Clara Cotroneo is a Senior Consultant specialised in EU tendering, research, policies and strategy. She has led studies, evaluations and training in EU laws and policies for EU, national authorities and private clients. Alongside a broad methodological expertise, she has extensive topical expertise in security, digital and sustainable policies. Her latest interests include the security, sustainability and innovation of critical infrastructure and the protection of civilian and military access to them.
Clara has experience in organisational management both in academia and private companies and is currently a Member of the Board also for a Brussels-based think tank. In addition to her consultancy and management work, she is also a lecturer and researcher at Leiden University’s Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, where she follows students specialising in crisis management and cybersecurity.
Lifelong learner, Clara is currently completing further education in International Politics and perfecting her French.
A scientist by training, Dr. Rebecca E. Webber Gaudiosi is a former U.S. diplomat, author, and consultant. As a diplomat, Rebecca represented the United States at the United Nations from 2006 – 2015, during which she developed and delivered policies on environment and sustainable development for hundreds of negotiations at more than twenty-five environment- and sustainable development-related multilateral organizations, including the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Ms. Gaudiosi also worked with various UN specialized agencies, on bilateral science and environment issues in the Middle East and Asia, and on human rights grants in Egypt. Ms. Gaudiosi is now an independent consultant on negotiation and conflict resolution, leading negotiation workshops for the United Nations and around the world. Dr. Gaudiosi holds a Masters in Public Policy from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University. Rebecca is the co-author of “Negotiating at the United Nations” (Routledge 2019) and an IMI-qualified mediator.
Astrid Stadler is a professor of law at the University of Konstanz, Germany. She holds a chair of private law, civil procedure law, private international law and comparative law. From 2011-2015 she also had a part-time chair in the Netherlands (Erasmus University, Rotterdam) for comparative mass litigation. For more than 20 years, she has done research in the field of mass litigation and has published more than 70 articles on collective redress. Together with international research teams she realized several book projects. She also served as an expert for claimants in collective actions and as an academic advisor for public regulators and ministries in Europe. From 2017-2020 she was chair (co-reporter) of an international working group in an ELI/UNIDROIT project (Model Rules for European Civil Procedure 2020) that drafted model rules for collective redress proceedings. She has experience as a supervisory board member in other Dutch foundations, for example in the VW case.
Astrid Stadler graduated from the University of Konstanz and obtained her PhD in 1988 at the same university. She qualified as a professor in 1993 at the University of Freiburg, Germany. She was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, and is a guest professor at Tongji University, Shanghai. In the German academic community, she is also well-known as vice-president of the German Association of Civil Procedural Law and co-editor of the German “Juristenzeitung”, the most prestigious law journal in Germany.
Martha is a civil rights lawyer in Detroit, Michigan. For more than a decade, Martha served in the prestigious position of career attorney/clerk to the Honorable Helene N. White of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which rules on appeals from the federal district courts in four states: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Martha served in the district where many vehicle manufacturers have their U.S. headquarters and drafted for the Judge’s review objective, clear, and carefully measured opinions, including dissents.
The wide-ranging civil cases Martha worked on involved all manner of torts, including product-liability, diversity-jurisdiction claims that required application of state law, and constitutional claims. Prior to serving in the Sixth Circuit, Martha served the same Judge in the Michigan Court of Appeals for 14 years. During that time, she reviewed appellate briefs and lower court records. After conducting extensive independent legal research, Martha drafted opinions for the Judge’s review, including in technical product-liability cases.
She is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School, where she served on the editorial board of the Journal of International Law and Economics. She previously earned a Master of Arts degree in foreign language and international trade.
Steve is a renowned U.S. attorney who has dedicated his 40-year legal career to uplifting those most in need of representation against the world’s largest corporations and wrongdoers. Steve’s legacy includes many noteworthy cases and victories, chiefly among them having served as co-lead counsel against Big Tobacco, resulting in the largest settlement in world history, and at the time the largest automotive, antitrust, ERISA and securities settlements in U.S. history.
Steve’s work also includes a focus on automotive litigation, with a specific focus on emissions-cheating cases against major automakers. Mr. Berman pioneered this area of law on the heels of the Volkswagen Dieselgate litigation, which he served in as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and lead counsel on behalf of VW franchise dealers, in a suit culminating in a settlement of $1.6 billion – a substantial recovery for the class. Hagens Berman was the first law firm in the nation to sue VW regarding its emissions cheating and has gone on to independently test diesel vehicles, bringing proprietary class actions against Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford.
Steve is the Funder’s representative to the Foundation. He waives his hourly fee in furtherance of the mission.
Arno Akkermans is Professor of Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He teaches liability law and conflict resolution, and conducts research in the broad field of compensation for damage and the experiences and needs of citizens who have to resort to the legal system. His research focuses on the victims of traffic and industrial accidents, medical errors, disasters and crimes. He works mainly in interdisciplinary research teams with social scientists, psychologists and medics and is committed to improving the performance of the justice system in meeting the real needs of citizens.
Since 2010, Melanie has worked in a variety of roles within the philanthropy and social impact sectors, from Washington, D.C., to the San Francisco Bay Area, and now in Amsterdam. Her work at The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW) entails partnering with social investors and supporting them on their philanthropic strategies by designing learning opportunities and building a community of best practice to accelerate philanthropic resources and impact that individuals and families have across a wide range of issues.
Previous to TPW, she served as a Philanthropy Advisor at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she advised individuals and families across the western United States on their philanthropic strategies from governance to grantmaking and sustainable impact investing. She also spent time at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in the world with approximately $13B in assets under management, helping the team expand its footprint to include San Francisco. Before moving west, Melanie spent five years at the global health organization PSI (Population Services International) and was a part of the core team that developed Maverick Collective, a philanthropic initiative at PSI dedicated to empowering women and girls around the world to live healthy and productive lives. Created in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Maverick Collective was built with the vision and leadership of HRH The Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Melinda Gates and has prompted significant investments in women and girls health and increased collaboration between philanthropists, corporations, and governments globally. Melanie holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of San Diego and lives in Amsterdam.
Peter has devoted his career to litigation, compliance, financial regulation, taxation, governance, conduct risk, operational risk and related matters for many years. He most recently sat on the board of Stichting NL Tesco in the Netherlands which related to potential resolution of claims related to accounting irregularities.