Rachel Sylvan is a sustainable business strategist and leader focused on integrating sustainability and corporate responsibility into the operation and culture of large-scale businesses. At Sodexo, she develops and manages a range of global and national initiatives to advance environmental sustainability, wellness, and women’s empowerment. She is a global lead on addressing gender-based violence in BSR’s “Business Action for Women” collaborative group, and she created Sodexo’s global commitment to small and diverse businesses, including a focus on sourcing from women entrepreneurs. She led the effort to promote health and well-being with the Partnership for a Healthier America. Sylvan also developed and led the first enterprise-wide sustainability function for U.S. Foods, leading to the creation of sustainable packaging, sustainable sourcing, and green transportation initiatives.

Seema Arora works on designing innovative products and frameworks to build the business case for industry to invest in sustainability. She has created several initiatives, including the world’s first corporate sustainability label from the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD). As the head of CESD, she networks with industry, government, and community-based organisations to develop policy instruments and innovative voluntary approaches to sustainable development. She also provides input to help define sustainable development action plans for state governments. Arora provides training and counseling to industry for evolving a sustainability vision and a portfolio of sustainability strategies. Her main areas of interest include environmental policy, management systems, corporate sustainability, institutional strengthening, and capacity building.

pedermichael

Peder Michael leads BSR’s work with grant funders and partners as well as development and management of business and multistakeholder collaborations. A member of the BSR executive team, he co-leads BSR’s relationship management activities and provides executive guidance on BSR’s women’s empowerment work.

An experienced sustainability executive, Peder Michael works with the world’s leading companies in the consumer, financial services, transportation, healthcare, and energy sectors on business strategy and operations to help them manage sustainability risks and opportunities. He is a member of several sustainability advisory boards—including the Melton Foundation Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Panel of BAT—and he is a member of the UN Women/UNGC Women’s Empowerment Principles Leadership Group.

Prior to joining BSR, Peder Michael was a key player in growing PricewaterhouseCoopers' sustainable business solutions practice in Copenhagen. He also spent five years with the Danish Foreign Service, where he worked on human rights in international development and foreign policy and served on the board of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Peder Michael served on the Danish Government’s Council on Corporate Responsibility from 2009-2012.

He speaks English, French, Danish, and Swedish, and holds an international M.B.A. and a B.S. in business administration, both from Copenhagen Business School.