Business & Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC)

Research Advisory Group

The Business Commission’s Research Advisory Group provides expertise to inform and shape our report and other initiatives. Members of the Advisory Group are high-level experts from a wide range of disciplines in business, government, and civil society, and will peer review our flagship report, to be published in January 2017.

Caroline Anstey

Global Head, UBS and Society, UBS Dr. Caroline Anstey is the Global Head UBS and Society. The UBS and Society program is cross-divisional and covers all of UBS activities and capabilities in the areas of sustainable investing, philanthropy, and environmental and human rights policies that govern client and supplier relationships, UBS’ own environmental footprint and the firm’s community investments. Caroline has extensive experience in the areas of development, finance and communications.

Kaysie Brown

Special Advisor for Policy and Strategic Initiatives, UN Foundation Kaysie Brown is currently Special Advisor for Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the United Nations Foundation (UNF). Prior to UNF, she served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Coordinator for the Sustainable Development Goals. She was also Deputy Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations and Senior Program Officer at the International Peace Institute and the Center for Global Development.

Paula Caballero

Global Practice Director, Environment and Natural Resources, World Bank Group Paula Caballero, a veteran of the Colombian government, the UN, NGOs and academia is currently Senior Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice at the World Bank. Widely acknowledged as the lead proponent of the Sustainable Development Goals she was awarded a Zayed International Prize in 2014 for her work. In August 2016 Caballero will be moving to the World Resources Institute (WRI) as Global Director for Climate Change.

John Elkington

Chairman & Chief Pollinator, Volans John Elkington is a writer and thinker, a serial-entrepreneur and an ‘advisor from the future’. He is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Volans, a change agency that aims to stretch leaders towards 'breakthrough'; that is, to look beyond incremental change towards systemic challenges. John is leading a two-year program in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact focusing on the market opportunities around 'breakthrough innovation.'

Helene D. Gayle

CEO, McKinsey Social Initiative Helene D. Gayle is CEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit organisation that implements programs that bring together varied stakeholders to address complex global social challenges. She is an expert on global development, and humanitarian and health issues, and serves on several public company and non-profit boards. Helene was named one of Forbes’ '100 Most Powerful Women,' and has authored numerous articles on global and domestic public health issues, poverty alleviation, gender equality, and social justice.

Celine Herweijer

Partner International Development, PwC Celine leads the Climate Change and International Development business at PwC. As a partner she has worked with organisations, governments and businesses in over 30 countries to structure and implement funds, shape policy, agendas and business strategy around climate change and development. She works regularly with corporations on how to deliver 'business with purpose'. She is a WEF Young Global Leader (YGL) and has published numerous articles on climate change and sustainable development. Celine is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE.

Homi Kharas

Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, The Brookings Institution Homi Kharas is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for the Global Economy and Development program. Formerly a chief economist in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, Kharas currently studies policies and trends influencing developing countries, including aid to poor countries, the emergence of a middle class, the food crisis, and global governance and the G20.

Mark Kramer

Senior Fellow, Harvard University; Founder & Managing Director, FSG Mark leads FSG, a nonprofit consulting firm, working to devise social impact strategies for many foundations, corporations and nonprofit organisations. Mark also serves as a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and co-founded the Center for Effective Philanthropy. He is a member of the Aspen Philanthropy Group and the Kimberly-Clark Sustainability Advisory Board, serves on the planning committee for the Clinton Global Initiative, and lectures in the Executive Education Program of Harvard Business School.

Jessica Long

Managing Director of Strategy & Sustainability, Accenture Jessica Long is a Managing Director with Accenture and has over 16 years of international experience in strategy, technology and complex programme delivery. Jessica is on the global leadership team of Accenture Strategy & Sustainability, which helps organisations leverage their assets and capabilities to drive innovation and profitable growth while striving for positive economic, environmental and social impact. Jessica was honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014.

Kishore Mahbubani

Dean in the Practice of Public Policy, National University of Singapore Kishore Mahbubani is the Dean of the LKY School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He served in the Singapore Foreign Service for 33 years, notably as Ambassador to the UN and twice as President of the UN Security Council. He was Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993–1998. He has authored five books, including "The Great Convergence," selected by the Financial Times as one of the best books of 2013.

Michael Mainelli

Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group Professor Michael Mainelli is a qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant. He co-founded Z/Yen in 1994, the City of London’s leading think-tank, to promote societal advancement through better finance and technology. His third book, "The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions," won the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize.

Paul Mason

Culture and Digital Editor, Channel 4 News Paul Mason is the Culture and Digital Editor at Channel 4 News.

John McArthur

Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program, The Brookings Institution John W McArthur is a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution. He is also a Senior Advisor to the UN Foundation and a Board Governor for the International Development Research Centre. He previously served as CEO of Millennium Promise and prior to that Manager and Deputy Director of the UN Millennium Project. He co-authored the "Global Competitiveness Report." He has chaired two Global Agenda Councils for the World Economic Forum.

Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz

CEO, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development Ricardo is Co-founding CEO of ICTSD, and convener with the World Economic Forum of E15Initiative.org. Since 1996 ICTSD has led a reshaping of global economic governance to serve sustainable development, particularly focusing on frameworks for trade and investment. It leads campaigns on climate and clean energy technologies, sustainable fisheries and oceans, food systems and structural change. A thought leader on global challenges, Ricardo is also a serial social entrepreneur on conflict management and social responsibility.

Amina Mohammed (2016)

Minister of Environment, Nigeria Amina J. Mohammed, OFR, is the Honourable Minister of Environment of Nigeria under President Mohammed Buhari. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Special Adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Hailing from Gombe State, Ms Mohammed has been working in the field of Development for more than 30 years, both in the public and private sectors. Ms. Mohammed was named in March of 2016 as one of Fortune Magazine ‘50 Greatest World Leaders’.

James Mwangi

Executive Director, Dalberg Group James Mwangi is Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, a global platform of impact-driven businesses that seek to champion inclusive and sustainable growth. James founded and built up Dalberg’s presence in Africa. As a consultant he has advised government officials, CEOs and investors on the intersection of commercially attractive and socially impactful business in frontier markets. He serves on the board of the One Acre Fund and is a member of the UN Global Entrepreneurs Council.

Roel Nieuwenkamp

Chair, OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct Roel studied economics and law. From 2006 to 2013, he was Managing Director of the International Trade Policy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.He is Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, the intergovernmental committee focused on corporate responsibility. He provides leadership to the unique global complaints mechanism of the OECD Guidelines. In addition, he leads the body overseeing the corporate responsibility work of the OECD, including sectoral programmes for the financial and mining sectors.

Guido Schmidt-Traub

Executive Director, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Guido Schmidt-Traub is Executive Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Previously he was CEO of Paris-based CDC Climate Asset Management, Partner at South Pole Carbon Asset Management in Zurich, and climate change advisor to the Africa Progress Panel. He led the UNDP MDG Support Team and was Associate Director of the UN Millennium Project in New York. He has also run an intellectual property investment fund.

Kitty van der Heijden

Director for Europe, World Resources Insititute Kitty van der Heijden is Director of WRI’s Offices in Europe and Africa, representing WRI’s vision and strategy, and facilitating engagement with governments, businesses, and institutions. She leads WRI’s engagement in 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and embraces work on the international climate regime; the role of the private sector in development; and inequality. Prior to joining WRI, Kitty was the Ambassador for Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands.

Andrew Winston

Advisor, author & speaker, Winston Eco-Strategies Andrew Winston advises some of the world’s leading companies on how to navigate and profit from the world’s biggest environmental and social challenges. He is a globally recognised speaker and writer on business strategy and mega trends. Andrew is the author of a new book, "The Big Pivot," co-wrote the international bestseller, "Green to Gold," and authored the Harvard Business Review Magazine cover story, “Resilience in a Hotter World.”