Social and Environmental Enterprises in the Green Economy: Supporting sustainable development and poverty eradication on the ground - Analysis of a 3 year study for policy makers

Gabriel Huppé

Gabriel has been involved with the SSI since 2011 and has played a key role in the SSI Review 2014, studies on China’s inbound supply chains, and pro-biodiversity financing for sustainable resource producers in South-America. He was previously an Associate and Project Officer at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (2011-2015) where he led projects on the mining sector and the post-2015 development agenda. His previous roles include serving as a Constituency Assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament and Federal Minister. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration at Western University’s Ivey Business School.

Heather Creech

Leslie Paas

Leslie Paas is a knowledge management expert with extensive experience researching, implementing and evaluating learning and knowledge sharing initiatives – from face-to-face capacity building workshops to fully online courses, webinar series and ‘Communities of Practice’. These initiatives have engaged diverse audiences and encompassed several themes, such as gender equality, climate change, biodiversity conservation, environmental assessment, social/environmental entrepreneurship, sustainability leadership, and digital literacy.

Leslie has been involved with IISD since 2002, when she served as digital editor for IISD's Earth Negotiations Bulletin, providing daily web-based summaries of UN meetings. Subsequently, she conducted several evaluations, stepped in to support IISD’s internship programme, and helped the Institute to develop blended and online learning programs.

Leslie’s post-graduate work in Brazil focussed on knowledge technologies and instructional design. Her master’s dissertation explored collaborative technologies for leveraging organizational learning, and her doctoral thesis centred on Education for Sustainable Development.

Vivek Voora

Vivek is an associate with the Economic Law & Policy Program who has over 10 years of experience working in sustainable development. He currently supports the State of Sustainability Initiatives, which assesses and reports on the characteristics and market performance of voluntary sustainability standards to enable sustainable consumption and production.

Along with his work on voluntary sustainability standards, he contributed to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development's policy research on China's role in greening global value chains and the State of Sustainable Markets joint report. His past work at IISD includes projects related to market-based instruments for sustainability, sustainable agriculture and water management, establishing a World Heritage Site, natural capital and ecosystem services.

Before joining IISD, Vivek gained a wide range of work experiences in the environmental and sustainable development fields, which include: environmental representative for a manufacturing operation; laboratory technician and supervisor for stratospheric ozone, air quality and greenhouse gas monitoring laboratories; project assistant for wastewater/stormwater quality monitoring and improvement initiatives; consultant for wind energy development projects.

Vivek is a professional engineer who holds a Master of Science in Environment and Management from Royal Roads University and an International Master of Advanced Studies from the Graduate Institute of Development Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Environmental Sciences and Policy program at Central European University where his doctoral research focuses on the intersection between voluntary sustainability standards and the water, energy and food security nexus.