Meet the team

Colleen founded Ardea in 2010 (back then CLT-Envirolaw) with the vision to harness her niche legal expertise in order to help companies understand how to meet their legal obligations for sustainability and business and human rights and create progressive voluntary best practice standards. Tackling modern slavery in supply chains and communities is a key passion of hers.

Colleen is a tri-qualified solicitor with over 25 years’ legal and commercial experience of working with businesses and NGOs across sectors at both a strategic and operational level. She provides training to both directors and employees on human rights, modern slavery and sustainability issues. Colleen has a LLM (with distinction) in Environmental Law from the University of Aberdeen. She is recognised by The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a leading environmental law practitioner. Colleen is a fellow of IEMA and a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery, St Mary’s University. Twickenham. She is also an independent legal consultant and consults with Re:Links

Colleen’s indefatigable passion for combating human trafficking, led her to found the not-for-profit organisation Finance Against Trafficking. Colleen lectures on business and human rights and environmental issues at Birkbeck School of Law. Recently she taught on an MBA programme at the University of Pisa on responsible business practices and modern slavery transparency in supply chains and teaches on sustainable supply chains at the University of Westminster.  She has spoken widely on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, modern slavery and sustainable business.

She sits on the advisory board for LexisPSL Environment.   She has been appointed to development committee of the Social Responsibility Alliance       and is also appointed to APSCA’s disciplinary board. Colleen is currently on the BSI committee developing a standard guidance note on modern salvery.

She was previously a  member of the steering group of the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) and was an executive member and trustee of the UK Environmental Law Association for seven years has recently been appointed by Positive Luxury to their Advisory Council. She is also an Acre accredited expert.

Colleen is a regular contributor to the legal and professional press and authored numerous chapters in published books. Her most recent book ‘Strategic Sustainable Procurement: law and best practice‘  is published by Routledge. She has also published a chapter on ‘Modern Slavery and Transparency in Supply Chains’ in ‘The Modern Slavery Agenda:Policy, Politics and Practice in the UK published by Policy Press.

Colleen was part of the Modern Slavery Garden team which won Gold at the Chelsea Flower Show 2016 and has been nominated for an award by the Anti Slavery Awards group. She has set up an anti trafficking hub at the Towers Convent school in West Sussex.

Recently nominated as on of the UK’s top 100 Influencer of business on modern slavery and ethical business issues.

Laura is a qualified US lawyer and previously was a director at Talking Oak International, a specialist legal consultancy providing human rights advice, compliance support and training design and delivery to private security companies and other companies and NGOs operating in challenging and complex environments. She assisted the Security in Complex Environments Group (SCEG)—the trade association for the UK’s private security industry—with numerous projects preparatory work with the British Standards Institute to develop ISO 28007—2015; and the transition of the international standard for land based Private Security Companies (PSC 1) to a full International Standard (ISO 18788—2015).

Laura retired from the US Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps after 23 years of active duty service. Her last military posting was in the UK Ministry of Defence as a member of the strategy team for the British Army Chief of the General Staff. Prior to this, she served in the British Army’s Operational Law Branch.

Prior to her secondment with the British Army, Laura was the Chief of Operational Law in the US Army’s International and Operational Law Department, US Army Pentagon, where she also served as Rule of Law coordinator for the Army’s Stability Operations division. Laura’s deployed operational assignments with the US Army include tours in the Republic of South Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq serving in various legal and leadership roles.

Laura earned her J.D. at Louisiana State University Law School (civil and common law), her LLM in Military law (International and Operational law specialty) from The Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and her BA from Brown University.
Among her publications is, “Fog of Law: an introduction to the legal erosion of British fighting power” a report she co-authored for the Policy Exchange, a London based think tank. She also contributed to the US Army’s Rule of Law Handbook, Operational Law Handbook, and Interagency (U.S. Government) Complex Contingency Operations Legal Handbook.

Gordon is a highly experienced communicator, marketeer and social entrepreneur with 20+ years’ career experience in journalism, PR, events production, content creation, stakeholder engagement and the delivery of communications campaigns for blue chip clients. 

He has contributed to consumer and trade publications: The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Metro, CityAM, The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal

Among delivering several other events 2015-2019, Gordon has produced the Responsible & Ethical Leadership for Global Construction Supply Chains Conference 2019, 6 November http://ow.ly/DSyy30ouIZY 

#EthicalSourcing

He curated the 2018 UK Top100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index http://ow.ly/i91F30iIvZl #Top100Index. He also facilitated the Global Governance Research Fund (GGRF) Global Governance FTSE 100 and Real Estate 100 Indexes http://ow.ly/lgbH30mYCSm #GlobalGovernanceFTSE100#GGRF100

A keen cyclist, a hobby which he utilises for social purpose, Gordon organised #RideforFreedom2019 7-18 October 2019. The Charity bike ride supported survivors of modern slavery

http://rideforfreedom2019.org.uk/

Emily studied Law at the University of Cambridge and has recently achieved a Distinction in an LLM from University College London. She is particularly interested in sustainability issues and hopes to pursue a career that helps businesses to thrive in a greener economy. She has studied varied Environmental Law modules during her LLM and currently volunteers at a charity called ClimateScience in her spare time, where she is responsible for creating an educational course on Global Climate Politics. After her time at Ardea International, Emily will start the LPC and a training contract at a Magic Circle law firm.

Rory is currently studying for a masters in Law at the University of Law in Surrey. Previously, he earned a History (first class honours) degree at the University of Reading. His decision to make the transition to law was driven by a keen interest in the role that responsible business practices play in eradicating modern slavery. In his time working with Ardea International, Rory has contributed in a research capacity to a range of projects relating to modern slavery and sustainability. Alongside Ardea International he currently volunteers for a local organisation called Bags of Support, a textile recycling business that donates its profits to education programs in Nkuringo, Uganda.

Jacob is studying for a Masters degree in International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS. He has a keen research interest in sports diplomacy and is writing his dissertation on Rwanda’s sponsorship of Arsenal FC.

Jacob was commissioned by Baroness Young of Hornsey to write a literature review of child trafficking in football and a briefing memo on modern slavery risk in major sporting events ahead of the second reading of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill.

Jacob was previously Partnerships Intern at Mission 89, a charity that seeks to stop modern slavery in sport. He led on the development of their #NotInOurGame campaign that seeks to bring sporting stakeholders together to tackle this issue.

Jacob is now Ardea International’s Sports Sector Intern, his role being to develop our engagement with the sports sector. The aim of this work is to help sports actors to implement their reporting obligations under the Modern Slavery Act and to develop best practice procedures.

Hannah is a full-time post-graduate student at St. Mary’s University currently working towards a  degree in Human Trafficking, Migration and Organized Crime. She has spent the last six years of her career working in the non-profit sector in a leadership role developing and empowering healthy teams. Hannah has a desire to combat modern-day slavery through partnerships with NGOs and businesses. She is working with Colleen and Parker alongside the Westminster  business School to develop a case study that dives deeper into supply chain transparency for UK businesses. The project aims to understand the role of codes of conduct in enforcing compliance among businesses as a result of the Modern Slavery Act (2015). After completing her post-graduate degree, Hannah is interested in continuing to work in the business context to implement human rights practices among large corporations and their supply chains.

Toluse is currently studying for a masters in Africa and Development at the University of Sussex. She is a recent Law graduate (First class Honours) from the University of Bristol. Her interest in Africa and Development is driven by her passion to combat global inequality, and her desire to contribute to sustainable development and decolonisation. She is particularly passionate about modern slavery, and how people from the Global South are especially vulnerable to this. She intends to incorporate her knowledge and passion in combating global inequalities in her future legal career and will be completing her LPC next year.

Marreyar is currently studying Law with French for Professional Purposes LLB at the University of Sussex. She has come to complete her second year and aims to excel in her final year, while studying a selective module of Commercial Law and Human Rights. It is her aspiration to become a Corporate Solicitor, while having the ability to bring into light to importance and relevance of modern slavery to the Legal sector. She has had the opportunity to work with children in education, and therefore feels extremely motivated and interested when looking at topics such as child labour; a project in which she has been assigned to aid Colleen with. Upon graduating, Marreyar seeks to pursue and make the most of a career in the legal sector, through completing her LPC, qualifying as a solicitor, and bringing more awareness through pro-bono work to sustainability, injustice towards children and women, and the current societal issue around modern slavery

Parker, a native of Kansas, USA, is currently studying for a master’s degree in Anti-Human Trafficking, Migration, and Organised Crime at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham. She has earned two B.A. degrees from Baker University in Kansas in music and English, and is now looking to join the global fight against modern slavery. Parker’s family has started a house for victims of trafficking in Kansas, and Parker has taught music at a school for trafficked and abused girls in Kenya, Africa. Currently, she and Hannah are assisting Colleen with a case study sponsored by the Westminster Business school, which will address the nature of codes of conducts in businesses and their supply chains. Upon graduation, Parker is looking to study law and fight trafficking by working with businesses and their supply chains and by educating consumers on ethical sourcing of products.

Richard is an e-learning content specialist. A highly experienced creative professional with skills in video editing, animation, design and illustration, he has previously worked in house designing training and elearning content for Sussex Police and on a freelance basis for a variety of businesses and individuals. Richard has a Masters degree in animation and currently lectures in Visual Effects and Animation at the University of Sussex.

Emily is currently studying a degree in History and English at the University of York and has just completed her first year. She has previously worked as a blogger for a start-up company called Skadoosh centred on fashion and retail. She currently also works part- time at a nursery. After finishing her degree she intends to complete the GDL and hopes to work in the fields of human rights and environmental law, as this is the area she is most passionate about.

Communicate don’t decorate is our mantra. It’s not enough to have a pretty website or app, it needs to work hard to satisfy and balance everyone’s needs.

Sarah’s our user expereince designer. She helps support Ardea with their on and offline communications and designs.

Sarah wants every digital experience to be as effortless and enjoyable as possible for everyone concerned. Her focus is on placing the user at the centre of all projects – website, app or interface – believing it is this that makes for a better product and a bigger impact. It’s not just the outcome she cares about, but the process too – her project management skills are legendary. She’s an intelligent thinker with years of experience in the digital arena and a born problem-solver. Sarah’s varied background in strategy, brand, design, and accessability give her a solid base for creative thinking and oodles of businesses sense. She also holds an MSc in User Experience design from Brighton University and a graphic design degree from many moons ago.

Sarah’s passion of digital design began some time ago, with her BBC Micro computer and some ski pants back in the late 80s. Since then she has worked with some of the world’s leading charities, financial institutions, and businesses alongside some inspirational independents.