Member Guidance

Dr. Ammara Farooq Malik is a Pakistani corporate and impact lawyer, international social entrepreneur and international development expert with over 23 years of professional experience across various multidisciplinary sectors such as academia, Law, social entrepreneurship, international development, gender and green infrastructure development.

She is Founder of the Seplaa Group (CEO of Seplaa Canada, Seplaa Enterprises-Pakistan, AFMalik Law, SEPLAA Foundation and Impact World Press). As Founder Principal Attorney of AFMalik Law- Attorneys & International Development Consultants, she is also the first impact lawyer of Pakistan focusing on the integration of ESG (Environment, Sustainability & Governance) clauses in companies’ legal compliance documents and has created the 5 Cog Wheels for Sustainable Business Strategy Tool for impact law, impact investing and policy integration in impact businesses for a transdisciplinary holistic approach towards development.

She has presented as a legal, gender, climate change and social enterprise expert at international conferences at UNESCO (Kazakhstan), CGA New York University (USA), University of Kent (UK), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development-ICIMOD (Nepal), Asia Pacific Adaptation Network’s Climate Change Adaptation Forum (Colombo and Manila), Hollings Centre for International Development (Maldives & Turkey) and the Asian Development Bank (Singapore).  She is a US World Learning IVLP Alumna, Former Chairperson of the Lahore High Court Bar Association Committee on ‘Climate change, Infrastructure, Gender & SE Laws’ and is presently the Co- Lead for the ICIMOD Nepal Technical Working Group for ‘Data Analysis’ for Climate change adaptation’s scientific research in the Upper Indus Basin.

Emiliano is the head of the Impact & Sustainability team at RP Legal & Tax.

He mainly deals with nonprofit entities, social enterprises, socially oriented corporate vehicles, NGOs and international organizations. He advises these entities in the phases of incorporation, reorganizations, extraordinary transactions and adjustments required by the Third Sector Code.

He also provides support on ESG matters to leading national and international companies. More specifically, he deals with the adoption and implementation of sustainability models, corporate policies and ethical codes, the acquisition of the Benefit Corporation status and the B Corp certification, as well as ESG/human rights due diligence, non-financial reporting and impact measurement.

Emiliano has ten years of experience in the impact economy sector. In particular, he has been involved for years in several international cooperation projects and policy-making activities, led by NGOs and by the United Nations, focused on the integration of migrants and refugees through entrepreneurial initiatives. He is also tutor of the “Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic” legal training program at the Faculty of Law of the University of Turin. He cooperates with Tiresia – Politecnico di Milano on legal issues related to social business and social innovation.

In the past years, Emiliano was a consultant of the United Nations at UNEP and a Legal Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. He holds a master’s degree in Environmental Law and management from Cà Foscari University of Venice and is currently a PhD candidate in Public International law at Utrecht University.

Since 2019 he has been board member and legal coordinator of the NGO “ResQ Onlus – People Saving People”.

Paola Fonseca is VIVA Idea ́s General Counsel, and Public Policy Director. VIVA Idea is a Latin- American organisation dedicated to strengthening sustainable development across the Global South through Action Research projects; it offers solutions to enhance collective impact strategies focused on social inclusion and sustainability.

She is a lawyer with more than 18 years of experience in international corporate law and governance; she has an MBA and a Post-MBA from INCAE Business School and is developing her PhD (focused on how to design a public policy that promotes Impact Investment) at the United Nations University for Peace and alumni of the University of Oxford ́s Social Impact Program. She also teaches MBA courses on incorporating the in-house lawyer perspective into the decision-making process, focused on ESG compliance.

After a long career in the for-profit sector, where she held the roles of Regional In-House Counsel for the Americas and Head of Governance for Iberia-America (Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Spanish Speaking Latam and North America) at TMF Group, a global corporate compliance services company, she moved to the non-profit sector to promote public policies that foster Impact Investment, where she leads, among others, important regional projects such as the GSGII Latin American NABs strategic alignment processes and the implementation of the Central American governments impact investment program for SMEs.

Paola also sits on the board of directors of the International Association for Human Values, an NGO with consultative status at the UN, the Vance Center ́s Woman in the Legal Profession (Costa Rica Chapter), is the President of the Central American In House Counsels Association and Secretary of the World Compliance Association (Costa Rica Chapter), among others.

After studying creative writing at the University of Oxford, she developed her passion for creative writing; she has published her first novel, Pen Pal Feathers and short stories in various languages.

Accomplished sustainability/ESG lawyer, with a background on environmental law, climate change, energy transition, Nature Based Solutions – NbS, ethnic law and green business, holding a master’s degree in environmental and energy law, and several certifications and postgraduate diplomas on ESG and sustainable business. Experience in law firms, NGOs, research groups and companies across Europe and Latin America.

Almost 2 decades of specific experience advising in sustainability, environmental and social compliance, environmental and social due diligence, environmental litigation, Nature Based Solutions – NbS, climate change and natural markets, industrial reconversion and innovation, just transition, environmental tax breaks, circular economy, water management, air quality, stakeholder engagement and social license, B-corps, ethnic communities and FPIC, environmental and social risk management, and purpose driven companies. Also, experienced sustainability project leader in charge of defining and implementing internal ESG/sustainability strategies, engaging with internal and external stakeholders, boards, and C-suites, and promoting sustainability as a core value of the business.

Experience in several jurisdictions working with multicultural partners in multilingual environments. Guillermo performs his work in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and currently serves in several international professional associations related with environmental, social and sustainability/ESG/Impact issues, with a focus on LATAM. Lecturer at several universities in Colombia and author of several publications on environmental law, renewable energy, sustainable finance, sustainability, ESG and law.

Elizabeth Lange co-leads the ESG team at Faegre Drinker. Based in Philadelphia, she advises clients on M&A, Governance and B Corp matters.

Lizzie represents public and private clients, including Fortune 50 and startup companies, in mergers and acquisitions, governance, and other corporate and securities matters. Recognized for her involvement in social enterprise and impact finance law, Lizzie has written extensively on legal and regulatory issues relating to social enterprise legal forms.

Ranajoy Basu Heads McDermott, Will & Emery’s impact finance practice having extensive experience in debt capital markets and impact finance transactions. Ranajoy is recognised as one of the world’s leading lawyers in cross-border climate change and impact finance structures, including social and development impact bonds, renewable energy and “green” structured finance transactions as well as being a legal expert in adaptive and sustainable finance. He advised on the very first impact bond and has since, advised on some of the most innovative financial inclusion structures around the world targeting both environmental and social sustainability. Ranajoy’s key clients include supranationals, multilateral development banks, NGOs, not-for profit entities, impact funds, industry bodies, regional authorities, banks and corporates on structuring social impact finance solutions. He is a regular speaker on climate change, social sustainability and innovative finance.