October 1, 2025
The State of Play for Human Rights Due Diligence: Navigating the Omnibus Proposal Through the Lens of Mandatory HRDD Implementation Lessons
In collaboration with the Research Program on Economic & Social Rights.
In this Business & Human Rights workshop, Prof. Claire Bright will share key insights from the law and practice of human rights and environmental due diligence to better understand and shape the EU’s upcoming reforms.

February 27-28, 2025
The Responsibilities of Investors for a Fair & Just Climate Transition
Co-sponsored by the UConn Global Business Programs, the Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics, the Collaboratory for JUST Innovation & Climate Equity, the Copenhagen Business School, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná.
How can investors help to ensure that a just climate transition leaves no one behind? We sought to answer this question through dialogue and presentations at our two-day conference. To set the stage, we welcomed Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell for a keynote address and fireside chat with leading finance professionals and human rights practitioners. See a reflection on this opening evening in UConn Today and the complete program for our 2025 BHRI Conference Program.

February 13, 2025
Litigating Corporate Purpose: Climate Change & the Courts
In this Business & Human Rights virtual workshop, Hassan Ahmad explores how courts in common law jurisdictions can drive corporate accountability on climate change, advocating for “judicial climate governance” to shape a socially conscious corporate purpose beyond maximizing shareholder value.

October 24, 2024
U.S. Human Rights Mechanisms for Complaints against Multinational Enterprises
U.S. National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct David Sullivan joins BHRI to discuss the development and purpose of his role as one remedy for addressing corporate human rights violations globally.

April 11, 2024
Perspectives on Human Rights Due Diligence
This workshop is dedicated to the development and discussion of works-in-progress and other non-published academic research. Join us in discussion with the following presenters about their UConn Honors thesis research projects on human rights due diligence.
Presenters: Meaghan Murphy and Sophie Lemire (Human Rights & Economics ’24, University of Connecticut)
Discussants: Rachel Chambers and Shareen Hertel (University of Connecticut), Markus Krajewski (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg), and Janne Mende (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law)

April 8, 2024
Harnessing the Market for Social Change: Investors and Responsible Contracting
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Program.
Chavi Keeney Nana and Sarah Dadush explore the evolving landscape of responsible business conduct, focusing on legal requirements for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) in corporate supply chains. This talk concerns the critical role contracts play in due diligence and how they aid investors in evaluating risks to human rights and the environment when making investment decisions.

April 2, 2024
Design for Freedom: Constructing a Humane Future with Ethical Materials
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Program, the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative and the Grace Farms Foundation.
The Design for Freedom movement brings industry leaders together to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain, create true market transformation, and build a more equitable future.
Panelists: Sharon Prince (Grace Farms), Nora Rizzo (Grace Farms) and Anna Dyson (Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture)

March 1, 2024
Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit
Hosted by the School of Business Global & Sustainability Initiatives Office.
The Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit (GBLSS) is a half-day event that gathers professionals, alumni, faculty, and students to discuss key sustainability topics for business. Highlighted at this year's event are existing sustainability initiatives ongoing across the University of Connecticut and the State of Connecticut. The summit aims to create a space to build productive relationships with sustainable business partners while continuing to educate and prepare our students.

February 22, 2024
What’s Business Got to do With It? The Role of the Private Sector in Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
Co-sponsored by the Human Rights Research Hub.
Businesses of all sizes play many roles in armed conflict, repression and other situations that lead to widespread human rights violations. Yet, when the violence ends and the arms are put down, only a handful of governments have considered how to involve companies in their transitional justice processes. This paper offers a taxonomy to help classify the different types of roles that companies play in episodes of the break-down of the rule of law and violent conflict and argues that this approach encourages governments to widen their focus to include the private sector in forward-looking peacebuilding processes such as community reconciliation, collective reparations, institutional reform, and even development.

December 1, 2023
Business & Human Rights in Collegiate Apparel Sourcing
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program.
Verifying human rights standards are upheld in global supply chains is no easy task, but one essential for both ethical and legal compliance. To hear how professionals that work with UConn maintain this standard, come join us for a student-facing conversation with those who oversee ethics and compliance in one of UConn’s top licensed apparel manufacturers, Colosseum Athletics.

November 9, 2023
Abolition Redux? Rethinking Conventions on Slavery and Forced Labor in the Interwar Years
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program.
How do legacies of colonialism become inscribed in law and public attitudes? Mishal Khan, an expert on histories of slavery, abolition, and social change in South Asia under the British empire, discusses how ideas around Indian labor shaped international discussion and conventions in the interwar period, and how those racial stereotypes became solidified in law.

October 3, 2023
‘We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age’ Discussion with Author Wendy Wong
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program, the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative, the Human Rights Research & Data Hub, and UConn School of Law.
Political scientist Wendy Wong rallies for extending human rights beyond our physical selves and rebooting rights in our data-intensive world.

September 19, 2023
Ethical Dilemmas: Corporate Response and Market Reaction to the Russia-Ukraine War
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group.
In this Business & Human Rights Workshop, join Lingling Wang (UConn School of Business) for a presentation and discussion on the ethical considerations for foreign companies operating in Russia in essential human needs industries.

April 13, 2023 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Connections, Gender, and Access to State-Facilitated Private-Sector Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Senegal 
Presenter: Prof. Abhit Bhandari (Temple University)

March 1, 2023 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Human Rights, Multinational Enterprises, and Legitimacy 
Presenter: Prof. Rita Mota (ESADE Business School)
Discussant: Prof. Harry Van Buren (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)

February 24, 2023 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Business & Human Rights in an Unequal World: A Genealogy 
Presenter: Prof. Michelle Kelsall (SOAS University of London)
Discussant: Prof. Tara Van Ho (University of Essex School of Law)

November 1, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Understanding the Effectiveness of State & Worker-Led Efforts to Combat Forced Labour in Supply Chains 
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group. 
Presenter: Prof. Genevieve LeBaron (Simon Fraser University School of Public Policy)
Discussant: Prof. Rachel Chambers (UConn School of Business, Human Rights Institute)

October 27, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Forum: The Financial Case for Systemic Social Change 
Presenters: William Burckart (CEO, The Investment Integration Project, TIIP) and Kilian Moote (Managing Director, Georgeson)

October 13, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Upending Capitalism as We Know It? Public Policy Experimentation & Its Implications for Business 
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group. 
Presenter: Prof. Tricia Olsen (Daniels College of Business, University of Denver)
Discussant: Prof. Lyle Scruggs (UConn Department of Political Science)

September 20, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Forum: Climate Change, Business, & Human Rights 
Presenter: Prof. Danielle Anne Pamplona (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná Brazil, School of Law)

April 25, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Stigma & Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Black September, Ethnic Enclaves, & New Venture Performance in Jordan 
Presenter: Prof. Ryan Coles (UConn School of Business)
Discussant: Prof. Michael Rubin (UConn Human Rights Institute, Schools of Engineering & Business)

March 31, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Coupling & Coupling Compromises in Supplier Factories’ Responses to Worker Activism 
Presenter: Prof. Jodi Short (UC Hastings Law)
Discussant: Prof. Vivek Soundararajan (University of Bath)

March 10, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Business, Human Rights & The Triple Planetary Crisis 
Presenter: Prof. Sara Seck (Dalhousie University)
Discussant: Prof. Chiara Macchi (Wageningen University)

February 25-26, 2022 
Symposium on The Changing Faces of Business Law & Sustainability 
Co-hosted by the Center for the Business of Sustainability, Smeal College of Business, Penn State University; the College of Business, Oregon State University; and the American Business Law Journal.

February 9, 2022 
Business & Human Rights Forum: Model Contract Clauses for Human Rights 
Presenters: Prof. Sarah Dadush (Rutgers Law School) and Olivia Windham Stewart
Commentator: Prof. Erika George (University of Utah)

February 4, 2022 
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Human Rights & Corporate Sponsorship in the Beijing Olympics 
Hosted by the Teaching Business & Human Rights Forum.
Speakers: Minky Worden (Director of Global Initiatives, Human Rights Watch), Bennett Freeman (Principal, Bennett Freeman Associates LLC), and Daniela Heerdt (Researcher Sport & Human Rights, Centre for Sport & Human Rights & T.M.C. Asser Institute)

November 30, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Contractual Deterrence and the Ethical Supply Chain 
Presenter: Robert Bird (University of Connecticut School of Business)
Discussant: Gastón de los Reyes (Glasgow Caledonian New York College)

November 11, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Is Human Rights Due Diligence the Next Form of Greenwashing? 
Presenters: Justine Nolan (UNSW Law and Robert McCorquodale, University of Nottingham School of Law)
Discussant: David Hess (University of Michigan Ross School of Business)

October 22, 2021 
What Role Should Central Banks Play in Dealing with Environmental and Social Challenges like Climate Change and Inequality? 
Hosted by the Project on Public Finance and Human Rights. 

October 21, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Forum: Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD) 
A presentation and discussion on the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD) by Joanne Bauer (Rights CoLab)
Commentator: Todd Cort (Yale School of Management)

September 23, 2021 
Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark 
Hosted by the Project on Public Finance and Human Rights. 
A presentation and discussion on the Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark by David Kinley (University of Sydney Law School) and (Kym Sheehan). 
Commentator: Ariel Meyerstein 

August 26, 2021 
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Reviving the Great Debate 
Hosted by the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum. 
Business and human rights teachers often pride themselves of the relevance of their field to practice. But are we preparing our students adequately so that there is no disconnect between theory and practice? Join us to debate this question with provocative speakers who will endeavor to convince us whether ‘The current mode of teaching business and human rights is disconnected to the reality of business and human rights in practice.’
Arguing in Favor of The Proposition: Justine Nolan (Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW), Amol Mehra (Laudes Foundation), and Mike Posner (NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights)
Arguing Against the Proposition: Jena Martin (West Virginia University), Debbie Stothard (Altsean-Burma), and Tara van Ho (University of Essex)
Moderator: Robert McCorquodale (Inclusive Law)

June 21, 2021 
Second Roundtable for University-Based Business and Human Rights Programs 
In collaboration with the Sié Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver, the Initiative co-hosted a virtual roundtable with the dual objectives of exploring the ethical and practical challenges of supporting business and human rights research and engaging with companies and identifying and articulating best practices for university-based Business & Human Rights programs.

March 18, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Workshop: A Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for Human Rights 
Speakers: Rachel Chambers (University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute) and Jena Martin (West Virginia University College of Law)
Discussant: John Anderson (Mississippi College School of Law)

March 12, 2021 
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Our First Decade: From the UNGPs to mHRDD 
Hosted by the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum. 
The Teaching BHR Forum celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing together newer voices and the wisdom of experience to discuss mandatory human rights due diligence. The speakers will contextualize today's developments in the EU and discuss the key areas of progress and promise, the "no go" areas, and corporate board liability and governance.
Speakers: Claire Bright (NOVA Knowledge Center for Business, Human Rights and the Environment), John Morrison (Institute for Human Rights and Business), Chris Patz (European Coalition for Corporate Justice), and John Ruggie (Harvard Kennedy School)

March 4, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Forum: Human Rights, Social Justice, and Investment: Opportunities and Challenges 
A panel discussion on advocacy, activism, and engagement at the intersection of finance and human rights.
Panelists: Sara Blackwell (Business and Human Rights Consultant), Ryan Bowers (Activest), Jillianne Lyon ('18, Investor Advocates for Social Justice), and Bart Robertson (Global Fund to End Modern Slavery)

February 18, 2021 
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Black Star Line, Inc.: Race in the Historical Life of the Corporation 
Co-sponsored by the Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics. 
Speaker: Aaron Dhir (Osgoode Hall Law School and Yale Law School)
Discussant: Larry Catá Backer (Penn State Law)

December 11, 2020 
Transnational Corporations and Human Rights: Overcoming Barriers to Judicial Remedy 
A conversation to mark the publication of Transnational Corporations and Human Rights: Overcoming Barriers to Judicial Remedy and to celebrate the scholarship of Gwynne Skinner (1964 - 2017) with a panel of her co-authors and co-contributors.
Speakers: Rachel Chambers (Co-Director, Teaching BHR Forum; Postdoctoral Research Associate, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut), Jennie Green (Clinical Professor of Law, University of Minnesota), and James Yap (Lawyer, Toronto, President, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights)
Moderator: Sarah McGrath (Director of International Engagement, Business and Human Rights, Australian Human Rights Commission)

November 20, 2020 
Business & Human Rights Roundtable on Collegiate Sourcing 
Speakers: Nathan Fleisig (Outerstuff), Kelsey Keene (Colosseum), Liz Kennedy (UCLA), and Kyle Muncy (UConn)
Moderator: Shareen Hertel

November 12, 2020 
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Four Thought Leaders, Four Sectors, One Dialogue 
Hosted by the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum. 

October 22, 2020 
Unavoidable Power and Unaccountable Impacts? The Roles and Responsibilities of Central Banks in Global Economic Governance 
Hosted by the Project on Public Finance and Human Rights. 

March 5, 2020 
We Are Not Pricing Climate Risk: A Wall Street Perspective 
Hosted by the Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series.
Speaker: Robert Litterman (Chairman of Risk Committee, Kepos Capital)

November 8, 2019 
Business & Human Rights University Network Roundtable 
The Initiative hosted a roundtable of North American university-based human rights programs to discuss their multifaceted roles in the study and practice of business and human rights.

November 22, 2019 
Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Summit 
Hosted by the President’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility at UConn. 

October 10, 2019 
Book launch for "Tethered Fates Companies, Communities, and Rights at Stake" by Shareen Hertel, Associate Professor of Political Science and Human Rights Book (Oxford University Press, 2019) 

October 4, 2019 
HRI Lunchtime Seminar, Sheila Hayre, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Quinnipiac University, "Lessons from the T Visa on Protecting Victims of Trafficking: What States Can Learn"