SLF End Of Year Meeting
This year’s meeting will review SLF’s annual report, benchmarking and technical advancements along with the opportunity to hear from experts and industry professionals. See below for more details on the speakers and agenda.
Our focus this year is on the value of partnerships through collaborative projects that provide tangible pathways for the implementation of improvement measures across environmental, social and governance responsibility. Increasing regulatory pressure to verify and prove compliance creates additional challenges for the leather industry and working to provide solutions-driven support is needed more than ever before.
Join us on Tuesday 3rd December 2024 to hear about the range of activities that are taking place to provide this support, including the latest updates on incoming directives and regulations.
All are welcome to attend either in-person or remotely and you can register using the link below:
We are looking forward to you joining us on Tuesday 3rd December for our annual meeting. Here is all the information you need whether you are joining us in person or remotely:
1.00 pm Arrival
1.30 pm Meeting Starts
5.00 pm Meeting Ends
Networking and buffet from 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm
We look forward to seeing you all there.
For those of you who are joining us in person, the address is:
Leathersellers’ Hide
4th Floor, Learning Hub
University of Northampton
Northampton
NN1 5PH
The closest car park for those travelling by car is Car Park 4, off New South Bridge Road, Northampton. SatNav postcode: NN4 8RR. Please pre-register your car at www.northampton.ac.uk/guestparking
Northampton Train Station is approximately 1 mile from the University – taxis are available at the station.
For those of you who are joining by remote connection, the dial in details are:
Topic: SLF End of Year Meeting
Time: Dec 3, 2024 1:30 PM to 5.00 pm London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84587353426?pwd=KDgvOwejs4C1KZ5uWkNSG7piSXEN3W.1
Meeting ID: 845 8735 3426
Passcode: 023809
Please add the dial in details to your calendar.
We will host the meeting programme and the SLF annual report in the chat area of the Zoom call for virtual participants on the day.
Agenda
Speakers
Deborah Taylor, Managing Director, Sustainable Leather Foundation.
Deborah founded the SLF in July 2020 specifically to support the leather industry to become more sustainable across environmental, social and governance aspects. The Foundation promotes an A.I.M. Approach to sustainable improvement – Accessible, Inclusive and Modular. Having created the innovative SLF Transparency Dashboard™, the first of its kind in the leather industry, Deborah is passionate about providing the right environment for transparent and verifiable information.
In addition to her work at the Foundation, since April 2020, Deborah has also worked as the leather value chain expert for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on projects related to traceability and transparency. A practitioner member of the Chartered Quality Institute and a certified SA8000 lead auditor, she also serves as Vice-President for the Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists, and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers.
Hans van Haarst, Global Director of Sustainability, SHV Holdings
With over 30 years experience working for Blue Chip process companies, Hans is an experienced strategist. As the CEO of Royal Smit & Zoon for 10 years, Hans was instrumental in steering the company to become one of the industry’s leading chemical companies when it comes to a sustainable business vision. Now as the Corporate Director of ESG at SHV Holdings, Hans expands this perspective with a wider approach to sustainability.
In addition to his full time role, Hans has served on the Advisory Board of SLF since it’s inception in 2020 and is the current Chair since 2021, providing governance oversight to the Foundation.
Katie Kutskill, Business Operations and Strategy, Is It Leather?
Katies holds her BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science, along with a Masters in Leather Technology.
Katie’s early career was within the automotive leather sector, working with both Eagle Ottowa and then Pangea (formerly GST Autoleather) where she was the Executive Director of Global Product Development and Sustainability Officer. More recently Katie worked at the Sustainable Leather Foundation as Technical Director before moving into a consulting role which led to her current position advocating for a sustainable leather industry with Is It Leather?
She is a member of the American Leather Chemists Association, Katie is a believer in driving positive communication, backed up by robust data.
Kevin Latner, Vice President, Leather and Hide Council of America.
Kevin has 30 years experience in agricultural trade policy, strategic planning, trade marketing, monitoring and research. He is passionate about the contribution that sustainable and renewable agricultural products make to our lives, our communities, our supply chains and world. Kevin is Vice President of the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) and has previously served as Executive Director of the Cotton Council International and as Vice President of the National Cotton Council of America.
Dr Oluwaseyi Omoloso
Dr Omoloso is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Business at the University of Northampton. He obtained his PhD in Business Sustainability, investigating how leather related companies can better implement, communicate and measure social sustainability impacts within their supply chain. He has been actively involved in leading enterprise projects related to Net Zero, Social Impact, Plastic Waste Mitigation, Circularity, Leather Sustainability and Lean Product Development. He has also contributed to International polices around plastic waste in Agriculture, through meetings and consultations.
Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano
Since 1987, Gustavo has led the Brussels-based leather industry association COTANCE, the sector’s EU umbrella organisation gathering the National Tanners’ Associations of 11 European countries and representing over 90% of the continent’s leather production.
Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano is a qualified lawyer specialising in European Law.