EJ Allen AIEMA, FIR Ambassador has 20 years' experience in supporting businesses develop more sustainable supply chains,  working with clients across construction, homes, rail, utilities, facilities management, healthcare and defence. 
EJ is passionate about the ‘People’ element of sustainability and the need for a ‘Just Transition’. She supports clients in their modern slavery due diligence,  to prevent, identify, manage and mitigate the risks of modern slavery and labour exploitation across their operations and supply chains. She's an experienced trainer,facilitators and presenter, having delivered CPD training to 2,000+ individuals in the last year. She collaborated with our Modern Slavery team to create a comprehensive modern slavery gap analysis assessment tool and has led  gap analyses projects for clients including EQUANS and Tilbury Douglas. 

Ali Horriyat stands at the forefront of Compassiviste, embodying the spirit of innovation and compassion. His journey, inspired by a profound connection to global challenges, led to the foundation of a platform aimed at harmonizing humanity with the planet.

The inception of Compassiviste was a response to the urgent need for systemic change in how societies interact with their environments and each other. Ali’s philosophy intertwines with the organization’s core, advocating for a world where sustainability and empathy guide our actions.

Central to Compassiviste’s mission are the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability. These pillars reflect Ali’s belief in the power of honest dialogue and ethical leadership to instigate meaningful change.

Annie Sorel founded ASEA after 20 years as a Head of Procurement for major French companies in the eye wear and garment industries.

She is also involved in national and international initiatives on Sustainable Procurement.

Vice President of the French Think Tank on Sustainable Procurement ObsAR Expert on Fairtrade (with production of guide books).

International expert of ISO24000 Standard on Sustainable Procurement Partner of UNEP with 10-years Sustainable Public Procurement Programme.

In the field of Gender Equality, she created and is chairwoman of women’s business networks “Business au Féminin”, “Les Fameuses” and co-created a special program for salary negotiation for women « Negotraining » ASEA is a consulting and training agency specializing to implement Sustainable and Social Procurement in organisations and Supply Chains.

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Bob is a leading expert on sustainability justifications, frameworks, and sustainable procurement. Over the last 22 years, he has given over 1,700 presentations, has authored six books and published two white papers. He provides six Master Slide Decks and over a dozen free, open-source tools and resources for sustainability champions and procurement professionals. 

Head of Fairness, Inclusion & Respect (FIR)
Cathryn is a sustainability, social impact and EDI specialist and Head of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect at Action Sustainability. She brings over 16 years of experience working with organisations and industries across different areas of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. Her background includes working in the construction and built environment sector, within accountability bodies (including building and energy and water regulators in Australia), with underrepresented groups, and advising and representing organisations across ESG and equal opportunity law, compliance and strategy as an in-house legal counsel and former court advocate.

Cathryn is passionate about bringing people together to drive behavioural and cultural change to positively impact sustainability outcomes and supporting organisations to deliver responsible business practices.

Accomplished senior procurement leader with a proven track record in driving transformative outcomes for multinational corporations in the Telco, Financial, and Technology sectors across the Asia Pacific region. Leveraging a solid foundation in both technical and business domains, I specialize in elevating traditional procurement functions to industry-leading best practices, consistently delivering exceptional results.

Dannie Yung has life-long experience leading teams to transform and delight in pursuit of business process excellence.
Involved in sustainable supply chain since 2013. Engaged in assessment projects for a utility and construction company in 2017. Contributed to the Chinese language of the ISO20400.org self assessment.
Passionate and actively engaged in Are You Climate Ready? collaboration
Dannie’s objective is to develop excellence in people and organizations. She works intimately with cross-functional, C-suite, management, engineering, product/design, technical/commercial, process and supply chain teams to achieve speed, quality, agility, innovation, productivity, customer delight and sustainable advantage..

CEO and Program Director of Global GreenTag International Pty Ltd
Director Global GreenTag Pty Ltd (South Africa)
Nominated as a 2023 ‘GBCA Green Star Champion’, voted an Australian Top 50 Green Leader and Global Top 100 Sustainability Leader, David is a world-renowned sustainability, NaturePositive+product and materials expert, Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, award winning
green architect, author, Lead Auditor and GBCA Reference Panel member. 

 Don Weatherbee is the CEO of Regenx Tech, a cleantech pioneer revolutionizing the sustainable recovery of precious metals from end-of-life catalytic converters. Under his leadership, Regenx has developed innovative technology that reduces CO2 emissions by 95% and uses 99% less water compared to traditional mining methods, making it a game-changer in the circular economy. With a strategic vision to scale operations globally and a commitment to sustainability, Don collaborates with industry leaders like Davis Recycling to meet the growing demand for critical metals. His expertise spans clean technology, environmental innovation, and strategic business growth, making him a sought-after voice in the intersection of business, sustainability, and technology. 

Elise Groulx Diggs is a renowned international human rights lawyer, qualified in Canada and France. An international member of a Barrister Chambers in London and licensed legal consultant with the New York Bar in the United States. Elise is also an international accredited mediator.

Farid Yaker, independent SPP expert, led the work of UNEP in Sustainable Public Procurement from December 2008 to March 2023.

He has directed the publication of numerous UNEP publications on SPP including the periodical Global SPP Reviews and the SPP Implementation Guidelines. Farid Yaker supervised the development of the SDG 12.7.1 methodology and the first two data collection exercises in 2020 and 2022.

Farid taught Agricultural economics at the University of Blida, Algeria from 1988 to 1990 before joining the international NGO Enda (Environmental Development Action) after the Rio summit that he attended in 1992. Farid took the direction of the European office of Enda before joining UNEP.

He holds a master’s degree in Agricultural economics from the University of California at

Davis, USA.

Gillian Askew is a long-standing procurement professional with a career spanning 30 years. She is a Director of Go4Growth, a social enterprise dedicated to helping smaller organisations to be fully equipped to take part in public sector opportunities. Go4Growth is focused on removing barriers to entry and to help build sustainable growth in local economies.

Harriet Wallace is Director Sustainability Strategy at Imperial College, London where she is leading the programme to implement Imperial’s sustainability strategy. She is a scientist by training and a policy, strategy and change practitioner by profession. Harriet has had a lifelong interest in how we can make the most of science’s potential: for understanding the world better; for solving real-world problems; and to inform and influence both policy-making and human behaviours.

Lead Consultant Helen Carter is an experienced procurement professional who after 10 years in the profession found a new way of making it even more interesting – namely sustainable procurement. After working in Direct mail, manufacturing and then Infrastructure construction Helen embarked on a journey of supporting Carillion in its quest to embed the flexible framework and drive more sustainable procurement practices. After a few years of this challenging but successful endeavour she discovered an appetite to learn more and joined Action Sustainability as a consultant. Over the last 10 years with the organisation, she has worked with a number of clients including Network Rail, TFL, Skanska, Molson Coors, Balfour Beatty, United Utilities, WRAP, MOD and many more. She has developed and delivered numerous training course (too many to mention if you ask her), provided process support in terms of developing strategies and policies, supplier development plans, PQQ’s and ITT’s.

As Director of the multi award-winning Supply Chain Sustainability School, Ian Heptonstall leads the team that provides sustainability advice to over 25,000 managers and leaders from over 6,000 construction suppliers annually.

In addition, Ian provides strategic leadership for our Fairness, Inclusion and Respect, Social Value and Design for Manufacture and Assembly workstreams. Having worked in supply chains since the late-1980s, Ian has a deep understanding of the dynamics of supply chains and how these can bring social benefits to their local communities.  Ian has used this knowledge to successfully launch and run a number of skills and construction related businesses since he started his first business in 1991, all of which are still flourishing.

Ian combines his passion for sustainability with a passion for sport.  

James Cadman DPhil. MRSC MIEMA CEnv

James is a Lead Consultant at Action Sustainability who has 20 years of experience assessing the sustainability impacts that products have through their life cycles and supply chains and applying this to business strategies and government policies to drive sustainability improvements forward. This work has encompassed sustainable procurement, product sustainability, carbon footprinting and ecolabelling.

With an extensive background spanning over 15 years in Procurement/Supply Chain and Contract Management positions in both the U.K and New Zealand (NZ), Jane emerges as a seasoned leader and accomplished procurement professional. Holding the distinguished title of Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, Jane fervently drives the industry forward by introducing innovative ideas to address current and future global challenges. Serving as the Chair
for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply committee (CIPS) in Christchurch NZ, Jane also recently assumed the role of a judge for the CIPS ANZ Australasian awards. Additionally, she is an active member of the NZ Procurement Excellence Forum. 

Jean-Louis Tourneux (Haie) is a sustainable procurement thought leader and expert. Since 2008, he has advised dozens of organisations across a wide range of sectors, sizes and locations on their sustainable procurement approach. After seven years working in France, where he contributed to the pioneering years of sustainable procurement, he spent eight years in Australia where he played a major role in the growth of this topic there. He is now directing Asea, a pioneering French sustainable procurement consultancy created by renowned expert Annie Sorel.

– Contribution to the design and development of the website
– Development of educational materials and resources (Word, PPT)
– Coordinating the translation of materials

John advises a number of governments, intergovernmental organisations, and businesses on human rights and wider issues of sustainability, development, and international affairs.

He is the author of ‘The Social License’, which makes the case for a new form of social contract between business and society, and he has been published widely on issues relating to global governance, corporate responsibility, human rights, climate action, refugee protection, and human trafficking.

John’s latest book – ‘The Just Transition: A Systems-Thinking Approach to Managing Climate Action‘ – explores the social challenges of net zero transitions, and why taking a systems-thinking approach is necessary to achieve urgent climate action.

Director of Financial Services & Procurement for Imperial College London

My current role has responsibility for all the financial services within the University including strategic procurement, income, payments,  financial systems, payroll and insurance, and the University in ranked at number 2 in the world and has a combined turnover of over £1 billion. The role covers responsibility for a hundred people across the University.

I am a seasoned procurement and logistics professional with over 40 years’ experience of working at a strategic level in large complex organisations within government and the commercial sector and have a particular interest in sustainability and how it impacts the global supply chain. 

Director of Sustainability for WAP Sustainability

Josh is responsible for engaging and understanding the global marketplaces’ sustainable/healthy rating systems, codes, purchasing policies, and standards for WAP Sustainability. In this role he helps develop and track the environmental programs that are being utilized throughout the world. As a LEED AP+ BD&C, Josh has served on over 40 sustainably focused committees, including but not limited to ASHRAE 189.1, LEED Steering Committee, USGBC’s Pilot Credit Committee, and served on the water/IEQ work group that developed the first public draft of the IgCC. 

Julia L Freer Goldstein is an award-winning author and the founder of JLFG Communications. She helps sustainability-minded businesses position themselves as industry leaders through relevant content marketing strategies. Julia's latest book, Materials & Sustainability, presents a compelling vision for a circular future where materials are valued and reused in innovative ways. Julia holds a PhD in materials science from UC Berkeley, an MS in materials science from Stanford University, and a BS in engineering from Harvey Mudd College. She lives in the greater Seattle area and enjoys swimming, cycling, and running.

Laura is Deputy Head of DNV’s ESG Supply Chain Sustainability practice in London, and has over ten years of experience in advising clients on material sustainability risks and opportunities with a focus on ESG due diligence in the supply chain and independ ent assurance over ESG data & claims.

Laura worked extensively in the metals and mining sectors, leading on the ground site assessments. She is an approved Aluminium
Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Lead Auditor and Auditor for the ResponsibleSteel Standard. She led independent assurance engagements for
a number of DNV’s clients, including assessments and assurance engagements against ASI, OECD, LME, CSDDD, CSRD/ESRS, IRMA,
ICMM, ISAE3000, GRI, ISO 14064.

Over the past 25 years Lex has been engaged as business developer, expanding on the topics Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Procurement and Third Party Assurance. Throughout his career Lex has been accustomed to work with governance bodies, small enterprises as well as multinationals. Lex firmly believes sustainability can be accelerated by appealing to business drivers.

A highly respected professional in his field, Luca has 27 years of procurement and supply management experience. He’s served numerous Italian and multinational companies, including Esa Elettronica, Gewiss, Vemer, Black & Decker, Riello Group, GlaxoSmithKline and Gruppo Montepaschi.

His procurement activities, involving both production and non-production materials and services, have spanned several market sectors, including electronic devices; residential and industrial electrical networking products; air conditioning and heating systems; electric power tools; pharmaceuticals and banking.

Almost 15 years of experience in design and implementation of sustainable supply chains.

Four years ago, Luka Yancopoulos sat in his college dorm terrified. Luka listened to horror stories through a family ZOOM call, as his mother, a nurse, and father, a scientist, explained their difficulties in finding protective supplies. Prices on medical and lab supplies were skyrocketing, while backorders and shortage became commonplace. That’s when Luka, and his college friends, began his journey into the healthcare supply. While earning two degrees from UPenn, Luka launched a medical distribution company, that achieved more than $15M in sales in its first 18 months. As the storm began to settle, Luka and his friends took their learnings to launch Grapevine, healthcare supply chain software that would reinvent the way healthcare businesses source, shop and save on medical and surgical supplies.

Mark Lewis, Procurement Manager – CapEx & Sustainability at Tarmac.
Mark originally started his working career in engineering, but made the switch to procurement in his early twenties, and now has over 20 years experience as a procurement professional. This has been gained across a range of industries, including; engineering, plastics, aerospace, medical, electronics, steel manufacturing, quarrying and construction materials.
A large proportion of his time within procurement has been spent on roles with an engineering/CapEx focus, and his engineering background has certainly stood him in good stead for the challenges that these roles posses.
Mark Joined Tarmac in May 2017 as the Procurement Manager for CapEx, but added the sustainability focus to his role in June 2021. Focusing on sustainable procurement has been a very enjoyable learning curve for him, and he is excited for the interesting opportunities it holds for both Tarmac and their industry going forward.

Neil Hind has worked across various private and public sector organisations advising and delivering on
various procurement, programme and sustainability programmes. He is also a Member of the
Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool.
He has previously held the roles of the Head of Procurement for the West Yorkshire Combined
Authority, was Head of Procurement at NHS England whilst implementing a new Commercial and Procurement team, and was the GM NHS Procurement Programme Director, setting up one of the first ICS procurement teams within the NHS.
More recently he has been supporting Net Zero for Carbon & Social Value Projects for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and is now their Anchors Programme Lead looking at system approach in embedding the Anchor principals that includes social value. 

Richard Collins – Founder of CSR-A
Enabling Environmental and Social Responsibility to build ethical and caring organisations

Richards aim is to help improve the world for future generations, by reducing the negative impact we have on the environment and by building a better and cohesive society.

With over 40 years of experience spanning music, entertainment, environmental advocacy, and social enterprise, I am driven by a deep commitment to leveraging the arts for social change and climate action. As the Founder and CEO of Climate Actions Now (CAN) and CANMusic.org, I have dedicated my career to empowering the next generation of leaders, fostering cross-cultural collaborations, and investing in sustainable development projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At Climate Actions Now (CAN), we focus on initiatives that promote environmental stewardship and community resilience. Through projects like Eduponics—which integrates aquaponics into educational systems across Africa—we equip students with the tools to engage in sustainable agriculture. Our development of the Climate Action App (CAA) empowers individuals and communities to track and reduce their carbon footprints, fostering grassroots climate action.

Sanjay Kumar has a successful track record of over 24 years in Governance, Public Policy, Procurement & Sustainability.  His vision, leadership and dedicated effort have been fundamental to the growth of the sustainable purchasing movement in India. He has led various initiatives in research, advocacy and implementation of sustainable purchasing programme in India and across the world. In advisory capacity, he serves on National Task Force of Government of India on Sustainable Public Procurement, Strategic Advisory Committee of Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC), Washington, USA and Board of Trustees of Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production , Bangkok, Thailand.
He also served on the Multi stakeholder Advisory Committee of the UN Environment on One Planet Network SPP Programme (2015-19).  In 2017, he was felicitated with the 2017 Individual Leadership Award by Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council ), Washington USA.

Designing and delivering e-commerce and marketplace solutions centered around B2B sourcing and procurement activities that is easy to use, scalable across locales and industries, and deployable to the masses across any form factor.

Specialties:
a.) Software Product Design and Innovation
b.) Startup Mentoring
c.) Mobile and Enterprise Mash Economy

Simon Henzell-Thomas, Global Director of Climate & Nature 

Previously Simon led the global Public Affairs, Advocacy & Transparency functions, driving change in society through purpose-led advocacy and campaigning, influencing public policy and ensuring the highest standards of corporate transparency.  

He has over nearly 20 years of experience working with and for global blue-chip retailers in a number of senior leadership roles. He has a background in change management, executive and non-executive leadership, corporate sustainability, human rights, multi-stakeholder partnerships, advocacy, stakeholder engagement & corporate transparency.  

Star Scott is the Green Labs Program Manager at the University of Georgia. She has a background in conservation-driven research including ecology, wildlife biology, & endangered species genomics, and is a deep believer in the interconnectivity of all living things.

Star is dedicated to making the research enterprise more sustainable & more equitable and is currently focused on resource conservation, landfill diversion, creating and promoting equitable systems, environmental and social justice, sustainable procurement & building stronger teams through meaningful communication and psychological safety.

Tanya is a national and international representative and expert practitioner of Sustainable Procurement – Guidance ISO 20400, a sector and industry roundtable representative during the Australian Federal Government consultation to develop the Modern Slavery Act and a United Nations One Planet Network expert advisor. With nearly two decades of procurement experience in the private and international development sectors, Tanya brings corporate finance and business operations perspectives, having led the development and execution of sustainability and procurement strategy, policy and process development, governance, risk management, stakeholder engagement, delivery and internal/external capacity building and training.

Tarun Batchu is a current high school junior who has always been intrigued by ways to promote environmental sustainability through innovation and science. Committed to making a difference both in business practices and standard consumer applications, he has worked on numerous environmental technology projects including carbon capture technology techniques for liquid storage or smog, biofuel refinery synthesis when using pyrolysis, and renewable technology programs. His largest goals are integrating science and technology for public growth initiatives.

In the evolving landscape of ESG standards, the “S” — representing the social aspect — is gaining increasing importance. Operationalising this component means moving beyond mere compliance to actively creating social value. This involves embedding social considerations into core business strategies, from workforce diversity and community engagement to ethical supply chain practices.

Join Action Sustainability’s Social Value Lead, Vaishali Baid in this podcast as she shares her professional journey working with global organizations and how she currently supports her clients in this transformative process.

Yvonne Jamal is co-founder and chairwoman of the non-profit JARO Institute for Sustainability and Digitalization in Berlin, Germany. As a business economist, she worked in the tourism industry for more than 15 years and later built up the indirect procurement division for the fashion retailer Zalando SE. During this time, she discovered her passion for sustainable procurement. In order to qualify herself in the field of sustainability, she successfully completed the scientific training programme ‘Sustainable Business and CSR’ at the University of Rostock. With the JARO Institute, she wants to support procurement professionals with expertise in sustainable purchasing practices. 

I manage a group of activities including ERP/CRM solutions, alternative energy solutions, CSR training and competency development for sustainable human resources. My passion for developing sustainable human resources helped launch a robotic program designed for children of special needs for Dubai Municipality Children City.

I am the Managing Director at Provectus Middle East/Provectus Enterprising Inc. and an active advocate in Green Solutions. I am currently promoting the municipal waste collection process and recycling municipal waste from food waste streams A & B to aerosol cans recycling, PET bottles (Alternative to one time plastic use), and used cooking oil to reuse as biodiesel, thus curbing GHG impacts and creating a circular economy while helping reduce landfill stress.

I am an advisor for Community Social Innovation, Toronto chapter and a regular speaker for the Nationalization Program.