Vail Miller

Experience

• 

  CENIT Ecuador

  Sept 2010 - Aug 2011

  Program Coordinator

  Program Consultant and Volunteer Coordinator at The Center for the Working Girl and Her Family (CENIT), a non-profit NGO in Southern Quito devoted to helping child laborers and their families, the majority recent rural-urban immigrants, overcome devastating poverty through education, technical training and bio-psycho-social services.

• 

  International Labor Rights Forum

  Jan 2011 - Jun 2012

  Researcher, Author

  Authored, "Women in the Honduran Melon Industry" based on investigations carried out by local labor unions that highlighted violations of national law and international human and labor rights for female pickers working on multi-national, melon export plantations in Southern Honduras. Report available at: http://www.laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/HonduranMelonPlantations2012.pdf

• 

  Twisted Bindings

  Feb 2011 - Mar 2012

  Branding Consultant

  Branding, design, and media/social media strategy for 4 person first-to-market, start-up snowboard accessory company that generated more than $50,000 in investment and sold more than 10,000 units in its first year.

• 

  CIAT

  May 2012 - Aug 2014

  Researcher, Supply Chain Policy

  Worked with a team of experienced researchers on a two-year, three-part study funded by the Ford Foundation on the impact of Colombian public policy on agricultural supply chains, rural development, and farmer livelihoods. Policy briefs (# 20, 17, 8) are available at: http://dapa.ciat.cgiar.org/policy-briefs/

• 

  Oxford Department of International Development

  Sept 2013 - Jun 2015

  Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Development Studies

  Graduate thesis considered the role of third-party actors in sustainable, mutually beneficial contractual agreements between multinational, agroindustrial companies and smallholder farmer associations in Colombia.

• 

  CIAT

  Jun 2015 - Dec 2016

  West Africa Focal Point, CSA Decision Support

  Worked with Ghanaian team leaders and stakeholders to develop a Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) "Country Profile" and a policy-oriented CSA practices "Prioritization Framework"

• 

  Earthworm Foundation

  Jan 2017 - Jul 2019

  Country Project Manager

  Led the establishment of the Earthworm Foundation (formerly TFT) Ghanaian office. Responsible for the development and implementation of social, environmental, and community strategies and SOPs with five oil palm, cocoa, and rubber client companies. As part of the cross-cutting team working on smallholder farmer innovations, created M&E approaches and tools for global initiatives and contributed to quarterly and annual reports for internal, client, and public forums. Finally, managed daily office operations in collaboration with headquarters (HR, legal, financial, communications). Show less

• 

  Vereda Verde

  Aug 2019 - Aug 2020

  Founder

  Partnered with the world's leading sustainable, organic palm oil company to pilot a values-based social enterprise that offered an alternative livelihood for outgrower smallholder farmers through the production of aromatic herbs used in high quality essential oil production. (Halted due to COVID-19)

• 

  CIAT

  Aug 2019 - Jun 2020

  Consultant - CSA Policy Writer

  Researched, wrote, and edited various national and sub-national Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and food security profiles for projects in Pakistan and the Philippines. Supported a meta analysis of CIAT research impact pathways on policy, private sector, and academic outcomes.

• 

  12Tree Finance GmbH

  Jun 2021 - Apr 2024

  Sustainability Manager

  Developed corporate policies and co-designed on-farm programs aimed at generating measurable social impact for farm workers, local communities, and smallholder farmers on 12 farms in Latin America and North Africa. Responsible for: Development of Theory of Change model; Data collection and KPIs selection, measurement and reporting to investors and public; Compliance with EU regulatory standards, corporate policies, industry standards, voluntary certification schemes (Verra Certified Carbon - Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB), RainForest Alliance, FSC, Gold Standard, Global GAP). Show less

• 

  RRG Nature Based Solutions

  Jan 2024 - now

  Sustainability Manager- Social Impact Lead

  Developing robust Sustainability and ESG policies, procedures, and MRE approaches across a diverse portfolio of agricultural, carbon, and renewable energy projects. Responsible for: - Screening, due diligence, and auditing of potential investments (double materiality, ISO 26000, SASB, TCFD); - ESG policy and programming development for internal and client policies, including: Deforestation, Human Rights, Labor Rights, Indigenous Peoples (IP) and Local Community Rights, Supply Chain and Responsible Sourcing, GHG and Climate Committments. - Ensuring compliance with international sectoral and financial regulatory standards (EUDR, SFDR, CSRD), industry standards (IFC-PS, GRI), internal corporate policies (HCS, HCV, FPIC), and voluntary certifications (Verra Certified Carbon - Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB), RainForest Alliance, FSC, Gold Standard, Global GAP/ GRASP, etc.)- Designing, implementing, and MRE for social impact initiatives with workers, supplying farmers, and local communities, including Living Wage and Smallholder Sourcing programs Show less