Robert is one of the wonderful people who spend their days at Impact Hub Ticino thanks to remote working. With a professional background spanning industry, finance, politics, international law, and sustainability, he now works in global trade, helping companies find practical solutions to environmental and social challenges.
Ciao Robert! Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
Broadly, I work in sustainability of global trade, what that means and how it is implemented in practice through voluntary market based tools and government policies. The organisation I work for is called ISEAL. We are a global membership organisation of ambitious sustainability systems like Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance or the Forest Stewardship Council.
We support and challenge these organisations to be credible and achieve the sustainability impacts that they are working towards. In my role, I am a bridge builder between ISEAL, its community members and companies.
My job is to bring the expertise of ISEAL to companies in the form of practical
guidance and actionable knowledge.
Could you share a bit about your career path? Where did you start, what led you to work in your field, and what are the main challenges?
I studied International Affairs which includes subjects in law, economics and political science, so I was always interested in a career that was at the intersection of different fields. I find the difference in “language” and values between these worlds and the challenge of overcoming it to solve real world problems very interesting and motivating.
I started my career at the Swiss Export Risk Insurance SERV and held various roles where I was working at the intersection between industry, finance, politics, international law and sustainability.
It was a great learning experience and I found working towards a public good very meaningful.
After almost 10 years I then decided to change my career and dive deeper into the world of sustainability in global trade, which led me to ISEAL.
What positive impact (globally, in Switzerland, in Ticino) do you aim to have? How are you pursuing it concretely?
I want to contribute to solving sustainability issues in global supply chains.
Companies in Ticino, in Switzerland and beyond are rising to the challenge of managing these risks and complying with various new sustainability regulations and I want to support that effort by improving the understanding of what practical, credible and impactful solutions look like.
In some cases innovation is needed and in others its a matter of sharing what works.
Why did you choose Impact Hub Ticino as the place for your activities? What value does it give you, or do you think it can provide?
IHT is a great community of passionate and inspiring people and I hugely enjoy working here. It provides a beautiful office space with all the practical tools to work effectively.
But that’s not the main reason why I come here, I have a very nice office at home too.
I come here because of the good vibes and the wonderful people that organise and form part of this community. ISEAL is based in London and therefore, I see my colleagues only occasionally. This makes the truly communal spirit at IHT all the more valuable to me.
Also, my work is a lot about figuring things out and the start of that journey is always having things not figured out yet... a sometimes frustrating state and it’s so great to be among others at IHT who also haven’t figured things out yet, working on new concepts and business ideas, facing stumbling blocks and challenges along the way.
In other words, IHT will make you feel better about struggling!
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