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CRR Advisory Panel

Newmont Community Relationships Review Advisory Panel Biographical Information

Cristina Echavarria,
Executive Director, Association for Responsible Mining, Medellin, Colombia
Cristina Echavarria has over 20 years of experience in community development, social research and administration of research programs in participatory natural resource management, with emphasis on the social, environmental and governance dimensions of the sustainable development of mineral rich regions. She has played leadership and facilitation roles in multi-stakeholder consultation process in Latin America, and in the formation of knowledge networks around mining and sustainable development issues. She has directed research programs to develop intercultural natural resource management tools, has developed formal and non-formal education programs, participatory action research for the organization and promotion of women, and has extensive experience in applying communications for development by combining traditional media (printed, radio, TV) with ICTs, and using popular cultural expressions and both traditional and scientific knowledge. She has been a keynote speaker in numerous regional and global conferences, and has published widely. Between 2000 and early 2005 she was the Director of the Mining Policy Research Initiative of Canadian IDRC.

Steve D'Esposito,
President, RESOLVE, Washington, D.C. USA
On October 1, 2008, Steve D'Esposito assumed the position of President of RESOLVE, also located in Washington, DC. On September 30, 2008, Mr. D'Esposito stepped down as President/CEO of Earthworks.

Before becoming president of Earthworks in January 1998, Mr. D'Esposito served as Vice President for Policy. Before joining Earthworks, Steve was instrumental in building Greenpeace USA into one of the largest environmental groups in the U.S., from 1986 through 1992. From 1993 through early 1996, Mr. D'Esposito served as Deputy Director and the Executive Director of Greenpeace International in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Prior to his work with Greenpeace, Mr. D'Esposito was Field Director for the New York Public Interest Research Group. He also led a community-based voluntary recycling effort in Washington D.C. and then helped pass recycling legislation. Steve received a bachelor's degree in political science from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1983.

R. Anthony (Tony) Hodge (Advisory Panel Chair)
President, International Council on Mining and Metals, London, UK
Professor of Mining and Sustainability, Queen's University Kingston
On October 1 2008, R. Anthony Hodge assumed duties as President and CEO of the International Council of Mining and Metals in London, UK. This follows from his appointment a year earlier as Kinross Professor of Mining and Sustainability, Queen's University at Kingston.

For the past 30 years Dr. Hodge has been in private practice as a consulting engineer. His projects have ranged across a rich variety of assignments related to mining, aboriginal relations, nuclear waste management, water resources, energy policy, and the distribution of benefits from resource developments.

Dr. Hodge received his B.A.Sc. (1972) and M.A.Sc. (1976) degrees from the University of British Columbia (Geological Engineering). He was awarded his Ph.D. (interdisciplinary) in 1995 from McGill University as a result of work that focused on reporting on progress toward sustainability. Prior to his recent appointment at Queen's University, he taught at Royal Roads University in their graduate program on environment and management. Dr. Hodge also held an adjunct position with the School of Public Policy at the University of Victoria.

From 1989 – 1992, Dr. Hodge was President of Friends of the Earth Canada. He served on the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) from 1992-1996. Through 2001 and 2002 he led the North American component of a global multi-interest review of practices mining/mineral industry (MMSD-North America). As part of this work he championed development of the Seven Questions to Sustainability-How to Assess the Contribution of Mining and Mineral Activities. He has written, spoken, and taught extensively on the issue of applied sustainability, particularly in terms of practical application in the mining industry.

Chris Jochnick,
Director, Private Sector Team, Oxfam America, Boston, MA USA
Chris Jochnick is the Director of the Private Sector Team at Oxfam America. Mr. Jochnick is the co-founder of two non-profit organizations devoted to economic and social rights. He has worked for over fifteen years on issues of human rights and corporate accountability, including seven years in Latin America supporting grassroots campaigns around extractive industries. Prior to joining Oxfam, Mr. Jochnick worked as a corporate attorney with the Wall Street law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. Mr. Jochnick is a graduate of Harvard Law School, a former MacArthur Fellow and an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University.

Caroline Rees,
Director, Governance and Accountability Program, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Caroline Rees is Director of the Governance and Accountability Program at the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of Harvard Kennedy School. Her primary focus is on the analysis and development of mechanisms that address grievances arising from the impact of corporate operations on the communities where they operate and workers in their supply chains. She is also an advisor to Professor John Ruggie, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Business and Human Rights and member of the Board of the Institute for Human Rights and Business.

Ms. Rees previously spent 14 years with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. From 2003-2006 she was posted at the UK's Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, where she led the UK's human rights negotiating team. She was closely involved in negotiations on issues such as human rights in Sudan and the Middle East, the right to development, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and business and human rights. In 2005 she chaired the negotiations that created the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for business and human rights. Her prior foreign service career covers Iran, Slovakia, the UN Security Council and the negotiations leading to the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. Ms. Rees has a BA Hons from Oxford University and an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University.

Ignacio Rodriguez,
Community Representative, Colorado, USA
Ignacio Rodriguez has a B.A. from Pan Americana University and an M.A. from Oklahoma State University. He was a Vocational Rehabilitation Councilor with the Texas Education Agency, Director of a Community Mental Health Center, Deputy Director of the Division of Forensic Psychiatry of the Colorado Mental Health Institute and retired as a Project Officer with the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Health and Welfare. Mr. Rodriguez devoted significant time as a participant in the reclamation effort at the Summitville Superfund Site in Colorado. He served as Chairman of the Summitville Technical Assistance Group and is presently a Board Member of the Alliance for Responsible Mining.

Julie Tanner,
Corporate Advocacy Coordinator, Christian Brothers Investment Services, New York, NY USA
As the Corporate Advocacy Coordinator, Julie Tanner is responsible for researching the performance of and engaging in dialogue with companies in order to improve environmental and social policies and practices. She has been instrumental in advocacy successes, including agreements with JPMorgan Chase that resulted in the creation of the position of Director of Environmental Affairs and the development of environmental policies for its investing activities and an agreement with independent board of directors of American Electric Power to report on financial risks associated with high greenhouse gas emissions.

Prior to joining CBIS, Ms. Tanner was the Manager for National Wildlife Federation's Finance and Environment program for five years and also represented NWF on the board of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. She worked in the financial services industry for 8 years, including 5 years with what is now JPMorgan Chase. While in graduate school at North Carolina State University, she traveled to the Brazilian Amazon for the U.S. Forest Service for a study on the potential for ecotourism. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers, an M.B.A. from Pace University, and an M.S. in Forestry from N.C. State University.

Support for the Advisory Panel: Ingrid Taggart
Vice-President, Anthony Hodge Consultants Inc., Victoria, B.C., Canada
Ingrid Taggart holds a BA from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

After seven years as a small business owner/operator in the private sector, Ms. Taggart joined the BC provincial government where she held management positions in economic development, aboriginal treaty mandates and negotiations, and finally water management and utility regulations.

More recently, Ms. Taggart has co-facilitated a number of workshops and co-authored several reports with Anthony Hodge including their work in 2004 on the Northern Sustainability Lens undertaken for the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Strategic Planning group, Northwest Territories region, Yellowknife. They jointly designed and facilitated a multi-interest forum convened by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in June 2007 to review the sharing of benefits from non-renewable resource activity in Canada's north.