Promoting Corporate Accountability Through Human Rights
For Raven Ziegler, human rights and responsible business practices are deeply intertwined. From worker’s rights to immigration, corporations have an immense impact on human rights.
Ziegler’s interest in business and human rights emerged during her time in the Master of Human Rights program. She interned over the summer with Amnesty International USA, where she worked in DC conducting legislation and policy research on immigration in the United States. Through this experience, Ziegler recognized the significant role corporations play in shaping human rights conditions, particularly within the private immigration detention industry. “There was a moment where it clicked for me that corporations were a very prominent lever of power within the human rights space,” Ziegler reflected. “I knew I wanted to figure out how to use that lever of power to enhance human rights.”
Since then, Ziegler has acted as a business and human rights practitioner within both the public and private sectors. After graduation, she worked with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Lab, where she investigated corporate crimes and developed open source research tools. From there, Ziegler worked with Target Corporation, helping develop supply chain human rights strategies and corresponding policies. Ziegler’s work ranged from protecting workers' health and safety from hazardous weather, to increasing worker access to remedy through enhanced grievance mechanisms.
Today, Ziegler owns and leads her own consulting practice. She is currently advising a wide array of corporate clients and tribal governments on responsible business strategies that center issues like land rights, human rights due diligence, and sustainable development.
Reimagining Human Rights Progress
The current environment is a challenging one for advocates of corporate accountability. Seeing how European corporate regulations have blossomed while American regulations have crumbled, Ziegler notes that it is difficult to predict the future direction of the field. Yet Ziegler views this uncertainty as an opportunity. Periods when human rights norms feel unstable or malleable can also be moments to reimagine and strengthen them. Rather than becoming discouraged, she emphasizes the importance of remaining committed to the belief that a more just future is possible.
Ziegler advises current students to look beyond the specific subfield of human rights they are interested in to also examine which stakeholders are powerful within that space, in order to find internships and opportunities that engage with those actors. She also advises students to approach this field with curiosity and creativity. “Be curious about the world, and courageous in how you imagine a more just future,” Ziegler says.
Ziegler holds onto hope that a better future is possible. “It’s extremely daunting, but the world has always been daunting,” she says. “Accountability cannot be evaded forever. Progress cannot be inhibited forever.”
