Catie is an independent business and human rights specialist and non-practicing Australian lawyer. She supports businesses, law firms, industry organisations and international institutions to develop practical approaches to implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Catie brings to GBI nearly 15 years’ immersion in the business and human rights space, and significant experience designing and facilitating business peer learning and other cross-stakeholder discussions at a global level and in key regions and countries.
As an advisor to GBI, Catie leads GBI’s external engagement with key developments, bringing practical, business-focused leadership to discussions about the introduction of mandatory due diligence requirements and the need for rights-respecting climate action. She also oversees the growth of GBI’s unique ‘by business, for business’ resource, the GBI Business Practice Portal. Previously, Catie led GBI’s regional engagement, its business peer learning programme and a deep dive on direct linkage and leverage.
Independently of her work with GBI, Catie co-founded and convenes a group of leading global law firms working together to advance engagement with business and human rights and uptake of the UNGPs across the legal profession. She holds a PGCert in Poverty Reduction: Policy and Practice from SOAS University of London and an LLM from the University of Melbourne. Catie is interested in how to drive change within organisations and at a global level.
Access Catie's blogs and podcasts:
- Human right due diligence challenges for business
- GBI Conversations
- Bridging the gap between respect for human rights and climate - a framework for action
- What companies need to know about the new human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
- Getting ready for mandatory due diligence: Five steps businesses can take now
- Business, human rights and the climate crisis – are we missing the point?
- A smarter mix: from talk to action
- Learning from Southeast Asia
- Increasing access to business practice is key to scaling respect for human rights