New BSR Board Members: Leaders from Unilever, Merck, Standard Chartered, More

BSR is pleased to welcome four new members to our board of directors: Mark Devadason, Standard Chartered’s group head of sustainability and regions; Karina Litvack; Geralyn Ritter, Merck & Co.’s vice president, global public policy and corporate responsibility; and Unilever Chief Sustainability Officer Jeff Seabright.

These directors join existing members of the BSR board: Board Chairman Mats Lederhausen, founder and CEO, Be-Cause LLC; BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer; Kingfisher Group Sustainability Director Richard Gillies; Generation Investment Management Cofounder and Partner Colin le Duc; Tuborg Foundation Director Anne-Marie Skov; Hyatt Hotels Corporation Chief Human Resources Officer Robb Webb; and Diatom Ventures Cofounder and Managing Director Jeff Zalla.

“I am delighted to welcome such strong business leaders to the BSR board,” said Lederhausen. “Their overall insights and commitment to sustainable business will strengthen BSR’s ability to deliver great services to our member companies. They will help us make an even greater impact at a time when there is so much to be gained—for companies and society—by catalyzing new ways of doing business.”

The new members add a wealth of experience to BSR’s board:

Mark Devadason, Group Head of Sustainability and Regions, Standard Chartered: Devadason, based in Hong Kong, has global responsibility for Standard Chartered’s in-country corporate affairs teams, including oversight of internal communications, media relations, government and regulatory relations, brand, sponsorship, and sustainability. He also leads the group’s overall sustainability agenda, a core part of the bank’s strategy to build a sustainable business by contributing to economic growth, leading as a responsible company, and investing in the future of communities. Devadason is also a member of the board of Standard Chartered Bank in Thailand. Throughout his 27-year career at Standard Chartered Bank, he has had broad-based management experience with wholesale banking, consumer banking, and human resources. He served as a country CEO in Thailand from 2008 to 2010, and between 2003 and 2007, he was country CEO in Japan.

Karina Litvack, Independent: Litvack is a corporate governance and sustainable investment expert with a 25-year career in finance and sustainable business practices, and she is a non-executive director of Eni, S.p.A., where she serves on three committees: on controls and risks, compensation, and sustainability and scenarios. She also serves on several other boards and advisory bodies, including the sustainable development advisory bodies of Groupe Danone, Lafarge, and SAP; the board of the Access to Nutrition Index; and the Transparency International-UK Advisory Council. Previously, Litvack ran the governance and sustainable investment activities of UK-based F&C Investments, she managed the redevelopment of inner-city properties for the City of New York, and she worked for PaineWebber in corporate finance and private placements.

Geralyn Ritter, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, Merck & Co.: In addition to her responsibility for worldwide public policy, government affairs, and corporate responsibility matters, Ritter is president of the Merck Company Foundation and leads the company’s philanthropic initiatives. Prior to joining Merck in 2008, she was senior vice president for international affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and she also served as trade counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Covington & Burling, where she represented clients on international trade and intellectual property matters, as well as in international litigation and arbitration. For three years, Ritter served as associate general counsel for intellectual property matters at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Jeff Seabright, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever: Prior to his current position at Unilever, Seabright served as vice president for environment and water at the Coca-Cola Company and held several positions in government and business, including as a foreign service officer in the U.S. State Department and as legislative assistant to U.S. senators Timothy E. Wirth and John D. Rockefeller IV. In 1993, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development, later serving as director of the Office of Energy, Environment, and Technology. He moved to the White House in 1999 as executive director of the Climate Change Task Force, where he helped negotiate the Kyoto Protocol, and later he joined Texaco, Inc. as vice president for policy planning. He serves on the Environmental Trade and Technology Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Conservation International – International Leadership Council, and the World Environment Center, among several other organizations and institutions.

“2015 is a year when sustainability is at the top of the world’s agenda,” said Cramer. “Our work with our member companies will be greatly enhanced by the advice and support of the four leaders who have joined our board. I am delighted that they will contribute to our ongoing growth and development.”