Laura Hawkesford is Laura is a skilled expert in impact solutions, strategies and implementation.
With prior roles at Oxfam, Marks and Spencer, and CARE International, Laura has a deep understanding of fashion supply chains and commodity value chains such as cocoa and tea.
Laura believes in collaborative approaches to tackle global challenges and systems and her passion lies in uniting diverse stakeholders to craft inclusive and effective solutions.
Question 1: What are the three things people should know about you?
I co-lead The Partnership Collective, a women-led consultancy grounded in equity, community, and collaboration.
I’m passionate about amplifying rightsholder and community voices in global business decision-making.
My work focuses on helping companies move beyond compliance to deliver inclusive, measurable impact across livelihoods, gender equity, and climate resilience.
Question 2: What fascinates you about your work?
What fascinates me is the chance to bridge worlds. I get to sit at the intersection of communities, supply chains, and boardrooms, translating lived experience into strategies that shift how businesses operate. Seeing ideas that begin in villages or factories ripple out into global strategies is what inspires me every day.
Question 3: If there were no limitations, what would you recommend companies do to advance the rights of people in business?
Embed rightsholder voices directly into governance and decision-making. It’s not enough to consult; we need to structurally integrate worker and community priorities into how businesses set strategy, measure progress, and incentivise success.
If there were no limits, I’d redesign business models so that people and planet are treated as core assets — not as externalities.
Question 4: What is the most pressing question in your field of work right now, and how are you approaching it?
The big question for me is: how do we meaningfully integrate social sustainability (rights, livelihoods, equity) into climate and nature strategies? Too often these agendas are siloed.
At The Partnership Collective, we’re building integrated pathways that link gender equity, livelihood security, and climate and nature outcomes. TPC’s Thrive Continuum framework helps companies move from “doing less harm” to creating regenerative impact.
Question 5: What will the world of responsible business look like in 10 years?
In ten years, responsible business won’t just mean reformed versions of today’s companies; it will also include new enterprises where equity and regeneration are embedded from the outset.
We’ll see both transformation and replacement. What will matter most is the impact your business has — good or bad. That impact will be increasingly visible, strengthened by multiple data points and new technologies that make consequences harder to ignore.
Transparency will no longer be optional; companies will be called out if they fall short, and recognised when they deliver real, positive change.
Get in touch with Laura Hawkesford Valenzuela via Linkedin or via email.
