Building Responsibly

As Director, Collaborations, Charlene develops and implements strategies to engage BSR member companies and other stakeholders in high-impact collaborations for sustainable development. She specializes in building collaborative approaches between consumer-facing companies and their value chains to embed long-term sustainability, build resilience in the face of disruption, and increase equity, inclusion, and justice.

Charlene brings over 20 years of experience in sustainability, systems change, futures, and collaboration. Prior to BSR, Charlene was associate director for sustainable value chains and livelihoods with global sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future, where she directed collaborative system change initiatives in cotton, tea and other commodities, and led strategy projects with partners across the fashion and textile, agricultural and food sectors.

Charlene has an extensive background in futures, including working with the UK government’s futures unit developing and testing strategies across government departments.

Charlene holds an MSc in Sustainability and Responsibility from Ashridge Management College (UK), a BA in International Relations from the University of Puget Sound (US), and a Diploma in Organisation Development from Henley Business School (UK).

Recent Insights From Charlene Collison

• Why an Impactful Sustainability Strategy needs Collaboration / September 26, 2023 / Blog
• Are garment workers one step closer to living wages? / June 30, 2023 / News

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Jessica leads BSR’s work on financial resilience for women in the shea supply chain, as well as managing BSR’s training toward decreasing gender-based violence (GBV) in the palm sector. In addition, Jessica manages Building Responsibly, which focuses on increasing worker well-being in the engineering and construction industries.

Before joining BSR’s Human Rights team, Jessica was the country manager for all HERproject programs in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Pakistan as well as managing HERessentials globally. Prior to joining BSR, Jessica worked at The Walt Disney Company, where she focused on human rights and supply chain. Jessica’s background also includes previous roles at the US House of Representatives, the International Monetary Fund, and the US Department of State, along with long-term field work in Myanmar and India.

Jessica holds a MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also has a BA in International Relations with a minor in French and in International Development from Wheaton College. Jessica is fluent in English and French.

Recent Insights From Jessica Witten

• Investing in Women Workers: How Training has Helped Build Financial Resilience in Shea Supply Chains / February 22, 2024 / Blog
• Women’s Empowerment in the Era of Social Distancing / February 10, 2021 / Blog
• Digital Technology and Data in the Garment Supply Chain during COVID-19 / January 27, 2021 / Reports
• Data and Tech Acceleration in COVID-19: The Human Rights Impact on Vulnerable Garment Workers / January 27, 2021 / Blog

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