About Us
Our History
Our Future
Over the next years, the Forum will focus on:
Applying our Strengths: Forming Working Groups to initiate action or positively respond to requests that advance social performance. These may include guidance to policy makers; the provision of expert opinions on social performance related issues; furthering awareness amongst stakeholder groups such as government and the financial industry; and, providing content support to regulatory or legislative initiatives.
Inclusion: Grow global membership in the organization by drawing in social performance practitioners from around the world and across different natural resource and land related businesses. Initially, we will reach out to experienced practitioners willing to be actively engaged in the activities of the Forum, before striving for wider membership.
Stewardship
Our governance system consists of a volunteer stewardship group that enables action by the Forum’s membership as a whole. The stewardship group guards the integrity of the Forum’s purpose and facilitates the formation and operation of task-specific working groups. Members can join existing working groups or establish new groups around issues that further the key areas listed above. The members of the Stewardship Group are currently:
Luke Stephens (Chair)
Luke is a
Simon Wake (Co-Chair)
Simon is an anthropologist who has worked in the extractive industries for 25 years, predominantly as an employee of a major mining company but now as an independent consultant.
IAN THOMSON (SECRETARY)
Ian has more than 30 years’ experience in the resource industries, working for the last 15 to advance their management of socially sustainable development.
PAUL WARNER (TREASURER)
Paul has almost 40 years’ experience in the mining industry and has specialized in community engagement and community development since 1997.
Caroline Vail
Caroline has been working with communities, social performance and human rights for the past two decades across extractives, renewables, finance, tech and other industries. She is focused on rightsholder engagement and ‘operationalising’ human rights principles into business practices.
Kathryn Tomlinson
Kathryn is a social anthropologist and has been working for over twenty years on understanding and improving social performance and human rights impacts in projects. First as an academic, and then as both an in-house and external expert advisor to organizations in the private, public, and multilateral sectors, her focus has been on helping organisation understand and positively manage their impacts on society. Kathryn also has expertise on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and land, and has worked on numerous projects dealing with the intersection between Indigenous and customary land rights, and private and public sector development.
Amy Sexton
Amy combines a background in environmental engineering and international development aimed at improving social performance in the natural resources and infrastructure sectors with a focus on stakeholder engagement and resettlement practices.
Caitlin Pierce
Caitlin has worked as an advocate, supporting communities in frontier markets to claim their land rights, and has practical experience working inside mining and hydropower companies. She is now focused on helping companies and financial institutions to understand and manage their human rights impacts in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Rachel Houmphan
Rachel has over a decade of experience working on major terrestrial mining projects in various regions, including North America, Africa, and Australasia. She currently focuses on making a positive social difference in the emerging deep-sea metals industry.
What We Do
Our Six Areas of Action
FAQ
How may i join the forum?
We encourage applications from people around the world, including consultants, corporate specialists and community practitioners. If you have more than eight years practical experience in social performance and want to be an active and committed part of advancing the Forum’s Vision, Mission and Six Areas of Action, this may be the place for you.
We welcome individuals who have significant experience and a willingness to work to improve social practice in six key areas:
- Widening and deepening awareness & understanding of social performance
- Promoting an effective role for government, governance & legislation in social performance
- Promoting the integration of social performance practice into business objectives and corporate culture
- Enabling and empowering stakeholders
- Improving the standards for social performance practice
- Advancing the professionalisation of social performance practitioners
If you are interested in receiving more details about the application for membership, please send us a message through the CONTACT US section below.
Is the Forum a professional organization?
The Forum is not a certifying body, nor does it accommodate corporate membership. Rather, it is a space for professionals to share their experiences and work together to advance the capabilities of social practitioners, their role in resource development and delivery of the promise of social inclusion and better outcomes for all the actors involved.
Our emphasis is on taking practical steps to achieve these ends through the activities of our working groups and promoting the resulting findings. The intent is to consolidate ideas and move them into the public sphere with a view to influencing other actors and agendas. We aim to inspire, provoke and create change.
Does the Forum offer consultancy services?
While many of the Forum’s members are consultants, they offer these services outside the purview of the Forum. In very particular circumstances, the Forum may choose to undertake consultancy work. Should a consulting opportunity arise that would advance the Mission and Vision of the Forum, this will be considered by the Stewardship Group in line with established Forum policy.