Felipe Arango

For almost 20 years, Felipe’s energy and attention have been focused on advancing sustainable development. He co-founded and led BSD (business. sustainability. development) offices in Colombia, Mexico and the United States, and acted as managing partner for the BSD network before selling to ELEVATE in 2020. He has been deeply engaged in the development of the Fairtrade movement, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and most recently, the global Welcoming and Integrated Thinking movements. 

Through his advisory work, he has served organizations worldwide in the design and roll-out of sustainability strategies and systems. He is also engaged with impact investors, standard-setters, social innovators, governments and development agencies as an advisor / advocate for social justice and future generations. Felipe has worked with leading organizations in the textile, retail, food, telecommunications, financial, extractive, automotive, public and media sectors to improve the management of social, economic and environmental issues across their value chains.

He works closely with agenda-setters worldwide to improve standards and certifications systems in the field of sustainable supply chains (i.e. ISEAL, Fairtrade, SA8000, BSCI, Smart Campaign), and is also engaged in pioneering work around sustainable supply chain financing and inclusive distribution networks as a consultant to the Interamerican Development Bank. Felipe is a member of the Blockchain for Social Impact coalition and is constantly exploring solutions at the intersection of data, business and development.