I am passionate about the potential for business to transform livelihoods, break the cycle of poverty, and positively impact the environment in communities all over the world. Growing up in Africa and working in the shanty towns and with SMEs in Cambodia, Kenya, Uganda, Guatemala, Bangladesh, and India opened my eyes: entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) with ideas, creativity, and drive are a powerful force for global change. Over the last two decades I have worked with thousands of professionals committed to doing business better. Despite the growing urgency of the climate crisis and the ingenuity of brand and supplier leaders pioneering best practices, for most businesses, sustainability is still a cost rather than an opportunity. Recent research by Capgemini* found that 79% of business leaders (across all business sectors) do not see a clear business case for operating sustainably. I founded the Common Objective (CO) platform to harness technology to create a business case for better practice across industry supply chains, and open doors to market for businesses that are changing lives. We now reach over 65,000 fashion industry members representing 28,000 businesses, and are expanding to other industry sectors. My sustainable business journey:2002: Founded Juste, a design led, fair trade fashion brand produced in Bangladesh2006: Founded the Ethical Fashion Forum: the not for profit industry body for sustainable fashion 2007-9: Partnered with the UN’s International Trade Centre to launch the ITC’s Ethical Fashion Initiative in the UK 2011-12: Launched SOURCE, the online platform for sustainable fashion 2016: Raised investment from industry to build the Common Objective (CO) platform2018: Launched Common Objective (CO) alongside a brilliant founding team2021: Partnered with the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) to launch circles on CO - increasing engagement and market access for fair trade suppliers2022: Reached 50,000 professional and business members on Common Objective (CO), partnered with UNHCR - Made51 - to further market access for refugee artisans2023: Partnered with the UN Global Compact Network UK and Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology, to accelerate business action towards the UN SDGs (And before that I was an architect…working for Habitat for Humanity and in the shanty towns of Phnom Penh)*A World in Balance: Why Sustainability Ambition is not Translating to Action, Capgemini, 2022