Melanie Bower has extensive experience with environmental, health and safety and labor compliance and has worked on sustainability issues at all levels of the supply chain. Melanie works closely with brands, policy makers, government agencies and audit firms to understand their needs and expectations of standards systems and eco-labels and has effectively increased the confidence that all users have in such systems. As Program Director for EPEAT, an eco-label widely used in institutional procurement, Melanie worked to make sustainable purchasing practices easy to implement. She has authored the Purchasers Guide for Addressing Labor and Human Rights Impacts in IT Procurements, a first of it’s kind guide aimed at addressing social impacts through purchasing practices. Melanie is currently Director of Compliance Management at Sumerra, where she manages labor and environmental compliance programs for the apparel industry.