Ursula Wynhoven

Columbia University, LL.M. (Hons) 2002

Monash University, LL.M., B.Litt., LL.B. (Hons), B.Ec.

Ursula is an international lawyer with 24 years’ experience. She joined the ITU in 2017 as its Representative to the UN. The ITU is the UN’s specialized agency for information & communication technologies with the mission to connect the world. Ursula leads UN relations and represents the agency and its Secretary-General at the UN in NY. She heads the ITU’s UN Liaison Office and works at the intersection of technology and development, promoting digital inclusion and the use of ICTs for sustainable development. 

Previously, Ursula spent 14 years with the UN Global Compact, the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative. Her last position was Chief, Social Sustainability, Governance & Legal, and member of the Executive Committee. Ursula led legal affairs and oversaw policy development & implementation of the UNGC’s integrity measures. She also led the UNGC's work on human rights & decent work, gender equality, poverty & inequality, peace, anti-corruption & the rule of law. She was responsible for the creation and development of many initiatives including the Women's Empowerment Principles, Children's Rights and Business Principles, Guide for General Counsel on Corporate Sustainability, Business for the Rule of Law, and the Foundation for the Global Compact. Ursula began working with the UNGC in 2002 and played an active role in helping to grow the initiative to more than 13,000 signatories in more than 160 countries with a full roster of corporate sustainability workstreams. Ursula's tenure included a 6-month loan as Senior Advisor, Business & Human Rights to the UN’s Human Rights Office. 

Prior to joining the UN, Ursula worked in law firms and government human rights agencies in Australia and the US, and for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the OECD's corporate responsibility initiative. 

Ursula has LLMs from Columbia Law School, where she was a Human Rights Fellow, and Monash Law School, and Bachelor’s degrees in Law, Economics, and Letters. She has been admitted to practice law in jurisdictions in the US (NY and CA), Australia, and the UK. Since 2007, Ursula has been an Adjunct Professor in Corporate Sustainability, Business & Human Rights at Fordham Law School, and previously taught at Reykjavik University School of Law. 

Ursula is a Director of the United Nations Federal Credit Union and a Trustee of the Parker School of Foreign & Comparative Law at Columbia Law School.

Global Compact Performance Model in J. Jonker and M. de Witte (eds), Management Models for Corporate Social Responsibility, 2006, (chapter 8).

Introduction in Embedding Human Rights in Business Practice, 2004, co-authored with Lene Wendland, 2004.

Update on the Global Compact in Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence 4 (2004): Special feature on Corporate Social Responsibility.

OECD Instruments and Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing, in Fish Piracy, OECD, 2004.

The Global Compact and Human Rights in Sustainable Development International, 11th edition, Summer 2004.

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: A Key Corporate Responsibility Instrument, OECD, 2003.

Environmental Risks for Lenders in Australian Finance Law, 4th ed. (1999), co-authored with Stephen Davis.

FEATURE ARTICLE ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, BUSINESS AND THE RULE OF LAW, LA LAWYER, 1 SEPT 2016

(CO-AUTHORED) THE VIRTUE OF VOLUNTARISM: HUMAN RIGHTS, CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT, CHAPTER 11 IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY?: HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMY, C. WALKER-SAID AND J.D. KELLY (EDS), UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, 2015

INTRODUCTION IN EMBEDDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN BUSINESS PRACTICE IV, JULY 2013

(CO-AUTHORED) WHY WE VOLUNTEER: CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT, ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE IN HOUSE DEFENSE QUARTERLY, 28 FEB 2013

THE PROTECT-RESPECT-REMEDY FRAMEWORK AND THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT, 9 SANTA CLARA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 81 (2011)

(CO-AUTHORED) THE UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT'S GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK AND INTEGRITY MEASURES, CHAPTER IN UN GLOBAL COMPACT: ACHIEVEMENTS, TRENDS AND CHALLENGES, A. RASCHE AND G. KELL (EDS) PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, JUN 2010

INTRODUCTION IN EMBEDDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN BUSINESS PRACTICE II, JAN 2008