Pia Rudolfsson Goyer

Pia Rudolfsson Goyer brings more than two decades of deep, hands-on experience at the crossroads of business, finance, and human rights, with a career shaped by one consistent focus: helping organizations make decisions that respect people while strengthening long-term strategy and resilience. A trained human rights specialist with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in international law, her work has been closely connected to the development and practical application of international frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines, translating global standards into realistic tools for investors, companies, and financial institutions.

A defining period of her professional life was her twelve years at the Secretariat of the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, where she served as a senior human rights advisor employed by the Ministry of Finance. During this time, she contributed to building the Fund’s methodology for evaluating companies under its ethical guidelines, assessing allegations of serious human rights violations, and engaging directly with company leadership on how to prevent future harm. This work provided her with unique insight into how large institutional investors interact with investee companies and manage ESG and human rights risks through credible analysis, documentation, and dialogue.

Alongside her public-sector experience, Pia has worked extensively with sustainable finance and regulatory implementation. She has contributed to assessments of green bonds and green loan frameworks, ensuring that minimum social safeguards are meaningfully integrated rather than treated as formalities. Her work with organizations such as Celsia and Shades of Green, now part of ISS Corporate and S&P Global respectively, included developing methodologies and software solutions aligned with the EU Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, helping companies navigate complex regulations through practical, day-to-day due diligence processes.

Since 2018, she has led her own consultancy, Ahead for Business and Human Rights, providing guidance, studies, and training for investors, board members, lawyers, and corporate professionals. Her advisory work focuses on evaluating the maturity of human rights due diligence systems, supporting responsible investment strategies, and helping organizations understand how social risk directly translates into financial risk. This perspective has also shaped her work advising investors who wish to establish independent ethics councils and offering external analysis of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s ethical framework.

Beyond advisory roles, Pia is an experienced educator and speaker, lecturing at executive master programs, universities, and international conferences on finance, sustainability, and human rights. She has authored research reports and training materials for organizations including Amnesty International, civil society networks, and government-linked bodies, and she currently serves as a trustee of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (UK). Across all her work, she does not position herself as a traditional leader, but rather as a bridge-builder, connecting global frameworks with local realities and aligning the language of human rights law with the practical decision-making of business and finance. What excites her most today is the growing leadership emerging across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, reinforcing her belief that responsible business is a shared global movement built on trust, prevention of harm, and long-term value creation.