Audience: Open industry. All apparel and footwear industry professionals, regardless of AAFA membership, are encouraged to participate.
Description:
This webinar will provide an overview of the current social compliance landscape, looking at various initiatives in play. It will cover topics such as industry convergence, professionalizing the social auditor field, managing auditor integrity challenges, keeping track of hot topics (such as forced labor/human trafficking), and more.
Attendees of this webinar will hear about:
- The various initiatives attempting to influence where the industry is heading.
- The opportunities for collaboration across the sector.
- Current hot topics in social compliance and how they apply.
Speakers:
Avedis Seferian
President & CEO
Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)
Avedis Seferian joined WRAP in 2004 and was named President & CEO in 2012. He has extensive knowledge of social responsibility issues within the highly complex supply chains of the apparel, textile and footwear sectors. A recognized expert in the area of social compliance and responsible sourcing, he often speaks on topics in this field at different forums around the world, and has contributed to many leading trade publications and news outlets. Mr. Seferian serves on the Board of Advisors of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, is Chairman of the Board of the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA) and sits on the Impartiality Committees of several audit organizations. He speaks five languages, has lived in four countries and holds degrees from three continents, including a JD from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Mr. Seferian is a member of the American Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar.
Clay Hickson
Vice President, Strategy & Business Development
Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)
As Vice President, Strategy & Business Development at WRAP,Clay Hickson manages international operations and helps develop and refine WRAP’s strategy. He specifically focuses on managing relationships with global brands and retailers and with governmental and other stakeholder organizations. Mr. Hickson has extensive experience in international marketing, corporate communications, strategic planning, and cross-cultural communications. He has developed and led seminars and other initiatives around the world in the field of social responsibility in collaboration with audit firms, manufacturing facilities, industry associations, government bodies and others, which initiatives have facilitated understanding of socially responsible and ethical practices as well as an understanding of how to implement social compliance programs. Mr. Hickson is an active participant in the AAFA Social Responsibility Committee, and he serves on the governing Steering Committee of the Social & Labor Convergence Project. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Moderator:
Nate Herman
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain
AAFA
Nate Herman oversees AAFA’s government relations department, managing the association’s lobbying, policy, and regulatory affairs activities. Nate leads AAFA’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, formulating and implementing CSR policy and representing AAFA and the industry on CSR issues before governments, NGOs, and other key stakeholders. Nate also leads the association’s work on sustainability, transportation, logistics, and customs issues. In addition, Nate develops all apparel and footwear industry data and statistics as AAFA's resident economist. Prior to joining AAFA, Nate worked for six years at the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration assisting U.S. firms in entering the global market. Nate spent the last two years as the Department's industry analyst for the footwear and travel goods industries. Nate received a Masters of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Economics from the University of Delaware in 1992.
Sponsored by:
