How Financial Institutions Can Manage Human Rights Impacts in an Uncertain U.S. Landscape

Date and Time

December 6, 2023
11:00 am-12:15 pm PST

Location

Webinar

Event Resources

In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, BSR invites financial services companies to a webinar on rights-respecting finance in an uncertain U.S. landscape.

Recent rollbacks in the protection of reproductive rights, LGBTIQ+ rights, and gun safety laws coupled with a polarized political environment and contradictory regulatory regimes across the U.S are creating new challenges and uncertainties for financial services companies. This undermines their ability to responsibly manage their impacts on people, including customers, employees, and affected stakeholders in their value chains, and poses a range of legal, reputational, and financial risks.

To explore how financial services companies can respond in a rights-respecting manner, we will explore:

• The material risks financial services companies may face in the current fragmented and contradictory legal landscape.
• The actual and potential human rights impacts that financial services companies may cause, contribute to, or be directly linked with as part of their own operations and business relationships.
• How financial services companies may incorporate a human rights framework into their business practices to address salient human rights issues.
• As part of our discussion, we will facilitate a Q&A to address key questions and comments from the audience on the issues.

Scheduled Speakers

• Maura Keaney, Senior Vice President, Director of Client Engagement, Amalgamated Bank
• Susan Morgan, CGRE Project Advisor
• Laura Gitman, Chief Impact Officer, BSR
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Laura Gitman
Chief Impact Officer, BSR
New York
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Laura is a global expert on corporate sustainability, with two decades of experience in strategy consulting and has advised senior executives at global companies across a range of industry sectors and sustainability issues.
As Chief Impact Officer (CIO), the first in the organization’s 30-year history, Laura focuses on maximizing the impact of BSR’s work with its network of over 300 members, both through direct engagement on project work and as a mentor for teams throughout the organization. She also oversees BSR’s collaborative initiatives and the Center for Business and Social Justice, and a recognized thought leader and innovator in strategic business.
She has been an instrumental leader in BSR’s organizational growth and impact. She launched BSR’s financial services practice and New York office, and she served as Chief Operating Officer for five years, leveraging her strengths in strategy, organizational change, and people management. Laura works with leading global companies to develop and enhance their sustainability strategies to maximize value for business and society, and she is sought after to facilitate senior-level strategy workshops and multi-stakeholder collaborations.
She previously worked for Deloitte Consulting, where she acquired extensive strategy experience advising multinational financial services companies. She also worked on several community and economic development projects in Latin America.
Laura holds a MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is an adjunct professor in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program, a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and a member of the UN Global Compact Expert Network.
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Recent Insights From Laura Gitman
• Racing Past the Crossroads: How Sustainability Leaders Can Reassert Ambition / October 31, 2024 / Blog
• Frankly Speaking #59, Laura Gitman: Which Future for Sustainability Leadership in the Company? / October 30, 2024 / News
• The CSO at a Crossroads: Three Paths Forward for Sustainability Leaders / October 17, 2024 / Reports
• ESG Scenarios: Leading Sustainability in a New Context / July 18, 2023 / Blog
• BSR Appoints Laura Gitman as First Ever Chief Impact Officer, Matthew Welch as New Chief Operating Officer / May 17, 2023 / News
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• Paloma Muñoz Quick, Director, Human Rights Standards, BSR
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Paloma Muñoz Quick
Director, Human Rights Standards, BSR
New York
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Paloma leads BSR’s work on Human Rights Standards, including standard-setting, knowledge management, and helping companies respond to emerging standards and regulation. She is also Senior Advisor to BSR’s Finance & Human Rights Practice.
Prior to joining BSR, Paloma was Advisor to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and Senior Consultant of the UN B-Tech Project, where she developed a vision for promoting the uptake of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights among investors and guidance on responsible investment in digital technologies. Prior to the UN, Paloma launched and led the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, where she developed thought leadership on the investor responsibility to respect human rights and supported stewardship engagements across industries. She also worked at the Danish Institute for Human Rights advising companies, governments, and civil society on business and human rights.
Paloma is a member of the US government’s Advisory Committee on Responsible Business Conduct. She sits on the Editorial Board of Developments in the Field of the Business and Human Rights Journal of Cambridge University.
She holds a Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.) in Human Rights from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science, also from Columbia University. 
Paloma is Chilean-American and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
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Recent Insights From Paloma Muñoz Quick
• Sustainability Strategy in the Age of Regulation: Don’t Lose the Plot / October 3, 2024 / Blog
• CSDDD: A De Facto Climate Due Diligence Law That Safeguards People / September 23, 2024 / Blog
• The CSDDD: Implications for the Finance Industry / September 4, 2024 / Blog
• How Financial Institutions Can Manage Reduction of US Reproductive and LGBTQI+ Rights / July 9, 2024 / Blog
• New Report: How Financial Services Firms Can Manage Risks from Criminalization of Abortion, LGBTQI+ Healthcare, and Respect Human Rights / June 20, 2024 / News
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