Nicole Piggott

President

Canada

Nicole is the Co-Founder and President of Synclusiv and Chief Operating Officer at Women in Governance (WiG) a not-for-profit organization that works to increase the presence of women in decision-making roles in business and politics. She is a seasoned HR Executive who has led HR professionals at Bombardier, RioTinto, Iron Ore Company of Canada, FedEx Canada, and Royal Bank of Canada. During her career, she has implemented and overseen HR policies, engagement programs to improve the workplace, and negotiated the first impact benefit agreements between Iron Ore Company of Canada and various indigenous communities in Labrador. Nicole holds a Board position at Black Academic Scholarship Fund, Women in Governance, National Safety Council and is the co-lead for the Goodman Cancer Research Institute lecture series at McGill University. Nicole is also an advisor to Global Affairs Canada and the CN-Paul Tellier chair of the University of Ottawa on gender issues.

Shivani Kannabhiran

Vice-President

France

Shivani is a senior manager and specialist in OECD risk-based due diligence. She has worked at the OECD since 2012 and currently leads the global programme on responsible agricultural supply chains. She collaborates closely with policymakers and regulators, business, investors, civil society and worker representatives to operationalise global ESG standards to address climate change, food security & nutrition, livelihoods and inclusion.  Prior to her leadership of the agri-food supply chain programme, Shivani worked with business and stakeholders on ESG due diligence in the minerals sector with a focus on child labour and gender in high risk environments. Before joining the OECD, Shivani advised companies on corporate strategy and operations with management consultancies Kearney and Business for Social Responsibility; and raised funds for a mid-sized non-profit organisation in Manhattan. She has an MBA from Insead and is based in Paris, France.

Edward Blight

Treasurer

United Kingdom

David Onyalo

Canada

David is the Founding Director of Ujeengo Global Community International (Canada) with partners in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Ujeengo has programs on extractive industries, women economic development, GBV and union capacity building. He is also the President of Onyxx Energy Solutions Canada Inc., a social enterprise that promotes the use of renewable energy in under served rural communities in Africa. With the Canada-Africa Global Immigration Link he is part of a team that provides information at no cost to migrant workers from African countries to Canada. He has worked in international development in sub-Sahara Africa to promote the ILO Decent Work Agenda, on HIV & AIDS, poverty reduction, human rights, women’s rights & gender equality, and union capacity building. David has held elected and senior management positions with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and senior staffing positions at the Canadian Labour Congress.

Gavin Hilson

United Kingdom

Gavin is Professor and Chair of Sustainability in Business at the University of Surrey. Gavin is a leading global authority on the environmental and social impacts of the small-scale mining sector. Having published over 300 journal articles, book chapters, and reports on the subject, his specialist knowledge widely recognized internationally. He has delivered talks on small-scale mining at United Nations headquarters in New York, the World Bank in Washington DC and several universities worldwide. He has also provided consultancy services on the subject for a range of organizations: the UK Department for International Development, World Bank and EGMONT (Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels); the NGO sector, including the Alliance for Responsible Mining and the WWF Guianas; and corporations such as Newmont Gold Mining and Gold Fields. Gavin is editor-in-chief of The Extractive Industries and Society (Elsevier Science), and is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier Science), Resources Policy (Elsevier Science), Mineral Economics (Springer) and The International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment (Taylor & Francis). He is also an executive board member of the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), an NGO established to improve awareness and eliminate circulation of ‘conflict diamonds’.

Guus Houttuin

Netherlands

Hilary Homes

Canada

Hilary is a longtime human rights activist who currently works for Amnesty International Canada as a crisis and tactical campaigner. As a young leader, they developed youth participation and leadership development programs at the national and international level before shifting to strategic campaigning. Over the years they have focused on a wide range of thematic and country-based files including children affected by armed conflict, the arms trade, international justice, the human rights impact of national security measures, and mass surveillance.

Louise Ouimet

Canada

Louise devoted her entire career to international development. She joined the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in 1973. She was posted in West Africa for 10 years, six as Ambassador and Head of Cooperation in Burkina Faso (1995-97), and Mali (2001-05). In 2000-01, she was a Senior Advisor to the Canadian Prime Minister for Africa and international cooperation. Between 2009 and 2022, she specialized in governance of public institutions throughout consultancies in several African countries as well as Pakistan. Louise was President of the Africa Study Group between 2013 and 2016. She is a board member of Oxfam-Quebec (since October 2019) and IMPACT (since July 2022). She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Public Administration School in Quebec, Canada (ENAP) and is a certified Mediator (Third Party Neutral) from the Canadian Institute of Conflict Resolution.

Pamela Fierst

United States