Jim Cooney has for many years been a thought leader on issues of social responsibility and sustainability in the extractive sector. Jim retired from Placer Dome, as Vice President, International Government Affairs, when that company was acquired by Barrick Gold. During his 30 years in the mining industry, he has worked on projects in Canada and in many countries of the developing world. He played a major role in the Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) project from 1998 to 2002, which created a new framework for understanding and advancing corporate social responsibility in the global mining industry.

Jim is a Senior Associate with Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) on extractive sector strategies and a founding member of the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN). He has served on the Boards of Transparency International – Canada, the North South Institute, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Basin Economic Council. He was a member of the Advisory Group appointed by Foreign Affairs Canada on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries. Over the years, he has served on many advisory panels to Natural Resources Canada, the World Bank, and agencies of the United Nations. The coining of the term ‘social license to operate’ is attributed to him.

He holds a BA in philosophy and political science from Georgetown University, an MA in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto, and an M. T. S. from the Vancouver School of Theology.

Jim has been advising Agile Sustainability Management since its inception, and now serves as an Honorary Advisor to Metals for Humanity.

Formerly a Canadian and United Nations diplomat, a Canadian Ambassador to Gabon, former Coordinator for CSR in the Americas, Mediator in West Africa and Sudan, Project Manager of a large integrated network project ($200 million) in Cameroun, and a Mining Executive in the Dominican Republic. Since leaving the Canadian government, in 2011, he has advised companies, governments and civil society organisations and joined Saint Paul University as a Senior Fellow. More recently, he has become Chief Durability Officer for Viridis Terra International, a large-scale integrated Forest Landscape restoration company proposing an innovative watershed-based development model to sustainably produce commodities, carbon credits and biodiversity credits.

His numerous long-term assignments in Latin America and Africa have repeatedly put him in direct contact with conflicts involving natural resources and industrial development. As a result, he has developed a value-based development model, called “Integrated Social Responsibility” (ISR) which underscores the importance for the three main stakeholders (public, private and plural sectors), to fully assume their responsibilities in the pursuit of durable (lasting and positive) developmental outcomes beneficial to all parties involved.

Clive is the CEO of Tysers, a PE backed global insurance broker headquartered in London managing over 4bn dollars of insurance premiums. Previously Clive was a senior Partner and Vice Chairman of Deloitte where he was the UK Insurance lead and has over 30 years of consulting and operations experience, mostly in financial services. Clive was one of the founders of and an Executive Director of Xchanging, an international services business. At Xchanging Clive was the CEO of the Insurance sector and one of the team that managed the IPO. Prior to joining Deloitte, Clive was the CEO of a Lloyd’s Insurance business. He spent 8 years at Andersen Consulting and also held senior roles at Mars, Inc and BAT. Clive graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree and is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School.

He is an avid sailor and skier and keen supporter of entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Cynthia Callison is a member of the Tahltan Nation whose traditional territory is the Stikine River Watershed in north-western British Columbia. For over 20 years, she has practised law as a partner at Callison & Hanna, an Indigenous-lead law firm in Vancouver. She is a leading negotiator in innovative agreements between Indigenous peoples, governments, and resource developers. She is an invited presenter and participant at global conferences and dialogues on Indigenous peoples’ rights. And, she has served on a number of boards and advisory councils whose aim is the well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Cynthia is a graduate of the Sauder School of Business and the Allard School of Law at UBC and completed a Masters in Constitutional Law at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Edgar is a leading international executive with well over 30 years of experience as a global business operations specialist focused in supporting professional services organizations to achieve expansion of global and domestic operations through solid strategic planning.

In his former role as Executive Vice President and Division Manager at Cardno, an Australian engineering and environmental consultancy organization, Managing Director of Business Operations and Latin America at ENTRIX (acquired by Cardno), and Vice President at ISG (formerly TPI), a global management consulting firm, Edgar led the strategic planning and execution for growth targeting relevant countries (UK, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico).

Edgar graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He has been an entrepreneurial advisor at The University of Houston and a contributor to the Star of Hope in Houston.

Patricio gathers 13+ years of experience at the intersection of business, law, policy, and impact investment. He is truly multicultural, having lived, worked, and studied between Mexico, the US, Canada, and the UK.

His experience combines serving as a diplomat and negotiator for the Mexican government in Washington DC, a transactional lawyer involved in some of the largest and most complex deals in Latin America, and an impact investor with UK-based Global Sustainable Capital Management.

Patricio holds an LLB from Universidad Iberoamericana, an LLM in International Law from Georgetown University Law Center, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia.