Advisory Council
Elise Groulx Diggs practices international human rights law and international criminal law. She advises corporations on human rights risks in their strategic projects and supply chains. Elise also offers legal advisory and training services to support corporations conducting human rights due diligence, audits and social risk assessments. She is an expert at helping businesses and financial institutions to assess their legal exposures related to business operations and supply chains in conflict-affected regions. She has advised multinational corporations on a variety of issues that include due diligence assessments for investments in conflict-prone countries; business complicity in war crimes; corporate criminal liability; and remediation programs for victims of human rights violations occurring near mining projects.
Luis Felipe Duchicela comes from the Puruwa nation of the Andean highlands of Ecuador and has decades of experience working in international development, biodiversity conservation, and on issues related to Indigenous peoples worldwide. He is currently focused on facilitating the development and expansion of Indigenous business enterprises and economies. He led a team at Australian-based BHP between 2022 and 2024 responsible for Indigenous engagement, rights, agreement making, partnerships, cultural understanding, social investment and employment. He also developed BHP’s strategic partnership with Indigenous peoples in the mining regions of Chile. Luis Felipe previously served as Senior Advisor for Indigenous Peoples’ Issues at USAID. Between 2013 and 2018 he was the Global Advisor on Indigenous Peoples at the World Bank. Previously, Luis Felipe served as the Executive Director of the Amazon Conservation Association, as Regional Director for the Rainforest Alliance, and was the first National Secretary (Minister) of Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minority Affairs of the Republic of Ecuador.
Murray Rankin is an experienced lawyer, mediator and negotiator, with a focus on environmental, Indigenous, and public law issues. He is currently of counsel to Vancouver-based Arvay Finlay LLP. He was elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 2020 and served as Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation until 2024 where he led the cross-government implementation of British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Murray also led government initiatives advancing various reconciliation agreements with multiple First Nations and oversaw significant progress in modern treaty negotiations in British Columbia. In addition, he led efforts to create shared decision-making agreements with First Nation governments across British Columbia and worked to establish new revenue-sharing models for gaming, forestry, and mining as well as for Indigenous-led conservation initiatives.
Sharon Singh is currently the co-head of the Indigenous and Environment practices at Canadian law firm McMillan. She has two decades of experience in guiding businesses on environmental, Indigenous, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), and human rights matters. A focus of her practice is working on Indigenous and local community relations to assist with successful project development operations that involve creating and sustaining partnerships between communities, government, and industry. She describes this work as combining the roles of being a strategic advisor, mediator, and a facilitator.
