For the second year in a row, the USCIB partnered with the Business and Human Rights Center at NYU Stern School of Business to offer first-year MBA students the opportunity to participate in the USCIB-NYU Stern Fellowship in Business and Human Rights. This is a paid opportunity for students to work at a multinational company on business and human rights issues during their first summer. In 2016, participating companies included New Balance, PepsiCo and PvH Corp, and the selected Fellows were Kimberly Rodriguez (PepsiCo), Meghna Saxena (PvH), Jeffrey Sybertz (New Balance) and Nancy Van Way (PvH).

In addition to the hands-on experience the Fellows gained at their respective companies, USCIB also provided a series of training webinars, which successfully concluded earlier this month. During these training webinars, the Fellows were introduced to a variety of experts in the business and human rights field. Topics of discussion included the human rights due diligence pursuant to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, investor relations and human rights related shareholder resolutions, leading business and human rights resource tools, such as the Business and Human Rights Resource Center and various reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, as well as resources for company and supply chain research available on Bloomberg terminals. The training program was capped-off with a conversation about the career trajectories of leading practitioners in in the business and human rights field.

USCIB would like to recognize several of the organizations who participated in the training webinars and pro
vided their invaluable expertise, including the Shift Project, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC), Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A Institute).

Details for the 2017 USCIB-NYU Stern Fellowship in Business and Human Rights will be announced this fall. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the fellowship, please contact Ariel Meyerstein (ameyerstein@uscib.org) or Elizabeth Kim (ekim@uscib.org).

Insights from the 2016 Fellows in Business and Human Rights:

“As a fellow in the USCIB and CBHR program I received a full array of practical training on the many instances where business and human rights intersect.  In today’s business world, leaders at the most successful companies are discovering that human rights issues impact multiple facets of their business model.  Our fellowship trainings prepared me well to understand and address these issues in a way that can create value for the company as well as society.”  – Nancy

“The Fellowship was a great opportunity to see firsthand how the operations of a multinational corporation can impact the human rights of people around the world. Like many apparel and footwear brands, New Balance is beginning to devote more resources to addressing this impact. As a Fellow, I was able to work on embedding human rights thinking into New Balance’s business practices and develop processes to better identify and mitigate existing human rights issues. The field of business and human rights is rapidly growing, and this Fellowship gave me the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and gain valuable experience.” – Jeff

“Through the USCIB-Stern Fellowship at PepsiCo, I was able to put theory into practice. Although I was very interested in issues concerning business and human rights prior to this summer, my experience in tackling such issues were primarily academic. At PepsiCo, I was able to see first-hand how human rights considerations are taken in tandem with critical business decisions. The fellows’ training that supplemented my day to day projects further exposed me to the cross-industry work being done on business and human rights issues. Over the last 12 weeks, I have had the privilege of working with passionate individuals who have inspired me to continue working in social impact and responsibility within corporations.” – Kimi