MEET THE TEAM

Our team of subject matter experts brings ethical, inclusive, engagement and operational human rights due diligence to our clients.  

  • Founder and Principal

    Mary Francis is a business and human rights expert with a focus on human rights due diligence, international labor standards, and trade and labor affairs, including addressing impacts of vulnerable populations and intersectiong vulnerabilities. . She has worked with and for governments, industry, and civil society to conduct human rights due diligence, build capacity, and support partnerships and stakeholder engagement.

    Prior to co-founding Ardent Global Advisors, Mary worked with and for Fortune 100-500 multinational enterprises, supporting compliance with labor-related trade law, conducting research and developing human rights due diligence strategies, and identifying, mitigating, and remediating violations. Implementation of efforts range from raw commodities to finished products in the agriculture, mining, quarrying, tourism, technology, and apparel and footwear sectors.

    Mary also worked for ten years as a senior government official at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) where she worked substantively on international labor standards and labor-related trade law. She worked closely with businesses, foreign governments, labor and other civil society organizations, the international labor organization (ILO) and the United Nations. She served on Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and CBP committees to develop and determine labor-related trade enforcement policy. She also served as the labor advisor to the United States OECD National Contact Point for Multilateral Enterprise Due Diligence.

  • Senior Human Rights Advisor

    Rose is a global business and human rights expert, specializing in supply chain human rights across diverse industries, including technology, consumer goods, extractives, apparel, and footwear. With extensive experience in both advisory and in-house roles, Rose has a track record of designing, implementing, and managing comprehensive human rights programs to mitigate risks and drive responsible business practices.

    Rose's expertise spans a range of human rights areas, including forced labor in raw materials sourcing, social compliance, decent work, and adherence to international labor standards. In her role at a FTSE 100 tech company, she led the development of a global responsible sourcing strategy, implementing human rights due diligence processes across 15+ geographies. Her work involved identifying and prioritizing human rights risks, designing and implementing remedy programs, and leading training to build organizational capability.

    As an advisor, Rose has worked with multinational brands, small and mid-size businesses, manufacturers, investors, civil society organizations, industry associations, and academic institutions. Her hands-on experience includes conducting fieldwork, risk assessments, training, and remedy programs across various settings —from the drydock shipyards in Dubai, to high-tech battery systems in Germany, and automotive manufacturing in the UK.

    Rose is also a trusted partner for businesses seeking to align with evolving human rights regulatory and reporting frameworks, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the EU Battery Regulation, and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). She helps organizations embed human rights considerations into procurement decisions, product design, and corporate governance, ensuring compliance while fostering long-term resilience.

    A Mandarin Chinese speaker, Rose spent seven years in China, and has also lived in Jordan, the UK and the US. She serves as a Non-Executive Director at 34.4°, a natural skincare company, where she applies her expertise to deliver ethical and responsible business practices.

  • Senior Gender Advisor

    Julia Arnold is an experienced social and economic inclusion professional with a strategic focus on women’s economic inclusion, including intersecting vulnerabilities. As a seasoned research director, she has designed and managed global and regional projects supporting women’s economic inclusion, including research and strategy design, mixed methods research, and partnership and stakeholder engagement. She has extensive expertise in change management, strategic communications, capacity building, and learning and measurement. Her expertise spans women’s financial inclusion, labor rights, gender norms, gender-based violence, digitalization and digital inclusion, and livelihoods.

    Julia has provided strategic guidance, thought leadership, and evaluations for a diverse range of clients, including businesses, labor organizations, and other civil society organizations. She has led initiatives on digital financial capability, designed and written technical toolkits and guides for practitioners and implementors, and developed evaluation frameworks and analysis.

    Previously, she held leadership roles at the Center for Financial Inclusion and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), where she developed research agendas, led global research projects, and provided strategic and technical support across teams.

    Her technical skills include qualitative and quantitative research, gender analysis, data evaluation, and strategic knowledge management. Julia is a published author of several major reports and journal articles on women’s digital financial capability and gender-transformative financial inclusion.

  • Senior Gender Advisor

    Kate Francis is an expert in international development with a focus on gender. She has nearly twenty years of experience working with civil society, governments, and industry to design and implement women’s economic inclusion, gender integration, and social inclusion programs. Kate’s subject matter expertise spans women’s economic empowerment, violence and harassment, human trafficking, child labor, gender budgeting, and women’s leadership and political participation. She has led advocacy, strategy development, program development, and thought leadership initiatives with leading international organizations, including The Asia Foundation, Plan International, Freedom Fund, and GoodWeave International.

    Preferring to collaborate closely with community leaders, government officials, and colleagues in diverse contexts and countries. Kate leverages and adapts innovative gender and inclusion strategies across borders and sectors. She has worked with business leaders, civil society, philanthropists, and government funders to support new approaches to foster market-driven social good.