CHLOE POYNTON
Co-Founder & Principal
San Francisco
As Principal of Article One, Chloe works with her clients to drive transformative change that places people at the center of business. Whether it is conducting field-level human rights impact assessments or facilitating responsible foresight workshops, Chloe is committed to bringing the voices of those impacted by company operations, products, and services to the center of corporate decision making.
Chloe is a leading expert in conducting human rights due diligence – from policy development to integration and governance efforts – and designing responsible innovation principles and practices. Chloe leads Article One’s engagements with social media, technology, hospitality, and consumer products companies. Clients have included Facebook, InterContinental Hotels, Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks, and UNICEF.
Chloe began her career as a Watson Fellow where she partnered with humanitarian aid organizations to assess humanitarian responses to forced migration in Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and along the Tanzania/Burundi and Thai/Burma borders. Chloe then moved to the non-profit sector where she supported transitional justice efforts in post-conflict countries with the International Center for Transitional Justice before relocating to Sierra Leone with the UN Development Program (UNDP). At UNDP, Chloe served as an Electoral Advisor to the Government of Sierra Leone—providing technical advice and guidance during the 2008 election.
After receiving a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Economic Development from Princeton University, Chloe saw an opportunity to engage business on human rights and development issues and accepted a position at BSR—a global nonprofit sustainability consulting firm. At BSR Chloe led the organization’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa Human Rights Program. In that capacity, she provided guidance to companies in the ICT, Healthcare, Travel and Tourism, Financial Services, and Extractives sectors in their efforts to advance corporate respect for human rights. These projects involved developing human rights programs and strategies; conducting human rights impact assessments in Canada, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and across global supply chains; assessing human rights remedy programs in Papua New Guinea; conducting women’s empowerment programs in Haiti, India, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda; and leading community engagement programs in Guinea. In addition, Chloe played a leading role in developing the Guiding Principles on Access to Healthcare which advances the pharmaceutical industry’s approach to expanding access to quality healthcare globally, and ANN INC.’s 100,000 Women Commitment which empowers women employed in ANN INC.’s global supply chains through health and financial literacy education.
Chloe holds an MA in Public Policy from Princeton University and a BA in International Studies and Anthropology from Macalester College. She was a 2006-2007 Watson Fellow and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and Technology. She regularly writes and speaks on business and human rights issues.