The Fair Labor Association Staff
Washington, DC
Fair Labor Association - 1707 L Street NW
Suite 200 - Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 898-1000 - Fax: (866) 649-0624
President and CEO
heerden@FairLabor.org x3010
Jorge Perez-Lopez
Executive Director
jperez-lopez@FairLabor.org x2080
Roopa Nair
Director of Code Implementation and Monitoring
rnair@FairLabor.org x2100
Sherri Ligon
Business Manager
sligon@FairLabor.org x2040
Heeral Coleman
Communications Associate and University Liaison
hcoleman@FairLabor.org x2220
Heewon Brindle-Khym
NGO and Trade Union Coordinator
hbrindle-khym@FairLabor.org x2090
Allison Milne
Independent External Monitoring Coordinator
amilne@FairLabor.org x2190
Christine Briscoe
Licensee Program Manager
cbriscoe@FairLabor.org x2030
Nicole Washington
Executive Assistant
nwashington@FairLabor.org x2010
Core Program Consultants & Regional Managers
Tanida Disyabut
Regional Manager: Southeast Asia
tdisyabut@FairLabor.org x4040
Youli Ge
Capacity Building and Training Manager
yge@FairLabor.org x4050
Richa Mittal
Regional Manager: South Asia
rmittal@FairLabor.org x4030
Aykut Kazanci
Regional Manager: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
akazanci@FairLabor.org x4010
Franklin Chavarria
Regional Manager: Americas
fchavarria@FairLabor.org x4020
Geneva, Switzerland
Fair Labor Association Europe - 27 Chemin des Crets-de-Pregny-
CH-1218 Grand-Saconnex - Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-747-0088 - Fax: +41-22-747-0099
Auret van Heerden
President and CEO
heerden@FairLabor.org x3010
Sabrina Bosson
Assistant to the President
sbosson@FairLabor.org x3040
Rika Dunder
Sustainable Compliance Manager
rdunder@FairLabor.org x3030
Ines Kaempfer
Assessment and Survey Coordinator
ikaempfer@FairLabor.org x3020
Auret van Heerden, President and CEO, comes to the FLA with thirty years experience in international human and labor rights. He began campaigning for worker rights as a young student in apartheid South Africa and co-authored a book in 1976 that called for trade union rights for black workers. He served two terms as president of the National Union of South African Students. After graduating in Industrial Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg he founded an institute that provided research and training services to trade unions and civil society groups. He was forced into exile in May 1987 after long periods of solitary confinement and torture.
He joined the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1988 and worked on their Program of Action against Apartheid in Geneva until 1994 when the new democratic South African government appointed him Labor Attaché in the South African Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.
He returned to the ILO in 1996 to coordinate the Special Action Program on Social and Labor Issues in Export Processing Zones. In that capacity he worked on labor relations issues in 25 zone-operating countries and established a Swiss-funded project to improve labor relations in Special Economic Zones in China. He has written ILO reports on disinvestment and economic sanctions; Export Processing Zones (EPZs); the export garment industry and labor rights. He has moved back to his home outside Geneva and established a European subsidiary of the FLA.
Jorge Perez-Lopez became Executive Director of the Fair Labor Association in June 2006. He joined the FLA as its Director of Code Implementation and Monitoring in June 2005 after serving 31 years in the U.S. government. The former civil servant brings extensive knowledge and experience in international economics and trade relations developed during his tenure in the Bureau of International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor.
For 18 years, Perez-Lopez served as the Director of the Office of International Economic Affairs at the Bureau of International Labor Affairs where he was involved in the development, implementation and negotiation of U.S. trade policies and directed a supporting research program in international economics. Most notably, he participated in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), serving as the lead U.S. negotiator for the Safeguards Chapter on emergency action and coordinated the Department of Labor's overall involvement in the negotiations. He also participated in the negotiation of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). More recently, he was part of the U.S. team that negotiated the labor chapter of U.S. free trade agreements with Chile, Singapore, Morocco, Australia, Central America, and the Dominican Republic, and was the U.S. lead negotiator of the labor chapter of the agreement with the Andean countries.
Perez-Lopez is the author or co-author of more than a half dozen books and numerous articles and chapters in professional journals and books. He holds a Master's and Ph.D. degree in economics from the State University of New York at Albany.
Roopa Nair is the Director of Code Implementation and Monitoring for the Fair Labor Association. Roopa has a background in international development with a focus on globalization and changing labor economies. She has worked in non-profit, corporate and academic sectors in Asia, Europe and North America with a particular interest in gender and development. Before joining the FLA, she worked on these issues with a variety of worker communities (informal sector labor, migrant labor, garment workers and high-tech labor). Most recently, she was the Corporate Responsibility Compliance Manager for South Asia at Nike, Inc where she developed a regional team to work on social compliance systems in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Roopa recently graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England, with research focusing on globalization and new industries in India. She has a BA and MA from McGill University, Canada.Sherri Ligon began her professional career with the IRS in 1973 in the Memphis Service Center, where she spent many years in the Collection Division. After relocating to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area she was assigned to the Problem Resolution Office and field offices in Washington, D.C. As a Revenue Officer, Ms. Ligon was responsible for civil investigations and enforcement actions.
Ligon is a graduate of the University of Maryland, B.A., and Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, MS. She has been enrolled to practice before the IRS since 2000. Previously a partner in the firm, Successful Outsourcing Solutions based in Bethesda, Maryland; her client list included high net worth individuals, real estate entities, medical practices, government contractors and non-profits. Prior to starting her own firm, she spent several years with a regional accounting firm and a tax law firm. With her she brings an extensive background in financial and general business knowledge to the FLA.
Heeral Coleman joined the FLA as Communications Associate and University Liaison in March 2007. Heeral has worked extensively in the field of communications in her native India, including nearly four years with Ogilvy PR Worldwide, the international communications firm. During her time at Ogilvy, Heeral was named team leader for the Technology and Corporate & Finance practices for the Mumbai office. In this role, she worked closely with the then-heads of Mumbai and South Asia operations to implement strategic communications plans and training workshops for Ogilvy PR’s Mumbai clients in her practice areas. Heeral earned a master’s degree in Public Communication from American University in August 2006, where she was awarded a Hall of Nations merit scholarship. She focused her graduate study on nonprofit communication and social entrepreneurship, and brings to the FLA a deep commitment to positive and progressive social change.
Heewon Brindle-Khym serves as the NGO and Trade Union Coordinator for the Fair Labor Association. She brings to the FLA years of international and domestic labor rights experience. Her dedication to labor rights began when she organized immigrant workers to New York City. Since then, she has worked for the Worker Rights Consortium and UNITE HERE coordinating and supporting international worker rights campaigns. In addition to her professional work experience, HeeWon currently serves as a board member of Educators for Social Responsibility and sat on the board of SweatFree Communities. HeeWon has a B.A. in Geology from Boston College and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from Columbia University.
Allison Milne is the Independent External Monitoring Coordinator. She comes to the FLA from her position as a Research Analyst for a social compliance monitoring firm, Accordia Global Compliance. Allison received her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School where she was honored with the Professor Virginia Leary Award for outstanding academic performance in international law and the Linda S. Reynolds Award for exceptional commitment to equal justice for the poor. At UB Law, Allison was the 2005-2006 Editor-in-Chief of the Buffalo Human Rights Law Review. Allison has interned with the Living Wage Commission in Buffalo, NY, Urgent Action Fund--Africa in Nairobi and Ebenezer Counseling Ministry in Kigali, Rwanda. She has a B.A. in International Relations from Wheaton College in Illinois.
Christine Briscoe is the FLA's Licensee Program Manager. She came to Fair Labor Association from the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, where she assisted Canadian companies in multiple sectors do business in the Mid-Atlantic States. She holds an MBA from the University of Maryland with a focus on International Business, Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics. At Maryland, Christine served as liaison to the university’s Net Impact (Leaders for Better Business) chapter on behalf of more than 500 part-time students. She is a longtime member of Women in International Trade and won the Member of the Year Award in 2002 for the professional development programs she developed; in 2005, she was nominated to the organization’s Board of Directors. She also serves on the Board of the DC Sustainable Business Network. Christine grew up in Canada and Germany, and holds a BA from the University of Ottawa and a postgraduate teaching certificate from the University of Glasgow, Scotland.Tanida Disyabut joined the FLA as the Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia in August 2004. Tanida attributes her extensive knowledge of social issues to a six-year career as a journalist and as a program manager of human rights and compliance programs. With a B.A. from Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts, she started her career as a journalist at the Bangkok Post newspaper, a leading English newspapers in Thailand. Her reporting covered environmental and social issues in Thailand where issues ranged from child labor, workers' rights, the rights of the disabled to male and female prostitution. It was her exposure to the human rights field that led her to Reebok where she served as manager of the Human Rights Program in Thailand. She was instrumental in the development of the workers' communication and breastfeeding program in the workplace. She left after four years to join Nike as the manager of the Compliance Program in Thailand and Bangladesh.
Youli Ge worked as the China Country Director of Global Alliance for Workers and Communities (GA) in Guangdong Province for four and a half years prior beginning her work for the FLA. GA's initiative focused on incorporating worker and community development into CSR practice through a multi-stakeholder partnership in China. Between 1994 - 1999, Youli was the national program officer in UNDP China working on issues of gender equity, poverty alleviation, microenterprise development in disadvantaged communities. She was a participant and an observer of women's NGO movement in Beijing. Youli has a MPA from Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a graduate certificate in Cross-cultural Communication, as well as a BA of English Literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University.Richa Mittal is a Regional Coordinator at the Fair Labor Association. She was born and raised in India. After completing her first Master's in Human Nutrition at the University of Delhi, she pursued a Masters in Public Health degree at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. For two years she was actively involved in managing a health program for garment workers in Bangladesh through MID and has written about the existing labor health issues. She joined FLA in June 2003.
Aykut Kazanci has extensive experience as a quality, safety and social compliance auditor. He serves as the Regional Manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for the FLA. Before coming to the FLA, Aykut was Lead Assessor for Bureau Veritas Quality Int. based in Istanbul; Lead Auditor and Regional Coordinator for Verité; Lead Consultant and Trainer for an International Labor Organization-European Union textile sector program; Lead Assessor for British Standards Institution; Lead Auditor with ITS-Intertek Labtest in Istanbul; Safety Trainer for Cement Manufacturers Employer Union; CSR Consultant for GTZ; and Lead Assessor for the JO-IN project. Earlier in his career, he worked with the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in a project in Turkey. He has been trained on ISO 9000, OHSAS 18000 and SA 8000. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.Franklin Chavarria joined the FLA in April 2007 as Regional Manager-Americas. Franklin has an extensive background and knowledge in the implementation of monitoring programs. Before joining the FLA, he worked for more than 5 years with the former Reebok Human Rights Programs as a field manager for the Americas. Since 2006, he participated in the integration process between adidas and Reebok in the Social and Environmental Affairs section of the adidas-Group. Franklin’s expertise and areas of strength include: factory assessments, remediation, capacity building, education & training and extensive consultation and collaboration with senior government officials, worker advocate and non-government organizations in the Americas. Franklin also has experience in Quality Assurance programs, working with more than 807 apparel suppliers with responsibility for maintaining required quality standards for several factories in El Salvador. Mr. Chavarria received an Associate in Science degree with a major in Clothing Merchandising from Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Florida. He is currently based in El Salvador.
Sabrina Bosson is the personal assistant to the FLA President and CEO. She studied dance at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve before completing a Masters in Political Science at the University of Geneva. Before joining the FLA she worked as the commercial representative in Switzerland for L’Occitane en Provence. In the course of her studies Sabrina interned with NGOs in the Philippines, where she worked children who were in prison, Madagascar, where she worked with the homeless, and Vancouver, where she was the event coordinator for an environmental group.
Ines Kaempfer is the Survey and Assessments Coordinator of the FLA. Before joining the FLA she taught at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, from where she received a Ph.D for her thesis that studied the relationship between traditional Chinese values and human rights. She has traveled, studied and worked in China, speaks Mandarin and is the author of a number of scholarly articles on attitudes towards human rights in China. Ines is responsible for developing the new web-based Assessment Portal and survey tools.
Rika Dunder joined the FLA as Sustainable Compliance Project Manager after spending the last 6 years in France working for Salomon SA in various supply chain positions. Prior to that, Rika spent 10 years in Asia where she became acquainted with compliance issues while working first for a Taiwanese textile company and later for adidas. She has experience working with factories in Asia as well as Eastern Europe. Rika is Swedish and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.