Sustainable Futures Lab

Margot supports companies in sustainability management and the use of strategic foresight as part of BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab. She also works with BSR members within the consumer sectors practice.

Margot also advises companies on climate change and women’s empowerment. Her experience spans sustainability management, climate risk and resilience, gender equality, communications, employee engagement, innovation management, and learning and development.  

Prior to joining BSR, she was an innovation manager within the fashion and retail sourcing industry, enabling supply chain innovation and sustainability through design thinking and rapid prototyping approaches. Margot previously worked on climate change adaptation projects using nature-based solutions to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities. She has worked on women’s empowerment programs both professionally and as a volunteer strategic advisor for The Women’s Foundation. 

She holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and a B.Phil in Sustainable Development, both from the University of Stellenbosch. 

Jacob leads BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab, a new practice using strategic foresight techniques to help businesses engage with emerging issues that are reshaping the global landscape.

Before joining BSR, Jacob was the lead futurist in the New York office of Forum for the Future, where he used scenario planning and other futures techniques to develop sustainability strategy and drive innovation for leading businesses, foundations, and multistakeholder groups. Prior to that he worked at Adaptive Edge, a boutique strategic foresight consultancy, on collaborative scenario planning. Jacob began his career doing human rights research and advocacy at Human Rights First and the Center for Economic and Social Rights. He speaks English and French.

Jacob holds an M.B.A. in Sustainability from Presidio Graduate School and a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago. 

Kelly works with BSR member companies to develop sustainability strategies, assess human rights impacts, and engage rightsholders. Her areas of expertise include modern slavery and anti-human trafficking and the rights of workers and communities in the energy transition. Kelly works with companies across industries, including renewable energy and extractives and consumer products.

Prior to joining BSR, Kelly worked as a consultant on various human rights projects, including issues of modern slavery and labor rights in global supply chains. Kelly has also worked extensively on women’s rights, including two years leading a women’s economic empowerment program in Surkhet, Nepal and four years working with the United Nations Foundation on international reproductive health and rights.

Kelly holds an MA in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University.

Faraz works with BSR member companies across industries in human rights and technology.

Prior to BSR, Faraz was an Advocacy Fellow at Access Now, where he contributed to digital rights campaigns. Previously, he worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Human Rights Initiative, where he researched business, human rights, and technology.

Faraz holds an MA from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in International Law and Economic Policy. Prior to SAIS, he graduated from the Ohio State University, where he served as a John Glenn Fellow at the US Department of Justice and as a Critical Language Fellow at the US Department of State.

Lara works with BSR members on their sustainability management, human rights, and equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives. Lara supports members improving their social and environmental performance through sustainability strategies, materiality assessments, and sustainable reporting, among other projects. 

Lara comes to BSR from the international development space, with five years of experience in partnership development, stakeholder engagement, communications, and project management. Most recently, she supported gender and development research and policy advocacy at the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC. Furthermore, Lara has an extensive background in business, development, and mission-driven partnerships in Africa, creating and leading the Partnerships team at Baobab Consulting, an Africa-focused social impact consulting firm, and founding her own digital communications consulting company for Africa-focused businesses and organizations. Lara is a Spring 2022 Sustainable Investing Fellow at 17 Asset Management, an impact asset management and advisory firm focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Lara holds a MSc Development Studies (Specialism in Applied Development Economics) from the London School of Economics and a BA in Sociology and International Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.