Theresa Loar

Theresa Loar has been working at the nexus of business, human rights and diplomacy for over thirty years with leadership positions across corporations, NGOs and the U.S. Department of State. She is currently a Senior Advisor with BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), a global nonprofit business network and consultancy dedicated to sustainability and human rights.

Ms. Loar was Senior Vice President for Global Corporate Affairs at CH2M, (now part of Jacobs Engineering), a Fortune 500 engineering consulting firm where she built an international government relations team across five continents. She also initiated and led a global response to modern slavery issues raised in CH2M infrastructure programs in the Middle East, engaging with governments, clients, NGOs and industry peers to forge effective alliances to prevent slavery in supply chains.

During the Clinton Administration, Ms. Loar worked in the White House and the U.S. Department of State to promote and protect women’s human rights under the leadership of First Lady Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She co-led a presidential task force to develop policy to combat human trafficking and introduced the Prevention, Protection and Prosecution framework into testimony before the U.S. Congress. She was also a co-founder and the founding president of Vital Voices Global Partnership, a global NGO inspired by Hillary Clinton as an outcome of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women to invest in women and improve the world. As a Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Loar served in diplomatic assignments overseas and in Washington, DC. Prior to her diplomatic career, Ms. Loar was an entrepreneur and advertising executive in New York City. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and RAD-AID International, a Trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation in London, and a member of the Vital Voices DC Council.