Team members

Click/tap member for biography

• 
  Rosey Hurst
  Founder and Director
• 
  Tess van den Oever
  Head of Global Operations (On maternity leave)
• 
  Roper Cleland
  Head of Global Operations (Maternity Cover)
• 
  Federico Burlon
  Principal Consultant
• 
  Rose Martin
  Senior Consultant
• 
  Ben Bostock
  Senior Consultant
• 
  Ola Niwicka
  Consultant (On maternity leave)
• 
  Barbara Dirnberger
  Consultant
• 
  Emily Day
  Project Officer
• 
  Heidi Chan
  Consultant
• 
  Manuel Silva
  Project Officer
• 
  Fozia Tahir
  Finance Assistant
• 
  Yeye Kieribo
  Finance Manager

Rosey Hurst



Founder and Director

Rosey founded Impactt in 1997 with the mission of improving the lives and livelihoods of workers worldwide by using the positive power of global supply chains. She has since used her knowledge and experience of the developing world and the corporate and NGO sectors to develop diverse tools, solutions and services to create positive impacts for workers. Rosey has led multiple innovations in ethical trade. She founded Sedex and the Local Resources Network, pioneered and normalised the use of participatory techniques in China, and devised and launched the Benefits for Business and Workers Programme in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Elsewhere, she worked with Awaj Foundation on building workers’ negotiation capability, and using techniques derived from social psychology to re-humanise relations in the workplace. Rosey is working with many leading companies and organisations on their Human Rights Programmes, serves on the Ecovadis Technical Committee and is a member of the Responsible Investment Advisory Council at BMO-GAM. Rosey’s passion for the topic and for finding innovative ways to make what works for workers work for business can be seen in her TEDx talk below.

Tess van den Oever



Head of Global Operations (On maternity leave)

Tess heads up Impactt’s UK office, helping to ensure the team has the right support to do what we do best: making a difference to workers in global supply chains. She is also a member of Impactt’s Senior Management Team. Since joining Impactt in 2011, Tess has taken an active role in developing many of our services including ethical assessments and capacity and remediation programmes. She has hands-on experience of conducting assessments in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, and has also provided strategic and day-to-day support to global brands’ sustainable sourcing teams. Tess helped lead the roll out of our Benefits for Business and Workers programme in Bangladesh, working with a consortium of 14 different stakeholders. She holds a Masters in Corporate Social Responsibility and has studied in the UK and the Netherlands.

Roper Cleland



Head of Global Operations (Maternity Cover)

Roper is a business and human rights expert with fifteen years’ experience working with NGOs, companies and government in improving conditions for workers and communities. 

Prior to joining Impactt, she provided technical advice and consultancy services to mining, oil and pipeline companies on managing negative social impacts and promoting positive economic opportunities.  She has managed numerous multi-stakeholder projects involving senior industry executives, government officials and civil society representatives.

Roper started her career in international development and has worked for NGOs in field assignments in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  In this capacity, she set up a legal aid and access to justice project during a period of armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

Roper has a MA in Anthropology for Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies and she graduated Cum Laude from Vassar College.  She is a contributing author on a range of guidance materials and tools such as Conflict Sensitive Business Practice.

Federico Burlon



Principal Consultant

Federico provides strategic ethical trade advice to global brands, establishes and delivers audit and compliance programmes, and manages multi-stakeholder factory improvement projects. He has strong experience in the construction, food and garment industries, and works across the UK, South America, the Middle East and Asia. In particular, he led Impactt’s work to monitor the welfare of workers involved in 2022 FIFA World Cup construction projects in Qatar. Prior to Impactt, Federico was a Responsible Sourcing Manger at Tesco plc, where he worked with both food and procurement teams, supporting technical and buying colleagues in addressing labour standards issues. Federico holds a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics, and has lived in Argentina, Italy, the US and the Netherlands. He speaks English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

Rose Martin



Senior Consultant

Rose works closely with brands, investors, sustainability & sourcing teams across multiple countries and industries to advise on, and develop programs that improve social sustainability and labour issues in the supply chain. In particular, she manages Impactt’s work in Africa and Asia to co-create improved workplace cultures and tackle tricky issues ranging from sexual harassment to modern slavery. Rose leads Impactt’s Training Community of Practice and has delivered capacity building programs in Dubai and Taiwan. Prior to joining Impactt, Rose worked in China for six years. As a sustainability consultant, she worked strategically with brands and at an on-the-ground level with factories on various development and “beyond compliance” worker welfare programs. Rose speaks and writes Chinese, and has lived and worked in the UK, China, & Jordan. She holds a teaching certificate, and an MA in Chinese from SOAS, University of London.

Ben Bostock



Senior Consultant

Ben joined the Impactt UK team in March 2019 as a Senior Consultant, focusing on social audit and business development. Prior to this, he worked for 5 years at PwC within their Sustainability and Climate Change team, where he specialised in Human Rights and Modern Slavery advisory for large UK based and global companies. He has particular country expertise in ethical supply chains in seafood in Thailand, textile focused industrial parks in Ethiopia, and infrastructural development and climate finance in Zimbabwe.

Ola Niwicka



Consultant (On maternity leave)

Ola supports Impactt’s international teams in managing and ensuring a smooth delivery of factory improvement projects, including our flagship BBW programmes in Bangladesh and India. She is also a part of the UK auditing team, and has spoken to more than 100 UK-based factory workers to understand their challenges and concerns. Prior to joining Impactt in 2015, Ola’s passion for human rights, sustainable development and ethical trade took her to the Philippines, where she spent a year volunteering for the Youth for Sustainable Development Assembly. In particular, she focused on raising awareness of sustainable practices among local farmers, and helping them to access fair trade cocoa beans supply chains. Ola has also worked as a fundraiser for Amnesty International. She began her career in the pharmaceutical industry and holds a degree in medicinal chemistry.

Barbara Dirnberger



Consultant

Barbara works on various Impactt programmes, leading projects such as factory training and child labour remediation. In particular, she is responsible for collating and analysing Impactt’s factory data. Before joining Impactt in 2016, she spent several months in South Africa researching the working conditions of farm workers and the impact of ethical trade certifications on their well-being. Barbara has also worked in human rights and international development at NGOs including Care, as well as at the Austrian permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva. She holds an MSc in Social Anthropology from University College London, and an IPMA project management certification.

Emily Day



Project Officer

Emily supports various Impactt programes including the collection and analysis of factory compliance data, and large scale data programs. She is a lead on child labour remediation and factory improvement programs. Before joining Impactt in 2017, she worked extensively in the charity sector in research and advocacy, database development and M&E positions for Citizens Advice, Stop Funding Hate and Marine Stewardship Council. She holds an MSc in Research for International Development from SOAS, University of London.  Her dissertation focused on the choices women make in accessing the labour market.

Heidi Chan



Consultant

Heidi supports projects that improve industrial relations and engage different levels of the supply chain to improve pay and working conditions for workers. Heidi joined us with prior experience in project management and multi-stakeholder initiatives in democratic governance with the United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh and localising human rights in northern England. Additionally, Heidi has a strong understanding of the fashion sector with experience working for high street and semi-luxury brands. She holds an MSc with distinction from University College London focusing on inclusive international development practice underpinned by a background in women’s and gender studies.

Manuel Silva



Project Officer

Having worked in both the private and charity sectors, Manuel has over the years accumulated a diverse set of skills. Before joining Impactt in early 2018, Manuel worked briefly at the Wellcome Trust and spent two years working in the UK philanthropic landscape at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.  Prior to this he  worked as a Quality Assurance Analyst and as a Project Coordinator at Google.  He began his career with an internship at Amnesty International in Lisbon. He holds an MSc in Anthropology of International Development from Brunel University and speaks English and Portuguese fluently, as well as intermediate French.

Fozia Tahir



Finance Assistant

Fozia joined Impactt in November 2016. Before joining Impactt, she helped her husband set up and run their own family business. After working from home for the past eight years, she felt it was time for a change. Fozia has 15 years’ experience in the finance field in both the public and private sector.

Yeye Kieribo



Finance Manager

Yeye joined Impactt in Nov 2017. Before working at Impactt Yeye worked in a variety of industries including book publishing, Leadership & Development, a major accounting body, charity and a Pupil Referral Unit. Yeye is responsible for the accounts of Impactt’s UK company Yeye has a degree in Accounting & Finance from the University of Brighton and is a qualified accountant with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.