in 2013. Previously, Erika was Managing Director and Head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investment Bank. She chaired the Global Investment Review Committee, served on the UBS Securities Research Executive Committee, and served on the Environmental and Human Rights Committee of the UBS Group Executive Board.

Erika’s work has been featured by media including Bloomberg, The Guardian, the Financial Times, Investor Relations Magazine, and Forbes. Erika speaks on sustainable investing and finance at venues around the world including the UN Global Compact, the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Clinton Global Initiative, the Wharton School, the NYSE, the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), the Aspen Institute, the White House, and many others.

Erika holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School. She serves on the Boards of Jewish Women Invest. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Criterion Institute and the Global Advisory Board of GreenFin..

Selected achievements and accolades:

• Founding Board member, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (now the Value Reporting Foundation)
• Current Board member, Jewish Women Invest
• Advisory Board Member, the Criterion Institute
• Global Advisory Board Member, GreenFin
• Advisor to the Humanity United’s Know The Chain initiative
• Ambassador for the World Benchmarking Alliance
• Member of CECP’s Strategic Investor Initiative Advisory Council
• Columnist, Impact Entrepreneur
• United Nations General Assembly Speaker and Global Compact Board Advisor
• Advisor to former Clinton Global Initiative Market-Based Approaches team; plenary speaker at 2014 Winter Meeting
• Served on World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Financing & Capital
• Served on Program Design Advisory Council, Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Program, Innovating for Sustainability
• Recognized among “100 Women in Impact” by Real Leaders, 2021. Named among “Top 50 Women in Wealth” by AdvisorOne, one of the “Purpose Economy 100,” the “Good 100” and one of 50 “Conscious Capitalists” who are “Transforming Wall Street.”
• Named by Worth Magazine’s “Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World.” Received Babson College’s 2019 Lewis Institute Centennial Social Innovator Award. Honored by UN Women of NY Metro as a “Champion of Change,” 2017.

Michelle Williams is a member of the Litigation, Regulatory and White Collar practice group.
Michelle represents U.S. and foreign clients including multinational companies, financial institutions, and other financial service providers in criminal and regulatory enforcement proceedings relating to potential economic sanctions, export control, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering, and advises on compliance with associated regulatory regimes, including data privacy and employee-related matters.

Michelle is a member of our global People Risk team.

Nadira Narine is Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, primarily responsible for research and analysis, coordination and support of ICCR’s Advancing Worker Justice program area, which brings shareholder advocates and allied worker-led and focused organizations together to advance dignity and justice for working people, with a particular focus on corporate operations in US and Canada.

Nadira participates in number of spaces dedicated to advancing worker justice, racial justice, and equity, bringing the perspective of responsible investors who are seeking to activate our investments, strategic partnerships, and movement-building strategies to influence and achieve meaningful gains for workers’ rights in the U.S. and Canada.

She has been a staff member at ICCR since 2004.

Nadira was born in Trinidad. She obtained a BA, from CUNY’s Brooklyn College and MA in Political Science from The CUNY Graduate Center.

Jessica oversees coverage of companies within the Industrials and Materials sectors in the US and Canada for the BlackRock Investment Stewardship team, where she is responsible for engaging with public company management teams and boards of directors on material ESG risk factors on behalf of BlackRock’s clients. She is also responsible for voting BlackRock’s shares at these companies’ annual meetings. A key focus area within her sectors includes the assessment of climate- and nature-related risks, in the context of a company’s long-term outlook and broader considerations for a transition to a lower-carbon economy. Jessica also regularly engages on topics such as governance, compensation, board composition, human capital management, activism, M&A, and strategy.

Jessica is BlackRock’s representative on the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which aims to create a risk management and disclosure framework for organizations to report and act on nature-related risks. Jessica brings over 13 years of experience in ESG-related roles and financial services; before joining BlackRock, she was on the Stewardship and Corporate Governance team at TIAA. Prior to working at TIAA, Jessica provided financial planning to wealth management clients. Jessica began her career at Moxy Vote (TFS Capital), a start-up focused on proxy voting and retail shareholder advocacy efforts.

Jessica is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and holds various securities licenses. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in English.

Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. She leads the organization’s executive leadership team and more than 225 employees working to mobilize the most influential investors and companies to drive action on the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. She has been at the helm since 2003, and under her leadership, the organization and its powerful networks and global collaborations have grown significantly in size and influence.

As a well-known global thought leader on climate change, Lubber has inspired capital market leaders including global coalitions of institutional investors and corporate boards and executives to factor environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices into their overall strategies. She is frequently quoted in top business and financial news outlets and pens a regular column for Forbes.com on a variety of topics that have elevated the economic and financial case for sustainability action and elevated concepts, such as climate and water risk, to the mainstream investment and business community. She regularly speaks to high-level world and national policymakers on the need for stronger climate policies and regulations to build a stronger, more resilient and sustainable economy. In 2015, Lubber helped catalyze the necessary business support to get the historic Paris Agreement across the finish line, leading Vogue Magazine to name her a “Climate Warrior.”

She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her leadership. In 2020, Lubber was awarded the United Nations ’Champions of the Earth’ Entrepreneurial Vision award. In the same year, Lubber made Barron’s Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential women in U.S. finance, and then again in 2021, 2022, and 2023. She has also received the Climate Visionary Award from the Earth Day Network, William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership from American University, and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship from the Skoll Foundation. She has been recognized by the United Nations and the Foundation for Social Change as one of the World’s Top Leaders of Change. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Ceres was named a top 100 women-led businesses in Massachusetts by the Globe Magazine and Commonwealth Institute.

Prior to Ceres, Lubber served as a Regional Administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under former President Bill Clinton. She also founded Green Century Capital Management and served as the director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG).

She resides in Brookline, Mass., with her husband Norman Stein. She has two children, Abe and Jessie.

Rebecca is founder and leader of Corbin and a pioneer in investor relations globally. Over her 20-year career in capital markets, she has architected a proprietary and proven methodology to drive sustained value creation based on extensive and unparalleled Voice of Investor® research and insights-driven strategies that have consistently been validated by the global equity markets.

As a subject matter expert and renowned capital markets and investor relations strategist with a demonstrated track record of rerating companies, Rebecca is a trusted advisor and partner to boards and executives who continually seek her research-based insights and counsel. She serves a broad range of global clients across sectors and industries.

Rebecca was in her mid-twenties when she founded Corbin Advisors in 2007 and, under her leadership as CEO, the company has developed a reputation as a best-in-class partner and, as a result, has grown exponentially and continues to set records across key metrics annually. She serves as Editor-in-chief of Inside the Buy-Side®, a leading research publication covered worldwide that identifies and reports on investor sentiment trends globally and best practice. Rebecca is a highly sought after and prolific public speaker, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and is a recurring guest on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.

Long committed to giving back, Rebecca dedicates significant time and resources to helping advance social services, the arts, humanities, and education. In 2020, she created Corbin for Nonprofits and committed to donating 20% of that practices’ annual operating profits to nonprofit organizations. Rebecca serves on the boards of Washington College and The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and is a past director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and CT Women’s Hall of Fame. She is President of the Jim and Rebecca Loree Foundation, a nonprofit, charitable organization she co-founded with her husband in 2009, which is focused on supporting secondary and higher education.

Rebecca has been a frequent honoree for business and community leadership and most recently received Hartford Business Journal’s Annual Women in Business Award, which recognizes outstanding Connecticut-based female CEOs, entrepreneurs and senior-level executives who have mastered their industry and are admired by the business community. She holds a B.A. in Business Management from Washington College, the first college chartered in the sovereign United States of America, where she graduated cum laude and with Honors.

Rebecca resides in the Nutmeg State with her husband and their four daughters. She loves to spend time with her family, garden, play tennis and run.

Steve Nickelsburg has broad experience in internal investigations, government enforcement matters, and complex civil litigation. He represents and advises corporate clients, sovereign and multilateral institutions, and individuals in cases with cross-border implications, including anticorruption, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering, unfair competition, and intellectual property theft, as well as matters involving human rights claims and sovereign immunity. Steve also advises multinational companies on litigation and transactional risk assessment, risk mitigation strategies, and compliance measures.

Steve is a member of our global Business and Human Rights Risk team, a member of our Global ESG Board, and a member of the Vance Center Committee of The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.

Joseph has broad experience in product innovation and development, leading large scale strategic technology projects and developing industry transforming communication channels. During his career he has started and led business units, a technology innovation lab, and had various leading roles in strategic planning and development. Joseph’s ventures have led to joint ventures, partnerships and reseller agreements with major multi-national companies, boutique vendors and securities clearing companies.

Alexandra Higgins is a Managing Director at Okapi Partners providing strategic counsel to corporate clients and their advisors with a focus on governance and compensation issues, as well as other ESG concepts.

Alex has over 15 years of experience in corporate advisory and governance roles. Prior to joining Okapi Partners, she served as VP and Head of U.S. Partner Advisory Services at Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) Corporate Solutions, where she managed advisory services for U.S. professional services firms on ISS policy, corporate governance issues, equity plan disclosure, and shareholder activism.

Alex also spent time as a reporter for CQ Roll Call, where she covered corporate governance regulation and activist investor campaigns. She began her career as an executive compensation analyst and research associate at The Corporate Library for six years before its merger with GMI Ratings, where she ultimately spent another four years advising law firms on corporate governance matters related to securities litigation.

In 2008, Alex was named a Rising Star of Corporate Governance by the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine.

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Corporate Secretary, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. He had previously been managing editor of Compliance Reporter since January 2007, covering regulatory and compliance issues affecting broker-dealers and asset management firms. Before that, Ben was editor of International Financial Law Review and IFLR’s Americas editor, working in London and New York.

Laurence Taylor is a content researcher and conference producer at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary where he is responsible for crowd-sourcing intelligence on the big global issues facing public companies. In this role, Laurence creates industry-wide conferences overseeing the event all the way from conception to completion.
Prior to this role, Laurence held similar roles with Westminster insight, A UK based policy organisation for both private and public sector. Laurence also produced events for Metal Bulletin, American Metal Market, and Industrial Minerals market.