GRI’s Governance Bodies Welcome New Members in January 2019
After a busy yet productive nomination process, GRI is happy to announce the newest members to its difference governance bodies. Together with the current members, they will help safeguard due process throughout the organization, and strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach that characterizes GRI through their expertise and experience.
Board of Directors
The GRI Board of Directors is the ultimate decision-making authority – it has the legal and fiduciary responsibility for the organization and promotes change towards a sustainable global economy and increasing corporate transparency and accountability. All nominations for Board member positions were reviewed by the GRI Nominating Committee (GNC), which then passed its recommendations on to GRI’s Stakeholder Council for final appointment.
Their appointments reflect GRI’s multi-stakeholder nature and commitment to gender, regional and background diversity.
Bekeme Masade-Olowola, Executive director of CSR-in-Action, Nigeria
Jack Ehnes, Chief Executive Officer, The California State Teachers Employees' Retirement System (CalSTRS), United States of America
Dr. Jianzhong Lu, China President of Weir Group, China
Read their biographies here.
GRI would also like to thank GRI Board members Peter Wong and Eric Dugelay, who stepped down at the end of 2018.
Global Sustainability Standards Board
Established as an independent operating entity under the auspices of GRI, the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) is formed of members with a broad range of expertise and experience, who are responsible for setting globally accepted standards for sustainability reporting. The GSSB works in the public interest and according to GRI’s vision and mission.
The Independent Appointments Committee have the sole responsibility for appointing members to the GSSB with regard for the multi-stakeholder character of the GSSB and use its best endeavors to ensure that the composition of the GSSB, as a whole, achieves geographical, gender and cultural diversity.
GRI is honored to welcome the following new members to the GSSB:
Corli le Roux, Independent Specialist, South Africa
Gustavo Sinner, Director, AG Sustentable, Argentina
Jennifer Princing, Senior Sustainability Manager, The Dow Chemical Company, USA
Rama Krishnan Venkaterswaran, Lead Financial Management Specialist, the World Bank, USA/Zambia
Loredana Carta, Project Officer International Trade Union Confederation, Belgium
Peter Colley, National Research Director Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, Australia.
GRI and the GSSB would like to thank departing members Sulema Pioli, Vadakepatth Nandkumar, Jürgen Buxbaum and Dwight Justice, who ended their terms on 31 December 2018, and Daniel Ingram and Atilla Yerlikaya, who stepped down from the GSSB earlier in 2018.
Stakeholder Council
The Stakeholder Council (SC) is the formal stakeholder policy forum within the GRI governance structure. The SC's key governance functions include appointing Board members and deliberating on issues of strategic importance to GRI.
After carefully reviewing all nominations by the GRI Nominating Committee (GNC), the SC and the GRI Community elected the new members from among the pool of candidates. GRI welcomes 11 new and re-elected members, playing a key role in supporting the SC in its function, and GRI in upholding its multi-stakeholder approach. The re-elected members are:
Adriana Lagrotta Leles, Adviser to CEO SANASA, Brazil
Karla Lizzeth Guerrero Lozoya, Director of Ethics and Strategy and Consultant, CEMEX, Mexico
Prabh Banga, Associate Director, Strategy & Growth, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada
Hugh Grant, Convener, Australian Sustainability Leaders Forum, Australia
Constance Kane, Executive Director, Litteratus Associates, USA
Mr. Rusong Li, China Advocacy Coordinator, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, China
They are joined by five new members:
Fallight Xu, Regional Officer Corporate Social Responsibility Greater China, TÜV Rheinland, China
Helen Medina, Senior Public Affairs Manager, Government and Multilateral Relations, Nestlé S.A., Switzerland
Diana Guerrero Lozoya, Deputy Director of Ética y Estrategia Consultores, S.C., Mexico
Mozdeh Ghanbary Mobarakehb, Management Consultant, Industrial Management Institute, Iran
Tatiana Araujo, Institutional Projects Senior Advisor, Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development, Brazil
Mohamed Elimam, Projects Manager, Smart Dubai, United Arab Emirates
GRI would like to thank the SC members who stepped down from the Stakeholder Council on 31 December 2018, for their invaluable contribution to GRI: Heloisa Covolan, Hilary Parsons, Ian Jameson, Jeanne Ng, Gema Sacristan, Matthias W. Send, Marcello Colla, Shelley Frost, and Binda Pandey.
Due Process Oversight Committee
The primary responsibility of the Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC) is to ensure that the standard-setting activities of the GRI GSSB are conducted in accordance with its due process, in order to increase public and stakeholder confidence that the standards are properly responsive to the public interest.
During this year’s process, the IAC appointed sitting DPOC member Volker Höntsch, who took the role by 1st January 2019. GRI warmly welcome Mr. Höntsch in the new role.
Further, the IAC appointed the following new members to the DPOC, who started their first term on 1 January 2018:
Cristina Balan, Managing Partner CSR BootIQ, Romania
Kathrin Madl, CSR/Sustainability Manager, Alperia, Italy
GRI wants to thank DPOC member Stan Rodgers, who stepped down by 31 December 2018, and extend a special thanks to former DPOC Chair Riva Krut, who stepped down at the end of 2018, for her dedicated commitment and valuable contribution as the inaugural Chair of the DPOC.
Independent Appointments Committee
The Independent Appointments Committee (IAC) is a team of five members who appoint qualified and competent members to GRI’s standards-setting governance bodies – the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) and the GRI Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC).
During this year’s nomination process, the Extended GNC reviewed all nominations and reappointed:
Mahendra Chouhan, Author, Board advisor and management educator
Victor Hugo Ricco, UN Official, Senior Specialist Workers' Activities at the Bureau of Workers' Activities of the ILO
