Madeleine Koalick

Change always starts with a question. This one drives me: How do we create a world where all people can realise their potential while respecting planetary boundaries? For me, changes in awareness and attitudes as well as corporate due diligence processes are an important part of the answer.

I have been working at the intersection of human rights and corporate responsibility since 2008. I have supported more than 30 European companies, including ten of the DAX40, in setting up their due diligence processes.

My experience encompasses working with the automotive, mining, chemical, energy, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, textile and tourism sectors. In addition to corporate policies, risk analyses and impact assessments, I work closely with my clients to embed due diligence in all business decisions and along the value chain. I focus not only on the processes needed but also on the human component and support the lasting transformation of thought and actions patterns through coaching, leadership development and stakeholder engagement approaches. Currently, I am particularly interested in the social and human rights impacts of digitalisation and new business models.

As one of the pioneers in the field of human rights due diligence in Germany, I have developed many methodologies, tools and guides, including the Human Rights Capacity Diagnostic of the German Global Compact Network (DGCN) and twentyfifty, publications on risk identification or grievance mechanisms. I developed the methodology for the world's first Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) in the tourism sector and implemented it in Kenya. I also supported HRIAs and on-site assessments in other sectors in Brazil, India, Colombia, Malaysia and Mozambique.

Before founding Sustainable Links, I have built up and managed the German branch of the consultancy twentyfifty for ten years. Before that, I supported the DGCN as an external consultant in the field of human rights and sustainable procurement, worked as a project manager at adelphi and freelanced for a DAX company. As a Fellow of the Carlo Schmid Programme, I supported the Geneva office of Human Rights Watch in its advocacy work at the UN Human Rights Council, including regarding the work of UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights John Ruggie.

I studied political science with a focus on international relations in Berlin and Strasbourg.