Team Member

Susannah McLaren is Head of Responsible Sourcing & Sustainability at the Cobalt Institute and a global leader in responsible sourcing, sustainability, and business and human rights. With over 25 years' international experience across industry associations, global corporations, and advisory roles in the extractives, engineering, manufacturing, and critical minerals sectors, she works with companies, governments, international organisations, and civil society to advance responsible sourcing, environmental and human rights due diligence, and sustainability across global mineral value chains.

Susannah serves as Chair of the Board of the Global Battery Alliance and is a member of the Mining Indaba Steering Committee and the Advisory Board of the DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum. She also represents the Cobalt Institute across a range of international initiatives, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, OECD Multi-Stakeholder Steering Group, Drive Sustainability's Drive+, and other leading responsible sourcing and sustainability platforms.

Before joining the Cobalt Institute, Susannah held responsible sourcing and sustainability roles at Shift and the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), where she developed extensive expertise in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade with a FTSE 100 global engineering company, ultimately serving as Global Head of Social Sustainability.

Susannah holds a Master's degree in Environment and Business from the University of Leeds and a Bachelor's degree in Accountancy and Management from the University of Malta.