Ed Rekosh speaks at ICCR’s Spring Conference on an initiative to provide trusted third-party data on company community consultation practices.

March 26, 2026

Rights CoLab Co-Founder Ed Rekosh presented at the ICCR Spring Conference as part of a session on critical minerals sourcing. Focusing on Indonesia as a case study, he introduced Rights CoLab’s initiative to provide investors and downstream buyers with trusted information on company-community consultation practices. The presentation contributed to a broader conversation on the human rights and environmental risks tied to critical minerals extraction and also spotlighted Rights CoLab’s investor tools designed to support more effective investor engagement.

Joanne Bauer speaks on evaluating effective stakeholder engagement in business and human rights at a UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute webinar

February 20, 2026

Rights CoLab Co-Founder Joanne Bauer participated in a webinar hosted by the UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute titled Evaluating Effective Stakeholder Engagement in Business & Human Rights. Joining Tyler Giannini of Harvard Law and Karin Buhmann of Copenhagen Business School, Joanne introduced Rights CoLab’s Stakeholder Engagement Guide and discussed how investors can use it to assess the quality of companies’ human rights due diligence. The conversation highlighted the continued momentum behind business and human rights standard setting globally and the importance of effective stakeholder engagement as a core component of credible due diligence practice.

Rights CoLab hosts a PRI in Person 2025 side event on the investor case for integrating HREDD into investment practice

November 5, 2025

At PRI in Person 2025, Rights CoLab joined Pacto Global Rede Brasil and ESG Inteligente to host an interactive side event on the investor case for integrating human rights and environmental due diligence into investment practice. The session focused on the financial materiality of HREDD, the Latin American landscape of investor readiness, and the practical tools available to help investors evaluate portfolio company due diligence. It also introduced A Roadmap for Integrating Human Rights into ISSB Standards and gave participants hands-on exposure to the Investor HREDD Precision Tools.

Rights CoLab leads an ICCR Fall Conference table talk on evaluating stakeholder engagement

October 22, 2025

Rights CoLab hosted a table talk at the ICCR Fall Conference on evaluating the quality of corporate engagement with affected stakeholders. Led by Joanne Bauer, Sam Jones, and Silvana Zapata-Ramirez, the session introduced the Stakeholder Engagement Guide through a case study on mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The discussion examined how investors can assess whether company engagement is credible in practice, with Sam bringing particular attention to the conflict-affected and high-risk areas dimension and the need for stronger guidance in these contexts.

Launch of Stakeholder Engagement Guide

June 11, 2025

An investor HREDD precision tool for evaluating meaningful engagement with rights holders within portfolios

June 11, 2025 – Rights CoLab is pleased to announce the launch of the beta version of  Stakeholder Engagement Guide, now available on the Investor HREDD Precision Tools website. The Guide is developed in collaboration with EIRIS Foundation, ESG Inteligente, Heartland Initiative, BSR, and PRI.  

Grounded in authoritative stakeholder engagement frameworks, the Guide introduces four Pillars and seven Effectiveness Criteria to help investors determine whether their portfolio company’s stakeholder engagement practices are robust, reciprocal, and secure. It aims to support investors’ efforts to:

• Identify gaps and opportunities for improving engagement
• Understand how companies integrate stakeholder feedback into their risk management systems
• Evaluate engagement strategies in high-risk or conflict-affected areas

Alongside succinct explanations of each Effectiveness Criterion, the Guide contains questions investors can ask portfolio companies and answers they should look for, as well as sector-specific and worker-specific considerations. 

What’s Next: 

In the coming weeks, Rights CoLab will be announcing Learning & Feedback opportunities for investors to trial the tool. Based on these sessions we will refine the Guide, which we expect to publish in its final form at the end of the year.  

We will also be incorporating additional content from the forthcoming work of other project partners, including  BSR’s guidance on stakeholder engagement in relation to the just transition and PRI’s guidance on direct investor engagement with affected stakeholders.

Also coming soon to the platform is the final version of Certifications Red Flags, featuring a practical checklist to help investors assess the reliability of social certifications. The tool, currently available on the site in beta, helps investors identify red flags and positive indicators in the certification schemes that their portfolio companies use.

The Investor HREDD Precision Tools Project was made possible through the generous support of Generation Foundation; Accountability Accelerator at the Global Commons Alliance, a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; and Humanity United.

Joanne Bauer speaks about the impact of the Trump administration’s on Business and Human Rights at a B&HR Access to Justice Lab webinar

March 20, 2025

Co-founder Joanne Bauer participated in a webinar hosted by B&HR Access to Justice Lab titled: The future of business and human rights under the Trump administration. During the discussion, she, alongside fellow Business and Human Rights expert, Marti Flacks explored how the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Fed, attacks on DEI, and mercurial foreign policy are having immediate and deeply concerning implications for US companies’ operations, the private sector’s ESG efforts, particularly DEI, and the global economy.

Watch the webinar recording here.

Discussion Summary on Climate Week Workshop Published: Creating a Pooled Fund for Communities in the Carbon Credit Market

February 13, 2025

During Climate Week, Rights CoLab, Rights and Resources International (RRI), Namati, and Just Ground co-convened a workshop to explore the development of a pooled fund for technical and legal support for communities affected by the carbon credit market. Discussions focused on designing legal, technical, and market support mechanisms, catalyzing business and financial sector participation, and piloting the fund. Read the full discussion summary here. 

Read the original report, “How to Address the Corporate-Community Engagement Gap: The Case for a Pooled Fund for Legal and Technical Support,” published by Rights CoLab, Just Ground, Grassroots Justice Network, and Namati.

Joanne Bauer contributes to the Investor Alliance for Human Rights’ vlog series on the Corporate Responsibility to Respect (CR2R)

November 5, 2024

Joanne Bauer contributed to the Investor Alliance for Human Rights’ vlog series on the Corporate Responsibility to Respect (CR2R). She highlighted the financial implications of poor human rights management and the necessity of meaningful rights-holder engagement. Joanne also previewed Rights CoLab’s upcoming Stakeholder Engagement Guide, a resource for investors to assess corporate engagement practices, set for release in June 2025. Watch the vlog episode here.

Rights CoLab hosts investor feedback session for our new resource, Certifications Red Flags

October 29, 2024

Rights CoLab hosted a learning and feedback session on a new tool, Certifications Red Flags, for investors from the APAC region. The feedback is being incorporated into the final version of the tool. More investor sessions to come.

PRI-in-Person 2024 Side Event: Beta-testing the Stakeholder Engagement Guide

October 2, 2024

Join Rights CoLab and EIRIS Foundation to beta-test our upcoming Stakeholder Engagement Guide, part of the Investor HREDD Precision Tools. Stakeholder engagement is core to effective human rights due diligence, but doing it well is complex. This session previews a prototype of the guide designed to help investors assess the quality of the stakeholder engagement of their portfolio companies, improve corporate engagement, and ensure supply chain risks are identified and addressed. PRI Advance will also present its work in progress on investor’s direct engagement with stakeholders, which when completed will be a stand alone tool as well as form a complementary part of the Stakeholder Engagement Guide.

Register here

When: Tuesday, October 8 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM EST 

Where: OMERS – E&Y Tower, 21st Floor, Room 21E
100 Adelaide St. West, Toronto, ON M5H 1S3, Canada

New report explores how a pooled fund can strengthen corporate-community engagement

September 18, 2024

A report from Just Ground, Rights CoLab, Namati, and Grassroots Justice Network, How to Address the Corporate-Community Engagement Gap: The Case for a Pooled Fund for Legal and Technical Support, highlights how a pooled fund can provide essential legal and technical support to communities affected by corporate land negotiations. The report outlines governance principles, implementation strategies, and success stories demonstrating how legal support improves company-community dialogue and reduces operational risks.

Launch of Precision Toolset for Investors

August 8, 2024

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Investor HREDD (Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence) Precision Tools website, developed in collaboration with EIRIS Foundation, ESG Inteligente, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility/Investor Alliance for Human Rights, Principles for Responsible Investments, Responsible Contracting Project, and Workforce Disclosure Initiative. 

Created for and with investors, each tool addresses an HREDD pain point for companies. At its launch this week, the website features the first two tools:  

1. Certifications Red Flags (Beta Version), developed by Rights CoLab

2. Investor Guidance on Responsible Contracting, developed by the Responsible Contracting Project and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). 

Three more tools – on Stakeholder Engagement, on Remedy, and an Engagement Script – are forthcoming. Designed as an open platform and one-stop shop of tools, aligned with international standards, the partnership welcomes HREDD tools developed by other organizations. 

In the coming months Rights CoLab will be hosting interactive Learning and Feedback sessions with investors to further test and refine the tools. 

 The website can be accessed here. http://www.investorhreddtools.org

Launch of the Investor HREDD Precision Tools Website

July 29, 2024

Rights CoLab, along with our partners, the EIRIS Foundation, ESG Inteligente, ICCR, PRI, Responsible Contracting Project, and WDI, launched the Investor HREDD Precision Tools website, a centralized platform designed to help investors navigate human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD.)