Philipa is a citizen of the world and has travelled and worked in numerous countries. In fact, at the time she took the ACE Board Certification course, she flew from her home in Ghana, West Africa, to Toronto for classes. Ms. Varris is a mining executive, now based in London, UK, with leadership experience in sustainability and in growing social responsibility and environmental social governance in the mining industry. She also has board experience and is a subject matter expert in her fields of mining, CSR, ESG and executive leadership. With her background and extensive experience in mining, I recommend Philipa as a well suited certified board candidate for a mining or resources company board.

Philipa is the Head Of Sustainability for Horizonte Minerals. She provides leadership and strategic management of Horizonte’s sustainability activities to establish and maintain their environmental and social license. From project definition, through development, operations, M&A and closure, the role leads the establishment of effective and integrated systems for environmental management, community relations, health and safety, project permitting and risk/liability reduction. As a champion for integrated sustainability, the role advises the Board, CEO and other members of the executive on sustainability related governance and strategy.

Ms. Varris has over five years of boards experience and more than 15 years as trusted advisor presenting to public boards. She has served on industry and government advisory committees as a minerals industry corporate responsibility (CR) advocate. She has experience with numerous impact assessments (ESIA), resettlement projects (RAPs), merger and acquisition (M&A) due diligence and enterprise risk management (ERM) processes. As a facilitator to a number of Private Public Partnership (PPP) she has secured €4 million in investments by public companies, European Aid Agencies and National Authorities, for local sustainable business development over three years.

"My experience of the ACE Women on Board Training was inspiring. Not only did the program help me to look at my expertise from a different perspective but it also gave me the tools to feel more confident in backing myself to be on a board."

~ Philipa Varris