Elaine is the first International Lead for Design for Freedom. In this role, Elaine is establishing Design for Freedom hubs in both the U.K. and India and is spearheading the next iteration of the Design for Freedom Toolkit, a comprehensive resource for design and construction professionals to implement ethical, forced-labor free materials sourcing strategies into their practices. Elaine is also instrumental in the rigorous application of Design for Freedom Principles to Design for Freedom Pilot Projects in India. Prior to this role, Elaine was the ESG & Human Rights Director at Marshalls plc, the UK’s leading hard landscaping, building and roofing products supplier.
Elaine is at the forefront of the human rights movement in the United Kingdom and currently serve as Co-Chair of the ILO Child Labour Platform India Working Group. Additionally, she has been actively engaged with the UN Global Compact UK Network since 2009, sits on the advisory and various working groups. She has most recently worked as a senior advisor to UN Global Compact UK Network on a range of human rights projects including the role of technology in the elimination of forced and child labour, and the development of a guidance framework which aims to enable institutional investors to exert appropriate pressure on companies to end child labour in supply chains.
To this unique role, Elaine brings more than 20 years of sustainability, ESG and human rights experience, working across multiple global sectors including construction, extractives, automotive, and solar. Elaine also has expertise in materials that comprise the built environment, notably natural stone. She is deft at aligning ESG actions, ensuring appropriate data and metrics, and working across organizations to deliver actionable and tangible impacts, applying aspects of non-financial reporting, including environmental, nature, biodiversity, and governance. Elaine has expert knowledge of global supply chain due diligence, social value, procurement and environmental legislation, and numerous reporting standards and frameworks, including the UN Global Compact (UNGC) Communication on Progress.
Elaine is highly adept in hands-on engagement in high-risk geographies, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in relation to conflict minerals. Her expansive training in working in hostile environments, as well as her extensive global travels, uniquely position her to address complex and opaque supply chains of all kinds and advance the Design for Freedom movement.
