The Team
TDI's Unique 360˚ Consulting Approach and Team Composition:
While many consultancies focus on one speciality – research, technical assessments, or management – we have taken a different path. We field a multi-dimensional team with skills that speak to all aspects of our clients' businesses.
Assheton L. Stewart Carter, Ph.D.
Assheton Carter is a pioneering consultant on business sustainability, a social entrepreneur and a responsible investment advisor. For the last 25 years he has dedicated his career to creating value through business that benefits both shareholders and society. He spent five years in the London financial markets and 20-plus years advising companies in the resources, manufacturing and luxury industries. He structured innovative ‘green’ supply chains — including the first fully traceable gold and diamond jewellery for the world’s largest retailer — and developed the only tracking system for ‘conflict-free’ metals from the DRC used by electronics manufacturers in Europe and the United States.
Assheton's clients include Alcoa, Cartier, DeBeers, Ebay, Newmont Mining, RioTinto, Sam’s Club, Swarovski, Tiffany, Wal-Mart, and Xstrata. He holds a first class honours degree in International Business and Resource Economics from the Royal Agricultural College, UK, as well as a Ph.D from the University of Bath’s School of Business. He has published over 20 book chapters, and also chairs and serves on a number of boards and expert panels for standard-setting organisations, NGOs and private companies. Assheton is a native English speaker with fluent Spanish.
Vivien Johnston, BA (Hons), FRSA
Vivien balances commercial objectives with responsible, inclusive supply-chain strategies. She has intricate knowledge of the precious minerals sector and the rigour and benefit of implementing new standards or practices. The respect earned among her peers is borne of a dedicated career spanning 20 years; in jewellery design, manufacture, sales, marketing and supply- chain management. Vivien catalyses brand value, grounded in trust-building and positive communications around supplier engagement.
As Chairman of the Jewellery Ethics Committee UK 2007-2015, her influence extends to policy creation and implementation in both business and government. She has a successful track record with NGOs, SMEs and corporate clients in Europe, Asia, South and North America.
Vivien is the founder of Fifi Bijoux Luxury Ethical Jewellery. Established in 2006, she piloted a business model promoting positive partnerships between mining and jewellery. AwardedYoung Social Entrepreneur Future 50 2013’and ‘Professional JewellerHot 100 ‘Trailblazer’ 2012, she achieved international acclaim for brand integrity and was a finalist for Cosmopolitan magazine’s ‘Woman of the Year’and Red Magazine’s ‘Red Hot Woman of the Year’. Vivien is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Ethics Adviser to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A).
Julija Menise, LL.M
Julija Menise has extensive onsite assessment experience conducing social and labor due diligence assessments, conflict mineral traceability assessments, CR management system and environmental management system assessments in industries ranging from industrial mining, smelting, manufacturing and retail to wood products and food and beverage.
Using her academic background in human rights law and environmental management and policy, her field experience in over 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia, and expert knowledge of standards (such as the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards, OECD Conflict Minerals Guidance) and familiarity with various certification schemes (such as SA 8000 and RJC), Julija advises clients on due diligence assessments and related assessment tools. Julija also provides guidance to clients on development of responsible sourcing programs, including supply chain mapping and risk assessments, training, supplier monitoring and capacity building and continuous improvement.
Julija has a BA in Public Law and MA in Jurisprudence from the Police Academy of Latvia and LL.M in Human Rights Law and Intellectual Property Rights from Lund University, Sweden. She is fluent in English, Russian and Latvian, and proficient in Swedish.
Emma Jane Hague, BSc
Emma has worked for ten years in the international development sector, marrying economic and community development with her interests in natural resources, indigenous rights and social enterprise. In 2008 she co-founded the Peruvian non-profit Awamaki, a grassroots initiative working with rural Quechua communities to harness natural resources and traditional skills for sustainable livelihoods through collaborative product design and vertically-integrated supply chains. As the in-country Director and Projects Coordinator for nearly five years, Emma has regional expertise in the Andean region and in 2017 completed an MRes thesis on the topic of meaningful community engagement and FPIC in the context of Andean extractive projects.
Through projects with TDI Emma has built on her field experience with mining-specific sectoral knowledge; standards comparison and analysis; CSR and due diligence strategy development and analytical research work exploring risks and opportunities associated with mineral supply chains.
Emma is a native English speaker and is proficient in Spanish.
Soledad Mills, BA (Hons), MA
Soledad Mills has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of human rights and the private sector. She has managed due diligence programs using a wide range of international standards and codes of conduct for global financial institutions, multinational corporations, and development agencies. Soledad has also implemented global compliance and supply chain programs for Fortune500 companies and has worked with socially responsible investors on shareholder engagement strategies.
She has created environmental and social management risk assessment tools for a range of sectors, including consumer products, energy and extractives, agriculture, and aid organisations. Soledad has also developed and delivered training for companies in India, China, and Latin America on anti-corruption, human rights and corporate responsibility and has conducted over 100 due diligence assessments in more than a dozen countries.
For the last five years she has applied her expertise in international human rights, standards and compliance, risk management, and stakeholder engagement to the energy sector, developing social and environmental performance metrics for a range of energy projects from oil, gas, and shale to wind, solar and hydroelectric. Soledad holds a Batchelor's degree is Asia-Pacific Business and a Master's in International Affairs and Human Rights. She is a native English speaker with fluent Spanish.
Davidzo Muchawaya
Davidzo is a sustainability professional with extensive experience in due diligence, social accountability, and environmental auditing. She has over a decade of experience in research and social assessments, having conducted close to a thousand assessments in different industries, for Fortune500 companies and initiatives. She is an SA8000 lead auditor, and has undergone Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Social Risk Analysis, and Occupational Health (OSHA) training. She has expert knowledge of ILO Conventions and recommendations, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Voluntary Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Davidzo has worked on projects which include due diligence programs, social compliance, environmental standards development, and client-specific commissions. She has worked in industries ranging across textiles, agriculture, mining, processing, manufacturing and retail, wood products and food and beverages in over 20 countries. She holds a Master of Social Science in Community Development from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Liverpool, UK. Davidzo is based in South Africa.
Graham Lee MA, MMath
Graham Lee is a risk analyst, writer and project manager with a wealth of international experience. Classically trained in mathematical logic, he holds a Master's Degree in pure mathematics from Cambridge University.
Graham served as an officer in the British Army for four years, in which role he worked extensively in risk analysis and project planning, and studied conflict and international affairs at postgraduate level. He also worked for the NGO Global Witness, conducting research and advocacy on environmental, social and governance issues in natural resource supply chains worldwide.
Since 2011, Graham has worked in the consultancy sector and lived in Central Asia, East Africa and Eastern Europe, advising clients on responsible and risk-managed engagement in complex frontier economies. He has worked for a range of private sector clients, in the extractive industries and beyond, and for development organizations including the UNDP, USAID, the WWF and the Open Society Foundations.
Graham's key professional interests are the equitable use of natural resources, conflict, corruption, and risk appreciation for developed-world stakeholders and downstream users of raw materials. Graham is particularly focused on forward-looking analysis and forecasting; combining understanding of existing social, environmental and political dynamics, and governance frameworks, with macro-level societal trends, to anticipate the challenges and opportunities of the future at the same time as managing those in the present. In parallel with his work with The Dragonfly Initiative, Graham directs the research and consultancy company Agathon International Ltd.
David Sturmes, BSc
David is a specialist in value chain development, supply chain risk and cloud-based compliance systems. David has applied his formal studies on sustainable value chains management and conflict, to construct ethical markets for artisanal and small-scale gold producers in sub Saharan Africa. David achieved national academic recognition for his in-depth analysis of the value chain of artisanal gold in East Africa. This formed the foundation for the development of a scalable aggregation and transport mechanism for small-scale produced gold from mine to refinery. David is now co-developing a credible and cost-efficient assurance, monitoring and evaluation system to measure project impact in conjunction with the Sustainable Development Goals. He also leads a multi-stakeholder downstream driven initiative focused on the financially sustainable commercialisation of ASM gold, brokering deals with local middleman, negotiating contracts with refiners, and navigating international legislative and compliance requirements.
David holds a BSc in International Development Management through Sustainable Value Chains including a capacity building and empowerment project for small scale cotton farming in India. He has orchestrated integration of blockchain technology into minerals supply chains allowing greater traceability and transfer of information from mine to manufacturer. In doing so he has accumulated a good working knowledge of the design and implementation of producer certification standards and impact frameworks. David has conducted both desk-based and field due diligence assessments of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices of over 30 mines across Africa and Asia and was instrumental in the design of both the Coloured Gemstone Working Group and The Impact Facility’s ESG monitoring frameworks.
