Introducing the amazing panel of judges for our first ever Marie Claire Sustainability Awards

We've rounded up some of the best in the business...

You might have heard that we're hosting our first ever Marie Claire UK Sustainability Awards this July.

Simply put, it's the best way we thought we could shout about the brands that are actually doing good and making a difference in our crucially eco-conscious world.

We've got over 60 categories to judge, from best carbon footprint initiative, to best supply chain initiative, to best sustainable packaging and many more.

It's going to be tough, but luckily, we've lined up a panel of sustainability pros, eco-warriors and advisors to help award the brands that, in short, are the best in the business.

So, without further ado, meet our stellar line up of judges - we've got over 35 of the best global experts, thought leaders and activists on-hand to do the digging on which businesses are genuinely doing their bit.

Aditi Mayer 

Photojournalist, Labor Rights Activist, Sustainable Fashion Blogger

@aditimayer

Aditi Mayer is a sustainable fashion blogger, photojournalist, labor rights activist, and frequent speaker on topics of social and environmental justice. Her work looks at fashion and culture through a lens of intersectionality and decolonization.

In 2014, Aditi had her start in the sustainable fashion movement after learning about the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse. Seeing the fashion industry’s disproportionate impact on people of color globally, Aditi looked to understand the historical and sociopolitical underpinnings that allow the fashion industry to function in a colonial manner, rooted in exploitation and extraction of both labor and the natural environment. Aditi will be spending 2022 as a National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellow, spending one year documenting the social and environmental impacts of India’s fashion supply chain.

Alice Moore

Global Purpose-led Brand Building Director

Alice has been working for 20 years across Reckitt, Unilever and UB on how to build better business practices into brand and company culture for many years whether it be fighting for appropriate use of prescriptions, diversity & equity, charity work, mentoring or driving awareness of the sanitation crisis across the world, and now building the UN sustainable development goals into our strategy, to name a few examples. Alice has said that this is a personal and professional journey that has been extremely rewarding and she's only just getting started!

Ally Head

Health, Sustainability and Relationships Editor, Marie Claire UK

@allyyhead

Ally is Marie Claire UK's health, sustainability and relationships channel editor. When she envisaged her career as a journalist, she couldn’t think of anything she’d like to do more than report on the latest peanut butters to try and so landed her first job at Women’s Health out of sheer PB-fuelled persistence.

Day-to-day for Marie Claire, she reports on the latest news stories and writes health, sustainability and lifestyle digital features. She's always the first to volunteer to sweat-test the newest fitness trend or share a measured, expert-led take on current health topics. Low grade depression? PTSD? COVID and fertility? She's covered the lot with guidance from some of the best experts in the business. You can always count on her for a measured nutrition take, too, mainly because she's tried the lot and has a AfN nutrition qualification. She also freelances as a food stylist, having worked backstage at many a BBC Good Food Show with chefs like James Martin, Mary Berry and Rachel Allen.

Amy Nelson-Bennett

Managing Director, Positive Luxury

Amy is the Managing Director of Positive Luxury, who provide the luxury industry’s leading independent sustainability certification with The Butterfly Mark, alongside data benchmarking, expert advice, and industry-leading reports. Born and educated in the USA, Amy brings 25 years of global experience to Positive Luxury across Brand Strategy, Marketing Communications and Business Transformation gained across media, retail and luxury goods - most recently as CEO of Molton Brown and then the Clive Christian Group. By championing the alignment of the core principles of luxury and sustainability, she aims to accelerate the actions of the luxury industry and the positive impact they can make as a collective to shape a better society.

Andrea Thompson

Editor-in-Chief, Marie Claire UK

@andreacanwrite

Andrea has worked as a journalist for a range of publications including The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Channel 4, Glamour and Grazia, before joining Marie Claire. For much of her career, Andrea has specialised in investigative journalism and loves helping bring to light inspirational stories from people who traditionally have not been given a voice in mainstream media. At Marie Claire, Andrea oversaw a hard-hitting feature on rape as a weapon of war that won the title an Amnesty Media Award, and now acts as as a judge for the awards each year. She regularly chairs events for Marie Claire and mentors young women trying to break into the industry.

Annick Ireland

Founder & CEO, Immaculate Vegan

@immaculatevegan

Annick Ireland became vegan in 2016 after adopting a greyhound from the Retired Greyhound Trust and making the connection between the pets we love and all other animals. Wanting to also wear her values, she searched far and wide for stylish, high quality vegan fashion that was sustainable too – and struggled!

However, after many hours, days and months spent on the internet and Instagram, she discovered that a wealth of beautiful vegan fashion brands were out there, but they were hard to find. So with a background in marketing and business (having worked in senior leadership roles for many large media companies), she realised she could combine her passions by bringing together the best and most beautiful vegan products in the world, and make it easy for others to discover and buy them.

Bettina Campolucci

Bettinas Kitchen, Cook book author, Chef

@bettinas_kitchen

Culinary wellness guru and social media star Bettina Campolucci Bordi is world-renowned for her wholesome, colourful and internationally inspired cooking. For Bettina, the benefits and possibilities of plant-based cooking knows no bounds. She has published two cookbooks, Happy Food and 7 Day Vegan Challenge, with her third book, Celebrate, due to be published in September 2021.

With a Norwegian father and Bulgarian/Danish mother, and time spent living in Tanzania, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and the UK, Bettina's recipes are globally inspired. Bettina's goal is to make plant-based cooking more sustainable, accessible, and delicious for all. She uses local and seasonal produce where possible and loves supporting small farms across the UK.

Busola Evans

Interiors Journalist & Associate Editor, Livingetc

@busolaevans

Busola Evans is an interiors journalist and currently the associate editor of Livingetc and Homes & Gardens. A journalist for 20 years, Busola has written for a number of leading publications including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph, The Guardian and Grazia.

Charlotte Keesing

Director, Walpole

Charlotte Keesing is a Director at Walpole, the UK's association of British luxury brands. With 15 years experience in the UK luxury's sector she leads Walpole's international work, corporate affairs, partnerships, thought-leadership and most recently led Walpole's sustainability strategy and the creation of Walpole British Luxury Sustainability Manifesto.

Christina Archer

Sustainability Adviser

Christina has been working for the last 25 years on sustainability issues, starting her career in overseas development before moving into managing corporate responsibility programmes. She has worked with non-governmental organisations, multi-national businesses, small-medium enterprises and community groups across Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Her work now focuses on sustainability and stakeholder engagement in the food/agriculture sector, providing support and advice to clients in the private, NGO, UN and donor sectors on sustainable supply chain development, markets and livelihoods, value chain and participatory market development for poverty reduction, policy development, economic empowerment for women and youth participation.

Clare McDermott

Business Development Director Soil Association Certification

@soilassociation

Passionate about making the world a better place, Clare works with over 1800 farmers and 2000 brands and manufacturers to develop and lead the organic market. Making sure that people can understand organic and how by choosing organic they can make an easy choice to supporting our planet by restoring nature and a safe climate is key to what we do. Clare speaks regularly to business and media here and internationally about the organic market and consumer motivations. After over 20 years in fashion retail buying, Clare joined the Soil Association in 2014 and work across Food, Drink, Textiles and Beauty.

Dilys Williams

Director Centre for Sustainable Fashion

@dilys.williams

Professor Dilys Williams FRSA is founder and Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, a University of the Arts London Research Centre, based at London College of Fashion. Dilys’ work explores fashion’s relational ecological, social, economic and cultural elements to contribute to sustainability in and through its artistic, business and educational practices.

Trained at Manchester Metropolitan University and holding a UAL professorship in Fashion Design for Sustainability, Dilys publishes widely on fashion and sustainability in peer reviewed academic journals and published books. Dilys’ work draws on extensive experience in lead womenswear designer roles for international collections, including at Katharine Hamnett, Liberty and Whistles. This industry experience is complimented by a longstanding internationally recognised teaching and research portfolio focused on the development of sustainability centred design practices, based on principles of holism, participation and transformation design.

Dr. Marta Antonelli

Head of Research, Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition

@antonelli_marta

Dr. Marta Antonelli has been working and exploring how to accelerate the transition towards sustainable food systems as business advisor, researcher and lecturer over the past 12 years. Her expertise lie in food, water and agricultural policy; sustainable and healthy diets; urban food systems; food waste; climate change; the Sustainable Development Goals.

She serves as Head of Research at the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation and is one of the 45 members of the working group of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre that will help develop the legislative framework of the Farm to Fork Strategy, at the core of the European Green Deal.

Ele Ward

Head of Marketing at CoGo

@ele.ward

Ele's sustainable advocacy efforts began in 2014, a time when a fairer fashion industry was an afterthought for a small section of the industry. Today, Ele Head of Marketing at CoGo and is a recognised sustainability expert, working as both an advocate and consultant. She combines both her passion and pragmatism for driving the industry forward. Ele is passionate about making conversations on sustainability accessible and tech as a force for good.

Ella Robertson McKay

Managing Director, One Young World & Co-Author, How To Make A Difference

Ella is the MD of One Young World, the global forum for young leaders. A UK-based charity, One Young World Ambassadors have impacted the lives of 30 million+ people in every country in the world. Ella is the co-Author of "How To Make A Difference" - the authoritative handbook to effective activism.

Emma Slade Edmondson

Founder of ESE Consultancy and Co-Host of Mixed Up Podcast

@emsladedmondson

Emma Slade Edmondson is a London-based creative director and writer - she specialises in social change and sustainability. In 2020, Emma was named by Forbes as one of the 'Top 100 Environmentalists'. She is the founder of ESE consultancy (which works to elevate brands, initiatives, and organisations that have a desire to do some social or environmental good).

Emma is also one half of the popular podcast 'Mixed Up' which explores mixed-race heritage identities and race. Emma openly talks about her experiences as a mixed-race woman of Jamaican, British (part German-Swiss, part Cornish Pirate) heritage.

Erin Baker

Editorial Director, Auto Trader

@schoolrunmumerin

Erin is an award-winning motoring journalist and broadcaster across a range of national and lifestyle titles. She champions the female automotive consumer and specialises in automotive written and video content that engages women.

Giles Gibbons

Founder, Good Business

Giles Founded Good Business 25 years ago. He advises brands, start-ups, foundations, voluntary organisations and social enterprises on strategy, purpose and reputation. He’s worked with organisations as diverse as The Coca-Cola Company, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aesop,and WWF, making sure that they keep up with the changing times, and move with the tide rather than against it. He also chairs the Sustainable Restaurant Association, the restaurant world’s Michelin stars for sustainability; he chairs the Paraorchestra, an elite disabled orchestra; and Shift, A service design agency for the charity sector and Talking Taboos, a charity focused on raising issues hidden by society.

Grace Beverley

CEO and Founder, TALA and SHREDDY

@gracebeverley

London’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Natwest GBEA) and founder of sustainable style brand TALA and fitness tech brand Shreddy, Grace Beverley is a successful female entrepreneur shaking up the archaic business world, with a global digital reach of over 1.5 million. By just age twenty-four, Grace had been named first in Forbes 30 under 30’s retail and e-commerce list, graduated from Oxford University and attained a Sustainable Business accreditation from Harvard Business School. Grace’s inspiring narrative to accelerate the slow-fashion space and provide the blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs has led to recognition by Drapers, Forbes, CEO Today, VOGUE Business and Business Insider. Grace's debut book ‘Working Hard, Hardly Working’, offers a fresh take on how to navigate modern life, get focused and step back before burning out. Described by The Times as ‘excellent’ – the hardback published in April 2021 became an immediate Sunday Times Number One best-seller.

Holly Rains

Digital Editor, Marie Claire UK

@holly_rains

Holly has over 10 years journalism experience, working as an editor and writer, specialising in digital media, content strategy and dog breeds. Prior to Marie Claire, she has held senior staff positions at ELLE UK, Grazia and Company.

Holly is a frequent speaker, panelist and interviewer on a range of subjects including media trends, careers and entertainment. From working with Reuters to provide global red carpet coverage for events like the BAFTAs, to discussing fashion and beauty trends on network TV, she was also the host of the Marie Claire series ‘Holly’s First Dates’, where she regularly interviewed a mix of inspiring woman and A-list celebrities (including Jack Black, Dakota Fanning and Renée Zellweger) - a series which garnered half a million views in its first two months. And was approved by The Rock.

When she isn't dreaming of scheduling in meetings, she likes to think about social media, and how best to avoid it whilst still retaining the title of 'digital' editor.

Jenny Proudfoot

Features Editor, Marie Claire UK

@Jenny_proudfoot

Jenny Proudfoot is Marie Claire UK’s Features Editor, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment, feminism, careers and politics. Starting at the magazine as an intern just five years ago, she is now living her dream job, overseeing news and features.

With so much to cover, Jenny is always off trying something new, from interviewing women on the Formula 1 pit-lane and defence reporting in chinooks to covering the Toronto Film Festival and exploring Tokyo's backstreets.

When she’s in the office, Jenny can be found pumping out viral news and calling out inequality in her punchy opinion pieces - something that earned her the title ‘hatchet-faced feminist’ from a hate group against women. And when out of the office, she’ll usually be reviewing the latest lifestyle trends (from dog yoga to shamans), taking part in podcasts and reading as many debuts as she can for the Marie Claire Book Club. You’ll usually find her interviewing as many people as she can, from A-list celebrities and politicians to inspiring business women as part of her acclaimed Women Who win series.

Ingrid Newkirk

Founder, PETA

@petauk

Ingrid Newkirk is the founder of animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and all its foreign affiliates. PETA works to establish and protect the rights of all animals, and opposes speciesism - a human-supremacist worldview. PETA believes that animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.

Jayn Sterland

Managing Director Weleda UK

@weledauk 

Jayn Sterland had a successful career in fashion before joining green beauty pioneers Weleda in 2008, where she was appointed managing director in 2016. An inspirational sustainable business leader and lifelong environmentalist, Jayn has continuously championed sustainability in business, sharing the company’s near-century of knowledge through her daily work, both as a public speaker and columnist. An energetic activist for social and environmental responsibility and a committed campaigner for cleaner beauty, Jayn has once again been voted into the industry Top 25 ‘Who’s Who in Natural Beauty’ where she has featured in the top 3 since 2013.

Jessie Macneil-Brown

Head of Global Campaigns, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group)

@jessiemacb

Jessie is a passionate advocate for using business as a force for good with over ten years of experience in campaigns, public affairs, marketing and communications in international organisations, including The Body Shop, Amnesty International and currently IKEA. Her team turned Black Friday 2020 green with a focus on circularity and reached 3 billion, generating over €1.5 million in second-hand furniture sales worldwide. Jessie has led successful global campaigns to end animal testing in cosmetics, to stop the sex trafficking of young people and to fight for sexual and reproductive rights. Jessie is a board-member for Global Fund for Women UK.

Joanna Abeyie

Founder, Blue Moon

@Joanna_abeyie

Joanna Abeyie MBE is a multi-award winning social impact entrepreneur and champion of diversity, as well as an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. Joanna is also Founder and Director of Blue Moon, a Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy and Executive Search Process

Karen Hamilton

Global VP Sustainability, Divisions, Unilever

Karen has over 20 years’ experience of driving market share and catalysing innovation in 100+ countries.

In 2010 she spearheaded the creation of Unilever’s groundbreaking Sustainable Living Plan, which has been the company’s north star sustainable business strategy for 10 years. Committed to deepening its commitment to sustainable business, in 2021 the company launched the Unilever Compass, a fully integrated corporate strategy, which Karen helped to shape. She works with Unilever’s leading brands, such as Dove, Hellmann’s and Sunsilk, to bring their purpose to life and embed sustainability into product innovation.

Kristen Kammerer

Founder & CEO, Gen E

@weareallgene

Kristen is the Founder and CEO of Generation Environment (Gen E), a micro-philanthropy fintech app for daily climate action. She is an entrepreneur focused on solutions to the climate crisis and on cultivating environmentalism in everyday life.

Kristen held various senior marketing roles driving brand strategy and data analytics for global consumer brands. She previously founded Remedy Tea, an award winning modern tea bar and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Katie Thomas

Senior Beauty Editor, Marie Claire UK

@Katie_thomas_hayne

Katie Thomas is the Senior Beauty Editor at Marie Claire UK. She covers everything from the best beauty looks from the red carpet and stand out trends from the catwalk, to colonic irrigation and to the best mascaras on the market. She joined the Marie Claire digital team in 2018, having previously sat on the beauty desks at InStyle UK and Tatler. She's obsessed with skincare, loves low-maintenance hair and wears more jewellery than the Queen.

Lauren Sharp

Fashion Sustainability Consultant

Lauren is a fashion sustainability consultant. She developed her passion for sustainability whilst studying fashion at University, where she conducted numerous research reports on issues such as "The effects of Covid-19 on exploitation within fast fashion" and "The benefits of Radical Transparency for an industry shackled to an archaic supply chain". She then went on to study at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, further specialising in the way companies should incorporate sustainability into their business practices. Lauren is passionate about driving sustainable and ethical change within the industry.

Lisa Oxenham

Beauty & Style Director, Marie Claire UK

@lisaoxenham

An award-winning journalist and creative director, Lisa is one of the world's top beauty editors. A well-respected stylist and art director, she shoots with the highest calibre of photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists, influencers and celebrities, creating timeless images and film. With 20 years of editorial experience in beauty, health and wellbeing Lisa is also a popular brand strategist, influencer, entrepreneur and public speaker, most recently talking for Cognition X.

Millie Kendall MBE

CEO, The British Beauty Council

@milliekendall

Millie is the CEO of the British Beauty Council and Director at Brandstand Communications. During her career as a retail maven and brand creator Millie Kendall has been instrumental in the success of cult brands including Shu Uemura, Aveda, Tweezerman and L’Occitane. In 1997 she founded and created makeup brand, Ruby & Millie cosmetics and was awarded an MBE in 2007 for services to the cosmetics industry. In 2018 she co-founded the British Beauty Council, a non-profit organisation that aims to support a successful, innovative, and inclusive British beauty industry.

Myriam Sidibe

Chief Mission Officer, Brands on a Mission

@myriamonamission

Myriam Sidibe is the Chief Mission Officer and Founder of Brands on a Mission, an aspiring B-Corp aiming to get brands to drive impact in health and well-being through their business models. She’s also the woman behind the multi-award winning and UN recognized Global Handwashing Day now celebrated in over 100 countries. In addition, Myriam is a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and an honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She’s the author of the best-selling book Brands on a Mission : How to Achieve Social Impact and Business Growth through Purpose and her TED talk The Simple Power of Handwashing has been viewed over 1 million times.

Noella Coursaris Musunka

Founder / CEO, Malaika

@noellacoursaris

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is a Congolese/Cypriot philanthropist, an international model, and the Founder & CEO of Malaika. Founded in 2007, Malaika is a grassroots nonprofit that educates and empowers girls and their communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo through a school, a community center, and a comprehensive clean water program. A unique and fearless spokesperson and the face of leading beauty and fashion campaigns across the globe, Noëlla is a voice for the power of girls’ education worldwide. Noëlla has shared her insight at a number of world-class forums spanning the World Economic Forum in Davos to the university halls of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and MIT. She is an Ambassador for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an Advisor at Concordia, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Segal Family Foundation.

Penny Goldstone

Fashion Editor, Marie Claire UK

@pennygoldstone

Penny Goldstone is the fashion editor at Marie Claire, overseeing everything from shopping galleries, trends pieces, fashion week reporting and sartorial news. A self-confessed dress addict, she is committed to buying less but better in a bid to build a more sustainable wardrobe.

Ruby Raut

CEO and Co-Founder, WUKA

@rautruby

Growing up in Nepal, Ruby traditionally used old sari rags while on her period, which were very sustainable but uncomfortable and often caused embarrassing leaks. Arriving to the UK in 2010, Ruby was overwhelmed by the wide range of menstrual products available, however none were reusable. While studying for her Environmental Science degree, Ruby decided to create the UK’s first period pants - WUKA are now stocked in over 400 UK stores, including Sainsbury’s and Superdrug, and in over 20 countries. Ruby also launched a campaign calling on the government to remove the tax on period pants.

Sara Vaughan

Chief Purpose & Sustainability Advisor, Marie Claire International

@saravaughanofficial

Sara Vaughan is an Innovator, Positive Change Maker and Creator of Brands and Companies with Purpose. She is also Global Chief Purpose & Sustainability Advisor to Marie Claire which reaches 90m women and girls around the world.

Sophie Hellyer

Founder of Rise Fierce and co-host of Two's Company Podcast

@sophiehellyer

Sophie Hellyer is the founder of Rise Fierce, a cold-water swimming community which empowers women through wild swimming and kinship,. Currently living by the sea in Cornwall (UK), she regularly hosts Rise Fierce retreats across the UK – incorporating wild swimming, surfing, yoga and women’s circles – where she encourages other women to jump in and rise up. Sophie is also the co-host of Two’s Company, a fortnightly podcast discussing everything from food to feminism, periods to politics, sustainability to some slightly obscure vagina facts. Sophie is a qualified instructor for surfing, SUP, open-water-swimming and yoga, as well as a RNLI lifeguard at her local beach.

Sunil Makan

Editor-At-Large, Marie Claire UK & Deputy Editor, My Imperfect Life

With over 12 years of publishing experience, working on print publications and their digital counterparts, national newspapers and digital pure plays Sunil is an Editor, Strategist, Content Producer and Art Director that specialises in Fashion, Beauty and Grooming, Lifestyle and Culture.

Valeria Hinojosa

Founder Water Thru Skin LLC, Intu Rituals LLC, Lifestyle with a Conscience, Yindah Foundation

@waterthruskin

Valeria is a social entrepreneur, content creator, influencer, vegan, yogi and public speaker. After working in the the Private Banking Industry, she switched it all for a life of meaning and started WaterThruSkin LLC - a platform about a Lifestyle with a Conscience®, aimed at inspiring people to live more sustainably. Since then, she has been traveling the world visiting eco-friendly and soul-enriching hotels to acquire a vast knowledge of different cultures, green design and plant-based cuisine while also promoting sustainable and ethical practices. Valeria and her team have reviewed and promoted over 400 planet-friendly brands and hotels worldwide.

As a conscious content creator, Valeria speaks at worldwide events about the importance of being in touch with your essence and nature. She has also launched a sustainable and ethical jewelry brand (Lifestyle with a Conscience), a non-gmo and vegan CBD brand (Intu Rituals), and opened a nonprofit in Bolivia that has education and sustainability deeply rooted in its mission (The Yindah Foundation).

In 2019, she raised $200,000 through her platforms to aid her country, Bolivia, during the fires that consumed over 5 million hectares of nature, animals, and affected thousands of families.

Victoria Prew

CEO & Co-Founder HURR

@victoriaprew

Victoria Prew is the Co-Founder and CEO of HURR, the fashion marketplace changing the way we wear. Recognised as Forbes “30 Under 30”, Prew was the first to tap into the booming circular economy, spearheading rental fashion and shifts in Millennial and Gen-Z behaviour.

HURR is on a mission to reinvent ownership and provide all the short-cuts to a sustainable wardrobe. Disrupting the £21 billion UK fashion industry, HURR has been named one of the world’s “Top 50 retail-tech startups”.