About IHRB: Our Staff

John Morrison (Executive Director)
John Morrison has extensive experience working with leading companies on issues of corporate responsibility and human rights. He worked previously with The Body Shop International plc and led the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights from 2003 to 2009. He has also worked for a number of civil society and governmental organisations on issues of migration, human trafficking and forced labour. John has acted as an adviser to a number of governments during their presidencies of intergovernmental organisations and has chaired a wide range of conferences and initiatives in many parts of the world.

Frances House (Director of Programmes)
Frances brings longstanding experience of working in the business and human rights field through her previous roles as Regional Director (SE Asia and China) and subsequently Policy Director with the International Business Leaders Forum, and as an active member of the Amnesty International Business Group. Frances has also worked as Vietnam researcher for Human Rights Watch and for the European Commission in Brussels and Vietnam on humanitarian programmes with asylum-seekers. Formerly a board member of Amnesty International UK and Care UK, Frances is currently Senior Advisor to CARE International UK, and sits on the IKEA Stakeholder Advisory Board.

Scott Jerbi (Director of Communications)
Scott Jerbi has worked for over a decade on business and human rights issues. From 1997 to 2002 he worked in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights where his duties included acting as focal point for the development of the Office’s policies and interactions with the private sector. From 2002 to 2010 Scott served as Senior Adviser to Mary Robinson at Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. Realizing Rights was a key stakeholder in the establishment of the Institute for Human Rights and Business.

Salil Tripathi (Director of Policy)
Salil has long standing experience in advancing the business and human rights agenda. As a researcher at Amnesty International (1999‑2005) he participated in negotiations that created the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and represented Amnesty in the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights process from its inception until 2008. As senior policy adviser at International Alert (2006-2008) he played a key role in the process that developed the Red Flags initiative. He sits on the external advisory corporate citizenship panels of GE and Exxon. Salil is also a writer, and serves on the board of English PEN and co-chairs its Writers-at-Risk Committee.

Margaret Wachenfeld (Director of Legal Affairs)
Margaret Wachenfeld started her career as legal counsel to the Danish Institute for Human Rights. After practicing law in a commercial firm, focusing on environmental and corporate responsibility issues, she joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (World Bank Group) to work on environmental and social dimensions of project finance transactions. Margaret later served as human rights adviser at the IFC where she was deeply involved in the process leading to incorporation of human rights issues into the first round of IFC Performance Standards. More recently, Margaret was senior policy adviser to UNICEF, covering a wide range of child rights issues.

Vanessa Bissessur (Office Manager)
Vanessa brings a number of years of service and management experience particularly within the charity and not for profit sector. She has experience of developing policies and procedures as well as in financial and project management and human resources. Vanessa has previously managed grant giving programmes and developed services for vulnerable and young people, and has worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau and the British Red Cross Society.

Donna Guest (South East Asia Programme Manager)
Donna comes to IHRB from Amnesty International where she worked on human rights in South East Asia for over 20 years. Most recently, she served as Amnesty's deputy director for South East Asia and the Pacific. In May 2012, Donna facilitated and led Amnesty's first mission to Myanmar since 2003. Donna will lead IHRB's developing programme in Myanmar as well as outreach and advocacy with governments, companies and civil society throughout the region.

Katharine Jones (Programme Support Manager: Anti-trafficking and Forced Labour)
Katharine currently leads IHRB's anti-trafficking and forced labour projects within the migration programme. Over 2012, she acted as lead researcher on the development of the EU Employment & Recruitment Agencies Guidance. Katharine has worked in the field of migration for over a decade, in academia, in the voluntary sector and for government. She received her doctorate from the University of Manchester for a thesis entitled "The Business of Migration", which examined how agencies facilitate international migration into the UK.

Wambui Kimathi (Senior Advisor for East Africa)
Wambui Kimathi recently completed her term as a Commissioner at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). During her time on the Commission, she led the Business and Human Rights Initiative at the KNCHR through which she engaged with executives from a variety of fields to develop greater understanding of the human rights responsibilities by business, state and non-state actors. Prior to joining the KNCHR, Wambui worked as Deputy Executive Director at the Kenya Human Rights Commission, (KHRC) a leading NGO, and as a Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Education in Democracy.

Lucy Purdon (Programme Support Manager: ICT)
Lucy joined IHRB as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) researcher on the EC Human Rights Sector Guidance project. She manages IHRB's ICT Programme and works mainly on issues of freedom of expression and privacy in ICTs. Lucy graduated with an MA in Human Rights from The Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS), University of London. Her thesis, 'Privatising Dissent', applied the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the ICT sector. Prior to this, Lucy was a documentary producer/director and ran film-making courses for young offenders in the UK. She also holds a First Class BA (Hons) in Film and Video from London College of Communications, University of the Arts.

Kelly Davina Scott (Programme Support Manager: East Africa)
Kelly works as the Programme Support Manager on Natural Resources. She holds an LLM in International Law and MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Prior to this, Kelly completed a BSc International Relations (Major), Political Science (Minor) at the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.

Haley St. Dennis (Programme Support Manager: Due Diligence)
Haley leads IHRB's Due Diligence programme, integrating a number of work areas including the European Commission’s Human Rights Sector Guidance Project, as well as IHRB's Programme for Responsible Investment in Myanmar. Previously Haley worked on the joint project with GBI producing the December 2012 report State of Play: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect in Business Relationships. Before joining IHRB, Haley completed her Masters with distinction in Human Rights Law from SOAS in 2011 and Bachelors in Business Management in 2007 from her home state of Utah, USA. Haley is also IHRB's representative on the UN Global Compact's Human Rights Working Group.

Neill Wilkins (Programme Support Manager: Migration)
Neill previously worked as part of the Global Campaign’s Team at The Body Shop International. He was involved with a number of major projects including the International Choose Positive Energy Campaign. A partnership between The Body Shop and Greenpeace this campaign sought to encourage the use of renewable energy as a way of combating Global Warming and alleviating poverty. Neill also played a key role in organizing and co-ordinating The Body Shop Human Rights Awards.

Hnin Wut Yee (Myanmar Programme Coordinator)
Hnin is IHRB's Myanmar Programme Coordinator, based at the British Council in Yangon. She has been involved in a base line study conducted by the Human Rights Resource Center (HRRC) on “Business and Human Rights.” Hnin has worked on various research projects including Violence, Exploitation and Migration of Women and Children, community participation in water management, socially engaged Buddhism, gender equality and disability rights.