ASI’s Board of Directors
Key responsibilities of the ASI Board include:
- Setting the vision, purpose and strategies of the organisation and assessing overall organisational performance
- Ensuring financial integrity and resilience, including approving annual budgets and reviewing financial reports
- Overseeing risk assessment and management of identified risks
- Adoption of new or revised ASI standards and assurance models by making them a By-Law, where due process has been followed by responsible Committees and no material risks are identified
- Overseeing implementation of the ASI Complaints Mechanism and related disciplinary procedures for members
- Setting the tone for ASI’s culture and conduct, and ethical and responsible decision-making throughout the organisation.
Composition
ASI’s Board is multi-stakeholder and composed of 8 people. ASI members elect two Directors from each of Production and Transformation, Industrial Users and Civil Society membership classes. In addition, two Independent Directors are appointed by the elected Board.
Terms are normally 2 years. There is possibility for re-election at the end of a term, up to a maximum of 6 continuous years. Directors have staggered terms, so that in each of the 3 membership classes and among the two Independent Directors, there will arise one vacancy per year. Casual vacancies are filled according to processes set out in ASI’s Constitution.
Meet the ASI Board Directors
Dr Sasha Courville, Independent Director
Sasha is a strategy and sustainability expert with over twenty years’ experience in systems change across a range of industries and sectors, most recently in the financial sector for the past 12 years. She was previously the Executive Director of the ISEAL Alliance from 2005-2012, and has been a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer for Water Stewardship Australia. She brings expertise in next generation sustainability standards systems and online information platforms and tools to enhance access to information about standards, and extensive experience in strategy, multi-stakeholder engagement, natural capital and ecosystems services frameworks and shared value initiative design.
Salman Abdulla, Executive Vice President – Health, Sustainability, Safety, Environment, Quality & Business Transformation, Emirates Global Aluminium
Salman has spent the entirety of his career working in the aluminium industry, starting as an electrical apprentice in 1984.
He has firsthand experience of the demands and challenges associated with working on the shop floor in smelting, power production and desalination.
Salman has worked up from the shop floor to hold several management positions including General Manager of Power and Desalination, Chief Operational Officer and in 2010 Salman was appointed as Vice President of Operations with responsibility for running the world’s largest single site smelter.
Today, Salman’s role as Executive Vice President includes overall responsibility for EGA’s Sustainability Team and bringing sustainability related issues to the attention of the EGA Board. Salman has been an avid supporter of ASI since 2016.
Throughout his 35 years of experience, Salman has witnessed firsthand the changes in the industry and understands the current societal demands for a low carbon, responsibly produced Aluminium.
Dr Raj Aseervatham, Non-Executive Director
Raj is an engineer with a professional history in mining and energy. He has spent around half his executive career in operational engineering, project engineering, strategy and senior ESG/sustainability roles in listed companies BHP, Rio Tinto and Origin Energy; and the other half in ESG consulting and audit/assurance for the mining and energy sectors around the world. Raj’s postgraduate qualifications include engineering, business management and legal studies. He is an accredited mediator in Australia’s legal system, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an experienced ESG lead assurer to a number of international mining/metals and equities exchange governance standards. He was in the early 2000s the founder of Corporate Integrity, a UK-based ESG assurance firm, and is a published author in the fields of his professional expertise. His recent years of non-executive Board and leadership roles include the environmental foundation Planet Ark, and Engineers Australia, the peak body of engineering in that country, where he is appointed Board Chair and National President.
Catherine Athenes, Vice President, Group Sustainability and Public Affairs Europe, Constellium
Catherine is an experienced leader in the areas of sustainability and aluminium. With over 30 years of international experience in sustainability, corporate strategy, marketing and sales, Catherine has spent over two decades working in the aluminium industry, for companies such as Pechiney, Alcan, and since 2011, Constellium. At Constellium, Catherine played a key role in establishing the first Sustainability Council in 2013 and has been leading the company’s sustainability agenda since 2018. As Vice President Group Sustainability and Public Affairs Europe, she is responsible for driving the company-wide ESG strategy, including climate change, recycling, promotion of a sustainable and responsible supply chain. She is working closely with business and plant leaders, as well as liaising with the Executive Committee and the Board. Catherine is active in many industry associations, advocating for initiatives to promote a sustainable aluminium industry.
Catherine is a graduate of the French business school HEC Paris, the University of Köln in Germany and the Carlson School of Economics, Minnesota.
Julia Batho, Deputy CEO, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)
Julia Batho is Deputy Chief Executive at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, an independent non-profit thinktank, working to make respect for humanrights part of everyday business. Julia is a qualified lawyer and human rightsexpert with over 15 years’ experience on international labour standards and labour migration. She established IHRB’s presence in Southeast Asia and has managed the Institute’s work on labour rights, including its outreach in the GCC, since 2019. As Deputy CEO, Julia works closely with the CEO and COO on the strategic development, financial management and good governance of IHRB. Julia is one of the organisation’s safeguarding leads and also has oversight of IHRB’s Monitoring & Evaluation and impact reporting activities. Originally from Brazil, Julia has previously worked with the International Labour Organization in Southeast Asia and Geneva.
Jan Boekelman, Treasurer, Chimbo Foundation
Jan has followed a career in Finance since finishing an MSC in Econometrics at the University of Amsterdam.
Jan has many years of experience in the oil & gas extraction industry, of which 15 years with Royal Dutch Shell and eight years with EBN, the Dutch state owned investment company. He has worked at increasing seniority levels for various Finance roles in positions in three continents, including a number of Executive Board positions at C-level and a number of Supervisory Board positions over the last ten years.
At present, Jan is the Treasury of Foundation Chimbo, in addition to maintaining various Supervisory Board roles.
Matthias Esdar, Head of Corporate Strategy, Marketing & PR and Sustainability, OTTO FUCHS KG
Matthias Esdar is Director for multiple departments at OTTO FUCHS KG. With his team, he is globally responsible for the areas of Corporate Strategy, Marketing, PR & Communication as well as Sustainability at OTTO FUCHS. By combining these different expertise areas, Matthias’ task is to transform OTTO FUCHS to cope with the upcoming challenges. Further, he is present in various associations and foundations.
He has a Masters in Energy, Trade & Finance from the Cass Business School in London, and is a Member of Board for Energy & Climate at WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle, a Member of Board at Stiftung KlimaWirtschaft, and a Member of Board for Communication at German Aerospace Association.
Dr. Gerald Rebitzer, Director Sustainability, Amcor
Dr. Gerald Rebitzer is Sustainability Director at Amcor. His role encompasses environmental management and social responsibility from an operations and product perspective. Gerald has been working in sustainability for over 25 years, with a focus on packaging since 2006. In addition to his work at Amcor, Gerald is Chair of the Board and Steering Committee for CEFLEX, a non-profit circular economy initiative for flexible packaging. He is also a Board Member of both the Swiss and German aluminum recycling cooperatives. Gerald was also intensely involved in the creation and development of the first sustainability sourcing standard for the aluminium sector, which created the basis for ASI.
Board Minutes Summaries
The Board meets regularly, mainly via teleconference but also at times in person. Summaries of the meeting minutes are published below for transparency.
