Staff and trustees
Staff
Eleanor took up the position of Director at CJC in 2024, bringing with her more than a decade of experience in communications, campaigning, and coalition working. She has extensive experience in human rights and has worked with local and international NGOs in the UK, Spain and Latin America, collaborating on and leading campaigns and successful initiatives to uphold rights and strengthen legal frameworks.
She holds an MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, and has a particular interest in the intersection of migrant and labour rights.
Luise Schroter, Policy and Campaigns Officer
Luise joined CJC as Policy and Campaigns Officer in 2023. She specialises in access to justice for victims and corporate accountability, as well as environmental policy and legal frameworks. Her Master’s dissertation, which won her the Edinburgh University W.A. Wilson Price, focused on reversing the burden of proof in human rights due diligence legislation. She enjoys campaigning with local activists and, during her time in Edinburgh, created her own student group to raise awareness on corporate human rights abuses. She holds an LLB in International and European Law, a BBA in International Business, and an LLM in International Law.
Dakota Anton, Policy Assistant
Dakota joined CJC as a Policy Assistant in 2024. She holds an LLM in International Human Rights and Economic Law and an LLB from the University of Essex, as well as a BA in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Calgary. Her LLM dissertation critically examined the effective implementation of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) laws in Europe, with an emphasis on the role of practitioners and consultants in ensuring the meaningful participation of potentially affected rightsholders.
Trustees
Elaine Gilligan, Chair of the Board
Elaine has over twenty-five years’ experience of leading change for Friends of the Earth, including working on ground-breaking projects on citizen rights and action for justice, through to supporting environmentalists at risk around the world. Elaine has significant experience of being on boards of NGOs, including seven years on the Board of Friends of the Earth International.
Dan Leader
Dan Leader is a barrister and partner at Leigh Day with 20 years’ litigation experience. He specialises in international human rights and environmental litigation with a particular focus on group actions by claimants from the developing world. Dan has lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, where he worked with local lawyers on human rights and public interest cases: in 2001 he was awarded the Bar Council’s Sydney Elland Goldsmith award for his contribution to pro bono work in Africa. From 2014 to 2017 he was an independent expert member of the Government Steering Board which oversees the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Adaeze Okoye
Adaeze Okoye is a Principal Lecturer at the School of Business and Law, University of Brighton. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Hull and is a qualified barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, as well as being an honorary member of the honourable society of the Inner Temple. Adaeze leads the University of Brighton, Law, Society and Justice Research Excellence Group. She has authored the monograph, Legal approaches and corporate social responsibility, and is an active researcher in the field of business and human rights, with special interest in modern slavery regulation across supply chains and countries. She also sits on the editorial advisory board of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies open access book series, Reimagining Law and Justice.
Tim Cooke-Hurle
Tim is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers where he practises a broad range of civil and international law, including cases raising business and human rights issues. He has been a junior counsel in cases such as The Bodo Community v Shell and The Ogale Community v Shell, both cases arising from oil pollution in Nigeria, Various v African Barrick Gold, concerning mining operations in Tanzania and Various v British Airways and Simon Woods in Kenya. He also advises in relation to complaints under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, such as in the case of Crude Accountability v the KPO Consortium in Kazakhstan and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain v the Formula One Group.
Mustafa Qadri
Mustafa Qadri is the Founder and Executive Director of Equidem Research and Consulting, a specialist human rights and labour rights investigations consultancy. He is a human rights research and advocacy expert with over 15 years of interdisciplinary experience in government and public international law, journalism and the non-governmental sector. Mustafa is the author of several landmark human rights reports into the construction industry, civil and political rights issues, and media freedom, including most recently ‘The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game’ – the first independent human rights investigation to uncover labour abuse on Qatar 2022 World Cup construction sites.
Susie Talbot
Susie Talbot is the Founder and Director of the Anima Mundi Law Initiative, which advances creative legal strategies and transformation at the intersection of human rights, rights of nature and regenerative ecology. She also works collaboratively with advocates and communities around the world to strengthen economic, social and cultural rights, corporate accountability, and substantive equality. Susie was formerly Legal Director of ESCR-Net, has facilitated participatory strategy workshops in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia, and led strategic litigation and advocacy initiatives at other NGOs including INTERIGHTS, the Kurdish Human Rights Project and Minority Rights Group International. She is a member of the Feminists for a Binding Treaty coalition.
