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Laura Gitman

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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 Membership, and is 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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Indiana Vieljeux

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Indiana supports BSR’s consumer sectors practice globally and is involved in supply chain sustainability projects, focusing on the development and implementation of sustainable sourcing strategies for companies. Indiana is managing the Responsible Luxury Initiative and used to manage the Southeast Asia Reptile Conservation Alliance (SARCA).

Indiana started with BSR as a Communications Associate to provide event, content, marketing, and digital support to BSR staff and projects. She also served as the Communications Coordinator for several BSR collaborative initiatives. Prior to BSR, Indiana created and co-launched FoodCloud, an organization focusing on food waste reduction by connecting supermarkets and restaurants with surplus food to organizations and charities that distribute food. Indiana is French and has lived in four countries. She is a French native speaker and speaks English and Spanish fluently.

Indiana holds a B.A. in Business and Spanish from Trinity College Dublin and a Master in International Business from Grenoble Ecole de Management.

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Elisa Niemtzow

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Elisa is a member of BSR’s global leadership team and leads the organization's European member portfolio, partnering across BSR’s cross-sector membership with companies in consumer, technology, financial services, and other industries. She drives strategic growth, partnerships, and senior advisory engagement, supporting organizations in navigating complex market and societal shifts while building long-term value.

She advises executive leaders on strategies at the intersection of growth, responsibility, and resilience, embedding sustainability into core business strategy, governance, and value chains. Elisa brings deep expertise in the luxury sector—including watch and jewelry, fashion, beauty, and hospitality—where brand value, desirability, and trust are critical to performance. She also designs and leads multi-company, multi-stakeholder initiatives that enable pre-competitive collaboration, including BSR’s Responsible Luxury Initiative (ReLI).

Elisa is a sought-after speaker and trusted voice on sustainable business and responsible luxury, regularly cited in international media, and was named to the Vogue Business 100 Innovators list.

Prior to joining BSR, Elisa was an account manager at CHANEL and a consultant at Accenture and Ernst & Young.

Elisa is French-American. She holds an MBA in Luxury Goods Marketing and Management from Sup de Luxe, an MA in International Relations from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques Paris, and a BA in French from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Dean Matsueda

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David Korngold

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David partners with corporate boards, executives, and investors to develop high-impact sustainability strategies. As part of BSR’s Transformation team, he co-leads engagement with boards of directors to promote effective board governance and leadership ambition on sustainability. 

Having previously led BSR's Financial Services team, David continues to work closely with financial companies on sustainability, ESG integration, and impact investing. David has led engagements in nearly all of BSR’s focus areas and major industry groups. This includes leading climate scenarios workshops with boards, creating net-zero road maps for investment firms, designing and operationalizing a leading impact investing fund, conducting materiality assessments, undertaking human rights impact assessments, and co-authoring research on topics like ESG for emerging public companies and responsible investment policies for private equity firms.

Before joining BSR, David worked in strategy and management consulting at Bain & Company.

David holds a BA in History from Amherst College.

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Asako Nagai

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With more than 20 years of sustainability experience, Asako advises global technology companies as well as BSR members and partners in Japan to better integrate sustainability into core business strategies.

Prior to joining BSR, Asako was Head of the CSR Management Section at Sony Corporation, and she has more than 10 years of experience leading global sustainability strategies. She has experience in sustainability reporting, stakeholder engagement, supply chain management, and responsible mineral sourcing and human rights. She also played a key role in shaping the industry framework for the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition.

Asako holds dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Science from the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan.

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Chhavi Ghuliani

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Chhavi leads BSR’s global engagement with governments and foundations, building cross-sector partnerships that mobilize business, philanthropy, and the public sector to address urgent sustainability challenges. He works with partners around the world to identify shared priorities, unlock collaboration, and advance practical solutions for a more just, resilient, and sustainable economy.

Chhavi has developed large-scale, multi-million-dollar, multi-country partnerships with companies and donors, translating shared ambition into initiatives with tangible impact. He previously served as a lead for corporate engagement and financial inclusion for HERproject, now RISE, where he worked with companies and partners to advance inclusive business practices and improve outcomes for women in global value chains.

Chhavi brings a multidisciplinary background spanning sustainable finance, corporate sustainability, operations, and international development. Prior to joining BSR, he worked at a socially responsible investment firm, integrating financial and environmental, social, and governance analysis to develop sustainable investment recommendations. He also served as an operations manager for Oracle across the Asia-Pacific and Americas regions, where he helped launch a new operation in India.

His advisory experience includes developing sustainability strategies for companies in Mexico, India, and Saudi Arabia, as well as supporting public health initiatives as a freelance consultant for the Institute of Public Health. He speaks English, Spanish, and Hindi.

Chhavi holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a B.A. in English and Computer Science from Rutgers University.

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Aron Cramer

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Aron served as BSR's President and CEO from 2004–2026 and is recognized globally as a preeminent authority on just and sustainable business. In addition to leading BSR for 22 years, which has grown substantially throughout his tenure, Aron advised senior executives at BSR’s 200+ member companies and other global businesses and partners on the full spectrum of environmental, social, and governance issues.

Aron joined BSR in 1995 as the founding director of its Business and Human Rights program. He later opened BSR's Paris office in 2002, where he worked until becoming President and CEO in 2004. Aron has served on advisory boards to CEOs at AXA, Barrick Gold, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Recruit Holdings, SAP, Shell, and he serves as a director of the We Mean Business Coalition and RISE.

Aron speaks frequently at leading business and public fora and is widely quoted in top-tier media, such as the Financial Times, Le Figaro (France), The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Politico. He is co-author of the book Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World, which spotlights innovative sustainability strategies that enable business success.

Prior to joining BSR, Aron practiced law in San Francisco and worked as a journalist at ABC News in New York. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Blog | Wednesday August 10, 2022

Business Leadership in the Great Fragmentation: Part 2

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Editor's Note:

It is obvious that we are living through a time of profound and accelerating change. Our world has been rocked by a series of disruptions: COVID-19, war and social conflict, rollback of rights and democracy, and now high inflation and the risk of recession. These developments have jolted society, and business.

To help our 300+ member companies navigate this volatile environment, we're releasing a series of blogs over the coming weeks to build insight into how to shape business approaches that address this unique moment. Following the first piece on the role of business in combatting societal fragmentation, today we focus on how business can reorient their efforts around four main objectives.

We’ll conclude with a deeper dive look into how BSR’s 2025 strategy can help your company to navigate these turbulent times—and how you can collaborate with our global network to push us further, faster, to achieve a more equitable, just world for all.

The Business Response

The divisions caused by “The Great Fragmentation” are a barrier to achieving an economy that drives equitable and sustainable progress. This represents the great project of the 21st century: enabling all people to thrive and live in dignity on a healthy planet.

The Great Fragmentation also presents an extremely serious challenge for business. Social division, political dysfunction, and constant conflict result in complexity, costs, and structural barriers that undermine the ability to plan and operate. 

To meet the needs of our fragmented world, business can reorient their efforts around four main objectives: 

• Close the gap between ambition and delivery on ESG: Business can accelerate delivery of existing commitments. The gap between corporate ambitions and tangible impact hinders social progress and invites skepticism of the bona fides of business’ stated objectives. The gap between stated net-zero commitments, for example, and tangible delivery—let alone progress—sparks cynicism and social division. Delivering on goals is not only an end in itself—it can also heal divisions regarding economic models and establish trust in business as a credible partner.
• Take on the sources of fragmentation directly: Business activities are an important source of fragmentation. Mis- and disinformation, income inequality, and gender and racial pay gaps arise in part from business models and actions. Businesses cannot be a bystander as society fragments. It has an opportunity—and obligation—to remedy the steps it is taking that contribute to widening divisions. The failure to act is a missed opportunity and risks further erosion of trust in business and, more broadly, global market economies. 
• Modernize and strengthen the social contract: At the root of this fragmentation is the fact that our social contracts have outlived their use. Existing social contracts are largely based on the world as it was in the immediate aftermath of World War II and are no longer fit for purpose. Modernized and strengthened social contracts can provide the security and mobility people need and deserve, establish the foundation for dynamic and equitable economies, and address 21st-century questions, such as the role and application of new technologies and the energy transition. For business, a more constructive role regarding social contracts also means moving away from reflexive opposition to tax and regulation.
• Increase engagement in constructive public policy solutions: Finally, it is essential that business reorient how they use influence in the development of public policy. It is long past time that the discrepancy between business aspirations and the lobbying efforts of trade associations was erased. In many places, not least the United States, this also means that business should engage more forcefully to ensure that democratic processes are restored and sustained. Business can make fundamental changes to their approach to political contributions and be willing to withdraw support for political figures undermining democracy and rule of law, even if they may advance other policies seen to be “business-friendly.”

Conclusion

There is little doubt that many business leaders would prefer not to have this assignment. Traditional business questions are challenging enough with an economic downturn looming, the ongoing march of new technologies, and continuing disruption of business models. Diving into the fragmentation presents a risk. Turning away from this central problem, however, creates even greater risk. It is unrealistic on the part of business to assume that others will step in to turn the page. It is irresponsible for business to look away from the sources of fragmentation where they take responsibility. And it is unwise to assume that business is immune from the impacts of our deep fragmentation.

By redoubling efforts to deliver on ESG ambitions, helping to reshape the social contract, directly addressing the causes of fragmentation, and taking a more active role in positive policy engagement, business can help reorient societies away from a vicious cycle of division and restore a more favorable operating environment. This is the only sensible path forward if we are to collectively escape the descent to further fragmentation and a world that is increasingly ungovernable, inequitable, and unlivable.

Blog | Friday July 29, 2022

BSR Response: How the EU’s Sustainability Reporting Standards Will Be a Game Changer

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In April, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) released a set of sector-agnostic exposure drafts that form the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These standards will become mandatory under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and will have a significant impact on companies doing business in the EU.

This is one of several major milestones toward the standardization of sustainability reporting on a global scale. This spring, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) individually released exposure drafts for sustainability-related disclosures. 

These public consultations are a unique opportunity to influence the future of mandatory sustainability reporting standards and build a sustainability reporting system designed to enhance both business and sustainability performance.

BSR commends EFRAG for its leadership and efforts in creating the sector-agnostic standards. 

Below, we summarize our response to EFRAG’s public consultation which is informed by 30 years of hands-on experience implementing best practices with member companies. BSR’s comments are made in the service of reporting standards, designed to support improved sustainability performance by companies and the achievement of EU sustainability policy objectives. 

Granularity of Disclosure Requirements

The disclosure requirements outlined in the exposure drafts demand a level of detail and specificity that goes beyond standard reporting practices—even those of the most advanced reporters. While BSR believes that comparable disclosures require ambitious, specific, and prescriptive reporting standards, we question whether all the elements of each disclosure are decision-useful for stakeholders. We support the disclosure requirements to the extent that compliance with them does not (1) overshadow the most decision-useful information and (2) divert resources away from sustainability performance improvement.

Alignment with Other Standards 

We encourage EFRAG to further align disclosure requirements with established standards (such as the Global Reporting Initiative, or GRI) and emerging reporting standards (such as the SEC’s draft climate rule and IFRS Standards). We believe that harmonization is fundamentally important to creating a system that maximizes impact and achieves efficiency and comparability. Even minor differences in language between different reporting standards present the risk that companies will spend time and resources developing separate disclosures concerning the same topics but for different jurisdictions, which would make reports less useful for readers. BSR proposes that EFRAG map the final standards against GRI and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards and cross-label or explicitly reference them as appropriate.

Double Materiality

BSR fully endorses the concept of double materiality. However, we believe that the proposed definition of impact materiality is too broad and lacks the concept of prioritization. Similarly, we encourage EFRAG, the ISSB, and the SEC to align their definitions of financial materiality. Multiple definitions will make it difficult for companies to report across jurisdictions. BSR supports a definition of financial materiality that is consistent, interoperable, and substitutable.

Rebuttable Presumption

BSR does not support EFRAG’s proposal for the rebuttable presumption. We believe it will be difficult and resource-intensive for companies to prove a topic is not material based on “reasonable and supportable evidence,” adding an unnecessary layer of complexity and leading to less concise, less focused, and less decision-useful reporting.

Architecture and Presentation

The standards can be streamlined to avoid duplication and make them easier to understand and navigate for report preparers and users.

Boundaries, Restatements, and Value Chain

BSR agrees that the boundary for the sustainability statement should mirror that of financial reporting and extend to the company's upstream and downstream value chain. While the draft standards request estimates when the full boundary cannot be measured, we believe overusing estimates could be misleading and unhelpful.

Estimates

BSR believes that the current exposure drafts rely too heavily on the use of estimates when data are not available or difficult to collect. We believe that EFRAG should propose a “comply or explain approach” via omissions for disclosures beyond a core set, in line with the approach of the GRI Standards.

Targets

According to ESRS 1, if there are no targets in place, the company needs to provide valid reasons. We believe this sets an unreasonable expectation that companies should be setting measurable outcome-based targets across all risks, opportunities, and impacts. There is a possibility that this will result in companies establishing targets across several topics where targets may not be relevant, meaningful, or useful.

Format of Statements

BSR believes that the standards should allow more flexibility in referencing disclosures inside the management report. This would improve overall usability and avoid duplication within the management report when information is provided in other sections.

Feasibility

BSR recommends identifying additional disclosures as optional or considering phasing in certain topic-specific standards or disclosure requirements (e.g., biodiversity disclosures). In many cases, protocols for reporting on such topics are immature, which risks mandating the disclosure of information that may be less than fully accurate.

Use of Entity-Specific Disclosures

It is unclear whether the ESRS suggests completely phasing out entity-specific disclosures over time as sector-specific standards are created. BSR feels that companies should be allowed to continue to disclose entity-specific information as they deem it relevant and appropriate.

We believe that these exposure drafts are an important first step toward achieving our common goal of improved company disclosure and sustainable outcomes for all. BSR will continue to engage in the development of reporting standards, and in ESG reporting more broadly, through our Future of Reporting collaborative initiative. 

We encourage companies to participate in the consultation process and share their perspective on how to maximize the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of reporting in support of resilient business and a more just and sustainable world.