Elisa Shepard is Senior Advisor for Business Practices at the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), where she focuses on responsible purchasing practices and the intersection of corporate sustainability legislation with supply chain accountability. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director and Board Member at ETI, representing workers’ interests.
With a unique background spanning both manufacturing and human rights advocacy, Elisa brings practical industry knowledge to systemic change initiatives. She spent over a decade in design and production leadership roles, including Head of Design & Sales at BroDesign Ltd and Design Manager at Beyond Creative Ltd, where she worked directly with factories, mills, and technicians across global supply chains for major fashion retailers including Zara, Topshop, and Next.
Since joining ETI in 2019, her work involves engaging multi-stakeholder initiatives, NGOs, trade unions, businesses, and finance actors to drive systemic change in how companies source and procure. Elisa has specialised in purchasing practices that impact worker rights and environmental sustainability. She combines deep operational understanding of fast-fashion market dynamics with expertise in human rights due diligence, making her a bridge between commercial realities and responsible practice across the apparel sector.
