13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Alise is a business and human rights (BHR) lawyer from Latvia practicing in the ESG practice group of COBALT Legal – a pan-Baltic law firm. She is advising businesses and investors on integrating human rights and environmental considerations into their policies, contracts and processes. She is active in facilitating the uptake of the UNGPs by Latvian businesses, including via participation in different seminars and discussions related to BHR, publishing articles in the local human rights blog (cilvektiesibas.info), legal journal (Jurista Vārds) and other platforms.

Until recently Alise worked as a legal advisor at the Ombudsman’s Office of Latvia – Latvia’s National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) – where she led the work of the Ombudsman on BHR. Before joining the Ombudsman’s Office, Alise worked as a lawyer in corporate law firms in Riga and Stockholm. She has also worked at a local NGO in Riga that provides social rehabilitation services to victims of human trafficking where she offered legal advice to victims and represented their interests in different state institutions, trained social workers, etc. Alise has also spent time travelling and living in Canada and New Zealand. In New Zealand she worked in one of the ministries where they allocated funds to companies, local NGOs and iwi (Māori tribes) for creating more work opportunities in the regions and supporting youth, vulnerable people, Māori and Pasifika (Pacific peoples).