Speakers

Alessandra covers the role of Head of Sustainability for BNP Paribas in Italy. Prior to this appointment, in her role of Senior Banker, she managed the relationship with a number of large Italian corporates. She has 25+ years of experience in banking and finance and holds a degree in Economics for the University of Genoa.

Amina Razvi
CEO, Sustainable Apparel Coalition

As the CEO of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Amina is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the organization which brings global brands, retailers, manufacturers, NGOs, academics and associations in the apparel and footwear industry together through collective action efforts. She leads the executive team and works with the board of directors to develop and implement the organization’s strategic plan.

In her previous role as Vice President of Membership at the SAC, Amina led the organization’s customer service, account management, member value and business development. Amina and her team worked with members to increase adoption of the Higg Index and improvement of Higg scores through impact solutions to establish a common language for the industry to describe sustainability performance. 

Prior to joining the SAC in 2015, Amina was a senior manager on the global sustainability team at Gap Inc. where she led the development of Gap’s environmental sustainability strategy and the creation, execution and achievement of ambitious enterprise goals on energy and waste at owned and operated facilities. Amina also led the first large-scale deployment of the Higg Index across Gap’s supply chain, and has been involved in the creation, development, piloting and rollout of the Higg Index since its inception.

Amina has a Master of Architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and designed and managed construction of retail stores, skyscrapers, houses, hotels, and museums.

Curiosity and passion are the two most distinguishing traits of Andrea Rosso’s personality. Born and raised in Bassano del Grappa, Andrea relishes living in his hometown where he can be close to his friends and family, and the lifelong creature comforts that fuel his creativity. Music, graphic art and flea markets are all important pursuits that help him steer his passion to exciting new heights.

Andrea is a descendant of Diesel, so it comes as no surprise that he was instinctively drawn to the fashion business. In preparation, he studied pattern cutting in Padua, Italy, but it was while studying English in California that he discovered a love for nonconformist skills such as graphics, art and a passion for all things vintage. From there, he went on to New York to study Textile Development and Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and ultimately, to begin conceiving his role inside the family business.

Andrea is the Creative Director of Diesel Living collection; Initially launched in 2008 as an assortment of home textiles, the Diesel Living collection extends the brand’s lifestyle and attitude to a now vast world of design, adopting important long-term partnerships with leading players in the interior design field: Moroso for furniture, Lodes for lighting, Scavolini for kitchen and bathroom, Iris Ceramica for ceramic tiles and Berti for wooden flooring, Seletti for home accessories and Mirabello Carrara for home linens.

He coordinates the creative design team in the development of new products, guiding the image with the aim to build a truly complete lifestyle brand.

In 2014 Andrea launched his own fashion project collecting all his passions: MYAR, a collection of used military originals that Andrea procured personally in vintage markets and visited old depots hunting for functional details and fabrics and accessories no longer in production. After being sartorially refashioned, each garment acquires a contemporary fit and brings the history of the past into the present, looking into a future use.

2020 marks a new beginning for Diesel and Andrea, taking on new roles in the form of Diesel Sustainability Ambassador. In January 2020, Diesel launched the brands ‘For Responsible Living’ strategy, a commitment to taking actions for the benefit of current and future generations.

With Andrea’s passion and enthusiasm for a more sustainable future leading the way, the launch of ‘For Responsible Living’ signified the beginning of a meaningful journey for Diesel. Building upon its philosophy and positive disruptive outlook, Diesel formally committed to implementing a responsible business strategy that is respectful of people and the planet.

Baptiste brings together expertise from all corners of the Apparel and Footwear ecosystem.

During his days at Decathlon, an international sports producer and retailer, he held various positions in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, focusing on quality and sustainability. After eight years of field experience, he established and led Decathlon’s first global sustainability department.

He subsequently relocated to Amsterdam in 2014 and joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, launching their European Office, leading their transparency and policy activities, and initiating the Social and Labor Convergence Program ( SLCP ).

In 2019, with Bente Bauer, he launched 2BPolicy, a consulting firm at the intersection of sustainability and policy. They lead cross-industry conversations, from the Policy Hub, a platform built to carve and deliver an ambitious industry voice to the EU, to the Technical Secretariat of the EU PEF, aiming at creating a standard method to measure environmental impact. They support various private companies to support the integration in their strategy of the future legal framework.

Baptiste also works on the family organic and agroforestry wine estate in Southern France.

Bob is Fund Manager of Good Fashion Fund, a blended finance impact fund for the apparel sector initiated by Laudes Foundation and Fashion for Good. The Fund invests into sustainable apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh and India and provides long-term finance and support for adoption of impactful and disruptive equipment resulting in significant reduction in energy-usage and GHG as well as reduction in water and/or chemicals and materials. Also, the Fund works with the investees on further development of social working conditions. Bob has over 20 years of impact investment experience including numerous years as fund manager. Bob is co-founder and partner of FOUNT, an impact investment and strategic advisory firm for sustainable initiatives in developing countries.

Sustainability and Compliance Software Product Manager with experience in Waste Water, Chemical Management and Air Emission and Hazardous Waste.

Ebru Debbag beholds over 30 years of global denim and jeans industry experience and has joined Soorty Enterprises in 2018 as Executive Director Global Sales and Marketing. Her role at Soorty requires an extensive, interactive dialogue on the communication of circular business systems engineering, product design and social values that Soorty is developing to transform the industry at scale globally. 

Ebru has pioneered the marketing in B2B of denim into B2B2Human and is passionate about creating platforms for social missions integrated into the economic value of a business. 

Ebru’s enrollment in the Singularity University program in 2016 and her dedication to self-discovery have intrigued her to facilitate connections of technological and digital cross industry advancements, into the fashion supply chain to access positive impact at scale. She has reached 2000+ participants and counting on the Climate Crisis in my Wardrobe training sessions she has launched during the pandemic. 

Ebru holds a certificate on designing with nature, is on the board of Etkiyap; the first impact investment platform in Turkey and is an active founding member of Permaturk, the first permaculture NGO set-up to advocate sustainable living practices for all. She pursues collaborative, inclusive, circular practices in and outside of the office and loves the people and the planet.

Evan McCauley is a published researcher and VP of Innovation on the Sustainable Business Transformation team at PVH corp supporting the Calvin Klein global business and Americas region. She has over 20 years of experience in the apparel and textile fields, having worked for brands such as Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Abercrombie & Fitch and IZOD.  She has held positions within innovation, supply chain, sustainability and product development.  Her varied background and holistic approach to problem solving uniquely position her to understand the needs of various stakeholders and to apply technical knowledge to create actionable roadmaps. She believes that building and maintaining alignment and clarity are essential in creating a culture of joint accountability and that joint accountability is essential to progress.  

Evan holds 3 degrees: a BFA in apparel design from the Rhode Island School of Design, an AAS in textile development and marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a MS in business for social impact and sustainability from Glasgow Caledonian New York College.  Currently, she is focused on finding compelling business cases for textile waste to enable further development of the circular economy. 

Evan is the mom of three young children with whom she enjoys baking, making art and the great outdoors.

As Director of Sustainable Finance, Giovanni is responsible for fostering blended finance strategies and partnerships for Aii. Giovanni has over 10 years of experience designing and implementing innovative financial instruments in emerging and fragile markets alongside development finance institutions, non-profit organizations, and private sector players.

Prior to joining Aii, Giovanni worked with the Dutch Good Growth Fund managing the Seed Capital program funding pioneer and early-stage finance intermediaries focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Giovanni has also worked at the International Finance Corporation covering Latin America, LGT Venture Philanthropy covering Asia Pacific, and has held multiple advisory roles globally.

Based out of Amsterdam, Giovanni holds an MPA Development Practice from Columbia University and a Ba. in Business Management from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico.

James Schaffer is the Chief Strategy Officer of Worldly, where he oversees business development, client services, partnerships and corporate development. Worldly is the planet’s most comprehensive impact intelligence platform, trusted by 40,000+ major brands, retailers, and manufacturers in fashion, outdoor, home goods, toys and more. Worldly uniquely collects high-resolution primary data specific to companies’ value chains, operations, and products, providing insight into true impacts across carbon, water, chemistry, and labor. Before Worldly, James was co-founder and Managing Partner of Schaffer&Combs, a strategy consultancy that served purpose-driven organizations globally. During his tenure, James led numerous strategy engagements with leading sustainability organizations, including the SAC, AII, ZDHC, BlueSign, World Resources Institute, B Lab, Rainforest Alliance, and Outdoor Industry Association, as well as with dozens of social sector organizations.

James’s career synthesizes business leadership and growth through innovation and partnerships, and a profound commitment to social impact and environmental sustainability.

He graduated from The College of William and Mary with a BA in Government.

Jonas focuses on minimizing waste and to create a positive impact. His thoughts and projects typically pivot around the creation of resource responsible apparel and textile systems. This includes development and implementation of new sales channels, different approaches to product- and material development, and novel logistics and production solutions for more sustainable value chain management.

Kathleen Rademan is the Director of the Innovation Platform at Fashion for Good. 

Kathleen, together with her team, are responsible for leading the sourcing and scaling of best in class innovation across the fashion industry – from raw materials, processing to end-of-use and traceability technologies. She leads this implementation effort through developing collaborative, global, multi-brand projects to validate the technologies. Her projects have been featured in Vogue Business, The Guardian, Sourcing Journal, The New York Times and BBC.

Kathleen brings both financial and sustainable start-up experience to the table having spent six years in investment banking and two years as Strategy Lead for Dutch sustainability start-up Fastned. Under her direction, Fastned launched in four new markets across Europe. Kathleen has an honours in Mathematical Sciences and holds a MBA from INSEAD.

Klaas Nuttbohm is leading ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Implementation Team, the facilitator and accelerator of the ZDHC Sustainable Chemical Management Framework implementation. As Implementation Director, he oversees the development and implementation of the organisation’s main programmes for joint and harmonised implementation, the ZDHC Brands to Zero and Supplier to Zero. He engages with the Brands, their supply and value chains and major stakeholders of ZDHC in strategic matters related to implementing the Roadmap to Zero Programme for creating positive impact. He holds a M.Sc. in Sustainability Science from Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

Lewis’s passion is working on innovative materials and advanced manufacturing processes that help brands create apparel more responsibly. He has spent most of the past 15 years in Asia focused on textile innovation and sustainability initiatives for some of the largest sportswear and fashion brands. Today as Head of Innovation at Alpine Group/Paradise Textiles his research is focused on fiber pollution, textile recycling, bio-based fibers/chemistries, and low impact technologies for textile dyeing and finishing.

A product sustainability specialist with experience in setting and leading the implementation of sustainability strategies in multinational retail businesses. Currently responsible for driving the adoption of sustainable materials, circular economy principles and plastic reduction at C&A.

More than 13 years experience in textile & sustainability field.
Active member in Higg FSLM & FEM task teams since 2017.
Background and experience ranging from climate change, chemical management, social compliance, sustainable value chain management, product design and CSR.
Degree in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from University of Mauritius.

Phil Patterson is Managing Director of Colour Connections Textile Consultancy, Chair of both the ZDHC MRSL Council and Wastewater Council and Industrial Advisor to The Microfibre Consortium. Phil has a degree in Colour Chemistry from the University of Leeds. He started his career with Courtaulds Research and went on to hold industrial positions with Textured Jersey dyehouse in Leicester and as process development manager with Tencel fibres. Phil worked for Marks and Spencer as their Dyeing, Printing and Finishing Manager between 1997 and 2007. In 2007 he set up Colour Connections Textile Consultancy that provides support on technical, chemical and sustainability issues.

Since 2015, she’s led the team to rate over 5,000 brands for their impact and partnered with global retailers — from Microsoft to FARFETCH — to empower millions of consumers to buy better. With years of experience in corporate social responsibility, Sandra has long been concerned with supply chain issues in big business. She started Good On You because she sees huge potential in using consumer power to drive industry change. Sandra serves as an advisor to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s board on their transparency program.

Mr. Vidhura Ralapanawe has over 16 years of experience in apparel sustainability and has a background in climate research, energy transition, and renewable energy. Currently, he is dedicated to shaping Epic Group’s sustainability strategy and leading implementation across manufacturing, products, and the supply chain. Previously, he worked for 12 years at MAS Intimates. He is a contributor to resource efficiency, LCAs, green buildings, and sustainable product innovation.

Sustainable thinker and passionate, since 2017 Alessia has been working as Sustainability Specialist at Benetton Group. In coordination with the Sustainability Committee and under the guidance of the Head of Sustainability, Alessia is dedicated to defining and implementing Benetton Group’s sustainability strategy, steering the alignment of the other business functions on corporate targets, and fostering open dialogue with external stakeholders.

Ana is an Industrial Engineer with a master’s and PhD in Textiles engineering. She is truly committed to the problem of climate change and the need to minimize our environmental impact. With more than 7 years of expertise in corporate sustainability in the textile sector she works as the Senior Sustainability Manager at Recover™ and is focused on delivering solutions that create real impact from the E in ESG. She is a specialist in decarbonization, circular economy business models, R&D projects, sustainability communication, recycled materials, environmental regulation, and low impact manufacturing. Within the past year she has appeared on national Spanish television and newspapers in the name of Recover™ and has spoken on various panels to educate on circularity and the challenges we face.

As Executive Vice President of the SAC, Andrew is responsible for delivering strategic and operational leadership for the organization. While continuing to oversee the Membership, Stakeholder Engagement, Collective Action, and Public Affairs teams, as second-in-command at the SAC he is responsible for driving growth of the organization to ensure it can scale impact and deliver value to members. This involves broader strategic development of the organization, including into new verticals / adjacent product categories, development of new revenue streams, and expansions of key partnerships.

Prior to joining the SAC, Andrew was at amfori, the leading business association for open and sustainable trade, where, as VP Services, he was responsible for global operational activities. In addition to a strategic role in the development of the vision and strategy of the organization, Andrew managed membership services, led the implementation of global social and environmental audit assessments, including launching a pioneering audit integrity program, and also the largest capacity building program of its kind for social and environmental performance in global supply chains.

Andrew has a degree in philosophy and theology from King’s College London, an MBA with distinction from the University of Exeter, where he was awarded ‘Dissertation most likely to change global thinking,’ and a postgraduate qualification in team coaching, from UWE, Bristol. During his extensive career, including more than 20 years in global textile manufacturing, Andrew has worked for a multi-national corporation, his own consultancy, and more recently in the education and non-profit sectors.

A highlight of his work and interest is the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, and its philosophy of Gross National Happiness, an alternative progressive values-based model for measuring and guiding economic, societal, and personal well-being.

Begoña Garcia Victoria is part of the innovation and product team of Jeanologia s.l.. As senior product manager she is focused in the Development and implementation of sustainable technologies and production models in denim and other segments of the apparel manufacturing. Her biggest contribution to the textile industry is the EIM software (Environmental Impact Measuring software), a standard tool launched in 2009 that measures the environmental impact of the garment finishing processes and motivates continuous improvement. Before joining Jeanologia in 1997, Begoña studied Textile engineer in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia completing her studies with postgraduate studies in quality management and business management.

Brooke is an experienced and respected journalist, consultant and author. She is a leading voice in the fashion and textile industries and has a reputation for “authoritative” analysis and reporting.  Brooke recently authored a book charting the past 20 years of sustainable fashion initiatives in which her interviewees included Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia; Annie Leonard, Executive Director of Greenpeace US; and Fatih Konukoğlu, CEO of ISKO.  

Brooke is a senior sustainability contributor at Forbes and co-founder of Techstyler, a consultancy that provides sustainability intelligence to fashion and textile industry brands, innovators and investors.  Techstyler’s clients to date include Pangaia, Swarovski, FibreTrace, Worn Again, Textile Exchange and Bluesign.

Brooke has prior industry experience in knitwear design, development and production, coupled with a previous career in medical science, resulting in a unique skill set for analysing, interpreting and prioritising sustainability solutions for materials, technologies and the supply chain.

Director of Kering Material Innovation Lab which supports the integration and implementation of sustainable and innovative solutions into Kering Houses’ collections and supply chains. He has over fifteen years of experience in the field of material innovation managing consultancy addressed to companies, supporting services for public agencies and managing several international research & innovation projects funded by European Union in the field of textile industry. During his professional carrier he carried out several didactical activities about innovation for several educational institutions.

Mr. Edward Pavia is an Environmental Engineer who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and his Master of Science degree in Appropriate Technology.  Mr. Pavia has been with ToxServices for just shy of 10 years and manages sustainability-related projects for clients in the construction, furniture, and textile/apparel sectors seeking Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program certification, Health Product Declarations, verification of compliance with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL), and ToxServices’ Full Materials Disclosure certificates (ToxFMD).  Mr. Pavia additionally works with clients to adopt and implement chemical optimization and sustainability-related process improvements focused on a client’s supply chain, this also includes managing projects associated with regulatory health and safety reviews of both new and existing products. He is an industry expert in various sustainability-related standards, such as Cradle to Cradle Certified® assessments, Health Production Declaration preparation, and GreenScreen CertifiedTM.

Federica Marchionni is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Global Fashion Agenda (GFA). Founded in Denmark, GFA is a non-profit organisation with the ultimate vision to create a net positive fashion industry for the people and the planet across entire eco-system. 

Before joining GFA, Marchionni attained leadership roles in Europe, USA, and China. During the e-commerce expansion, Marchionni took a role as International CEO of Secoo, an e-commerce retailer in China. Marchionni was CEO and Board Director at Lands’ End and President of Dolce&Gabbana Inc., based in America. Before moving to the States, Marchionni worked as SVP at Ferrari HQ in Italy. Her career began in the early stage of the telecommunication industry, working for global players such as Samsung, Philips, and Ericsson. 

Marchionni graduated from La Sapienza University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a thesis in the mobility business.

Ilishio Lovejoy is an ESG practitioner with over 10 years of experience dedicated to addressing social and environmental impacts within global supply chain practices. She has held diverse roles within NGOs, academia, brands, and suppliers. Currently serving as the ESG General Manager at Simple Approach, a multinational apparel supplier, Ilishio focuses on capacity building, integrating due diligence practices, and ESG measurement and reporting. In addition, she is actively involved in co-managing a supplier-led policy report, analyzing the potential implications of EU legislative development for suppliers. Ilishio previously served as the Manager of the Research and Policy team at Fashion Revolution, where she played a pivotal role in industry benchmarking through the Fashion Transparency Index and conducted extensive research and advocacy work on EU-level policies.

Dr Jane Turnbull comes from an expansive background across many aspects of textile and apparel sector. She originally studied Textile Design at the University of Leeds and specialised in woven fabrics and went on to study an MSc in Advanced Textiles and Performance Clothing. Her research area focused on the relationship between the design of outdoor clothing and its performance during use. Jane has used this knowledge over the last 20 years’ working in the outdoor industry including in garment and equipment manufacture, outdoor retail and media. She is currently working for the European Outdoor Group as their CSR and Sustainability Project Manager on outputs related to Higg tools, hard goods, forced labour and circularity. She is a keen outdoor enthusiast herself and enjoys climbing, hill walking and extreme gardening.

Mr. Levin has more than 25 years of experience working with a wide range of private sector, government clients and other key stakeholders providing technical, operational and project/program management in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation/sustainability efforts. He has extensive experience working with the private sector in both developed and more than 25 developing countries.

He currently leads several International Finance Corporation engagements with Global Brands who are seeking to address sustainability challenges in their supply chain.  At IFC, his responsibilities have also included upstream market creation activities, due diligence and project appraisal, and management and delivery of global advisory programs on clean energy, resource efficiency and energy access. 

Prior to joining IFC, Mr. Levin was a task team leader at the World Bank, where he deployed a variety of financing mechanisms to support increased use of energy efficiency and renewable energy options in developing countries. 

Mr. Levin holds a BA with Distinction in Economics and Environmental Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jimmy Summers is the Vice President of Environment, Health, and Safety, and Chief Sustainability Officer at Elevate Textiles, Inc., manufacturer of distinguished fabric brands and thread solutions for automotive, apparel (including denim), interior furnishing, and specialty products. He is responsible for the EHS and Sustainability programs for the company’s 40 manufacturing facilities and support facilities throughout the world. Jimmy has worked in the textile and apparel industry for over 25 years, both in manufacturing and corporate positions. Summers has significant experience in managing textile wastewater treatment systems around the world, include the design and start-up of new and upgraded systems. He is a member of the Wastewater Council of ZDHC and is a member of the Supplier Advisory Group and several Task Teams of ZDHC. Jimmy is currently the Vice Chair of the Environmental Committee of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, and Chairman of the Standards Steering Committee of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Jimmy earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, and a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Clemson University.

Joyce Tsoi is the Director of Collective Action at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. She leads SAC’s New Decarbonization program and strategy. She drives science-based target adoption, develops collective action insights, identifies solutions and engagement opportunities across membership and ecosystem partners to accelerate GHG reduction efforts required to achieve our aspirational goals together: 45% GHG emissions reduction in line with Science Based Targets by 2030 to combat climate change. She believes that decarbonization is a high priority for the apparel, footwear and textile industry, starting from committing and setting science-based targets, prioritizing actions, accelerating sustainable environmental and social impacts to transition our industry into a low carbon future. Before joining the SAC, Joyce was the Senior Manager, Supply Chain Sustainability at VF Corporation where she spearheaded the key supply chain sustainability program. She’s actively involved in driving corporate and industry sustainability strategies and efforts through the adoption and verification of Higg Index FEM environmental impact measurement and performance improvement activities, science-Based targets,, energy efficiency and renewable energy program aiming to improve the environment, workers and communities and build climate resilience. In addition, she brings over 16 years of diverse global experience across multiple industry sectors including apparel, textile and footwear, electronics, hardgoods, home goods, food and beverage, home goods and toys industries in Europe, US and Asia.

Electrical engineer, Ecole des Hautes Etudes d’Ingénieur. 

Nominated Mauritian of the Year in 2008 by local newspaper L’express for being the first manufacturing company to invest in new eco-friendly production facility. 

2016-2020: Chairman of board of Energy Efficiency Management Office which has a mission to improve energy efficiency in Mauritius.

2020: Committed to SBTI carbon neutrality in 2040, near term target for 2030 validated in 2023.

Maxine Bédat is the founder and director of New Standard Institute, a think and do tank using data to drive accountability in industry. She is also the author of the book, UNRAVELED: The Life and Death of a Garment, a Financial Times Book of the Year, which has been translated into several languages. Prior to NSI, Maxine co-founded and was the CEO of Zady, a fashion brand and lifestyle destination creating a transparent and sustainable future for the apparel industry. Bédat has been recognized by Fast Company in its Most Creative in Business, Business of Fashion’s BoF 500, the definitive index of people shaping the global fashion industry, and Oprah’s Super Soul 100, for leaders elevating humanity. Bédat began her career in international law working at the Rwandan Criminal Tribunal and Allen & Overy, and received a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Fashion sustainability expert with 13+ years’ experience. Michela joined Quantis in 2020 after 10 years working as sustainability manager and product specialist at HUGO BOSS. As a consultant, she has launched and strengthened meaningful collaborations with the most relevant players in the fashion system, in Italy and abroad. These include Fashion Groups and Brands, as well as supply chain actors, innovative start-ups, industry associations, fashion-related institutions and multi-stakeholder initiatives. In her role, Michela guides the Fashion & Sporting Goods sector in Quantis Italy, developing the business, coordinating activities, supporting projects with her vertical sectorial know-how and leading a team of 11 persons, among consultants and strategists.

Payal Luthra is the Global Apparel & Textiles Lead at WWF.  She leads and supports WWF’s global efforts in the apparel and textile sector across freshwater, biodiversity, and climate & energy. 

Before joining WWF, Ms. Luthra was Founder & Creative Director of Payal Luthra Ecologies, a sustainable fashion label with a mission to celebrate nature and wildlife through design, while raising awareness and supporting conservation. 

In her 20-year career she has lived and worked in multiple continents, and has broad experience in architectural design, participatory planning, and consulting. In the US she studied at Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, received her BA from Colby College, and she holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

As Planet Tracker’s senior investment analyst on textiles, Richard brings a wealth of experience from his time in the financial sector, communicating the ways in which investors can make an impact to make textiles more sustainable. With deep hands-on experience in how investors make decisions, Richard leads Planet Tracker’s efforts to make cutting edge research accessible and useful for financial decision makers. Prior to joining Planet Tracker, Richard spent 10 years at sell-side equity firm Bernstein Research, covering sectors including Retail, Media and Medical Devices.

Sharon has over 15 years of experience in sustainable economic development, including broad experience with multi-stakeholder programs. She specializes in the strategy development, network building and stakeholder engagement needed to take a program and team to the next level and have meaningful impact on social and environmental goals. At SLCP she is responsible for the global implementation of the SLCP process and system. Her responsibilities include engaging local stakeholders, ensuring adequate training and support for SLCP users, and managing the SLCP operational support team.

A reputable thought leader on sustainable innovation, Sophie Mather is Founding Director of The Microfibre Consortium (TMC), a textile science non-profit organisation working to bridge deep academic research with the development of practical solutions for the fashion/textiles industry, reducing fibre fragmentation release to the environment from textile manufacturing and product life cycle.

Sophie brings experience and innovative thinking to the challenge of microfibre pollution within the industry. Compelled by her textile engineering curiosity to understand root-causes of this issue, she crowdfunded early research in 2016 capturing the attention of brands, retailers and suppliers across the globe. This enabled foundational funding from The European Outdoor Group (EOG) and in 2018, TMC formed to convene the global sector in taking action on fibre fragmentation. 

Through the Microfibre 2030 Commitment, TMC shares a common ambition with a community of signatories each taking accountability for addressing the problem. The Microfibre Roadmap sets the activity for working towards zero impact from fibre fragmentation to the natural environment by 2030. 

A renowned and inspirational speaker delivering thought provoking ideas and challenging her audiences from platforms including TEDx stage, UK parliamentary forums, industry conferences and to HRH King Charles III (when he was HRH The Prince of Wales).

Mrs Zubeida Zwavel started her career in 2001 as an environmental and sustainability consultant. She obtained her MBA from the University of Twente (the NL) where she achieved Cum Laude. Her work at the Dutch Consultancy was mostly focused on improving companies’ processes utilizing Resource Efficiency. This work then expanded into assisting companies to take a more holistic view of sustainability incorporating top down approaches and mechanisms such as Ecolabelling, ecoinnovation and Life Cycle thinking. She has multi-sector experience and has extensive knowledge of the Textiles Sector within the African region.

Alexander has served as Fair Wear’s Executive Director since 2018, bringing to the organisation 25 years of experience with development and international businesses. Prior to Fair Wear, Alexander held directorial positions at organisations working in a variety of areas including the economics of health in Africa. His focus has always been on galvanising the private sector for human development.

Anderson is the Business Director of Hong Kong Non-Woven (HKNW), a third-generation advanced textile business that has pioneered many industry firsts. Lee has led the development of sustainability initiatives, including the Low Carbon Manufacturing Program and HKNW’s industry-first release of Global Reporting Initiatives. He has served as a board member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Redress, and spearheaded the setup of the Apparel Impact Institute. Lee has contributed to two textile market research projects with Invest HK and KPMG during Covid. In 2023, he is serving as an Expert Panel member for the H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award and nurturing 10 new winners. Lee aims to contribute to Hong Kong’s role as a driving force in global textile sustainability and is passionate about leading the transformation of the textile industry in Hong Kong by example while curating the supply chain to cater to certain markets.

Since 2017, Betsy has been supporting the development of SciveraLENS to help users understand their chemicals by connecting with supply chain partners and access efficient chemical screening results for safer chemical decision making. With a background in operations and education, Betsy has supported SciveraLENS users with guidance on how to leverage the tool for safer chemical selection, product development, data gathering, certification, and toxicology support.

Senior Sustainability Manager at Marks & Spencer.  Driving the Environmental Sustainability and Roadmap to NetZero programs with a focus on manufacturing emissions and chemical management.

Dr. Delman Lee is the Vice Chair of TAL Apparel Limited. He leads TAL Apparel on its long-term strategy and continuous innovations in various aspects of the business. His major focuses are sustainability, digital transformation, lean operations, disruptive technologies and business model innovations. He is responsible for the innovative services of TAL such as Vendor Managed Inventory and leads the sustainability journey of TAL for the past 20+ years. 

Dr. Lee holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Imperial College, London. Dr. Lee possesses extensive experience in information technology and management in global operations. He also has a strong background in research.

Gauri Sharma is leading Communications & Sustainability Innovation at Shahi Exports, India’s largest apparel manufacturer employing over 100,000 people, mainly women. She has nearly a decade of experience building and managing multi-stakeholder projects in areas such as sustainable cotton, workers’ well-being, circular economy, innovation, and buyer-supplier collaboration. From 2018 to 2021, she ran India’s first sustainable fashion community (SUSS), hosting several workshops and masterclasses on the topic. Gauri holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Isabella Tonaco has been championing sustainability across various industry sectors for over a decade. Since 2022, she has held her current role as Executive Director of Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI) with the mission to empower and accelerate the value chain in the transition from chemical compliance to sustainable impact.

Isabella started her career in the chemical industry in 2011 with BASF. Since then, Isabella has held several roles leading raw materials sourcing, sustainability and business strategy. In the course of her career, she had developed and led several initiatives around materials transition and digitalization with measurable sustainability and business impact. With significant experience and expertise in stakeholder engagement and strategic positioning, Isabella is highly valued for her efforts in helping organizations develop and keep their social and economic licenses to operate in balance. As a passionate proponent of sustainability, Isabella is keen on working with industry stakeholders to drive a sustainable future and unlock its full potential. Isabella holds a PhD in Plant Sciences from Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

Jeffrey Hsu is the CIMO at NTX, a global leader in low carbon textile coloration technologies helping mill houses put in place greener textile processing practices, and global brands actualize their sustainability pledges. The company’s state-of-the-art waterless dye and transfer print technology NTX® CoolTrans® is a prime example of the company’s innovative breakthroughs.

Prior to NTX, Jeff has garnered extensive experience both in academia and corporate research in high technology organizations across pharmaceutical, medical engineering, petrochemical, agricultural science as well as textile science & engineering domains. 

At NTX Jeff has spearheaded the company’s mission to accelerate the uptake of low carbon textile processing solutions both among global’s most prominent textile supply chain players and some of the world’s biggest apparel brands. In parallel, Jeff has been focused on a market driven approach to inspire innovation and research to help transform textile organizations into environmentally and economically sustainable industry participants.

Jia Liu leads the ESG and Carbon services for TÜV Rheinland Group business stream Systems globally. She is a seasoned sustainability assurance practitioner and advocate with over 16 years of 3rd party professional experience in assisting global brands and retailers to fulfill their sustainability reporting requirements and achieve strategic targets along the value chain. She is a member of Higg BRM strategic council as well as an approved verifier. In the last 3 years, she has completed dozens of Higg BRM verification projects which entailed over 250 stakeholder engagement sessions by engaging with SAC member brands from different business models and sizes. She is ready to share the best practice and learnings with the community to drive positive impact and sustainable transformation.

Karen is a committed human rights advocate, seeking to enable sustainable change in today’s world for the positive transformation of tomorrow’s social, environmental and economic global values. Karen joined Fair Wear in 2019 after working as a policy officer in responsible business conduct at GRI.

Kim van der Weerd is co-founder and host of Manufactured, a podcast featuring supplier perspectives on sustainable fashion. She also publishes written articles, collaborates with GIZ FABRIC as an Advisor, with Transformers Foundation as their Intelligence Director, and with anyone else striving to build more empathy and mutual understanding across fashion supply chains.  She previously worked as General Manager of Pactics Phnom Penh, a garment factory producing for the luxury eyewear industry, and as COO of Tonlé, a zero-waste brand that owned and managed its own production, both based in Cambodia. She holds a M.Sc. in human rights from the London School of Economics.

As Chief Impact Officer of Apparel Impact Institute, Kurt manages the growth and longevity of global programs including Clean by Design – a proven platform for improving the resource efficiency of textile mills in collaboration with multinational brands. Prior to joining Aii, he spent three years at the environmental nonprofit-profit, Natural Resources Defense Council, where he focused on developing platforms and tools to measure and improve environmental performance of leading brands and retailers. Kurt also spent 10 years in retail sourcing and has served as chair and active member of several retail industry councils and steering teams.

Kurt earned a BA in International Business from St. John’s University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota- Carlton School of Business.

Dr. Margaret “Meg” Whittaker is the Managing Director and Chief Toxicologist of ToxServices LLC.  Dr. Whittaker is one of the pioneers in the field of chemicals alternatives assessments and is one of the creators of Screened Chemistry.  She is an accomplished human health risk assessor, chemical hazards assessor, and alternatives assessor.  Dr. Whittaker is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology who earned a Ph.D. in Toxicology from The University of Maryland, Baltimore and an M.P.H. in Environmental Health from The University of Michigan. Dr. Whittaker is a U.K./EuroTox Registered Toxicologist, as well as a Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the U.K. Royal Society of Biology.

Mia has been driving the implementation of the chemical agenda at H&M Group for 7 years and more from both a local and global perspective. Currently, Mia is leading the end-to-end chemical strategy to support H&M Group’s ambition for reaching net zero on climate and circularity. Mia is part of the ZDHC Board of Directors and has been actively contributing to programs development of both ZDHC and SAC.

Nienke is a truly passionate and experienced sustainability expert in the garment and textiles industry. As Global Lead for Apparel, Textiles and Footwear at the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute she drives the systems change required to accelerate the circular transition in the sector together with sector stakeholders. Nienke has been working for almost 2 decades in the fashion industry in different roles to drive sustainability. She also served in the Steering group for the Agreement on Sustainable Garment and Textile, the Responsible Denim Alliance, the Fair Wear Committee of Experts and is the initiator and co-writer of the Sustainable Material Guide for Apparel Companies.

Ruby Veridiano is a sustainable fashion educator and storytelling consultant. She most recently served as the Senior Manager of Storytelling & Global Content at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. She has also worked on the Corporate Social Responsibility Team at the LVMH Group in Paris, France, and as a freelance journalist for NBC News, where she wrote and produced content merging the fashion and creative industries with social impact. As a speaker and educator, she has worked with Cornell University, Columbia University, the United Nations, and more. Globally minded and multilingual, she has worked in the United States, Europe, and Asia, offering an international perspective and an ability to thrive in cross-cultural environments. For more info, please see: https://www.rubyveridiano.com.

Sophie is the principal consultant at RESET Carbon. She has over a decade of experience in handling supply chain issues. She works closely with RESET’s senior management team to develop new business opportunity and strategy, as well as leads carbon reduction projects on both corporate and supply chain level. 

Before joining RESET Carbon, Sophie was the Head of Sustainability & Sourcing at a French lingerie company, where she led the development and execution of the brand’s sustainability and sourcing strategies. Prior to this Sophie spent a decade at the iconic American retailer, Target, transforming them into an industry leader. She spearheaded their public facing water strategy and played an instrumental role across their fabric development, supply chain and responsible sourcing teams.

Sophie specializes in leading continuous performance improvement programs which adhere to corporates’ environmental strategy. By partnering with external parties in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India, she successfully enabled more than 130 apparel factories and fabric mills to reduce their environmental footprint.

Sophie gained both her BA (Hons) in Fashion & Textiles and her PhD degree at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.