Rafael Benke

Rafael is the CEO and founder of Proactiva. He is a recognized leader in sustainable development, international investments, and natural resources. Since founding Proactiva, he has shaped the company into a consultancy of reference on ESG, sustainable finance, sustainability, and human rights in Brazil and internationally.

Before founding Proactiva, Rafael was an executive at Vale (2006–2014) and worked in leading global positions in the Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretary, the Organization of American States, the Brazilian Textile Industry Association, the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (FIESP), the World Trade Organization, and Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Rafael is an attorney with a master’s in international law from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and an LLM in international economic law from Warwick University, at the United Kingdom, where he atteneded as a Chevening Scholar. He has a degree in international environmental law from the HEID/Graduate Institute in Geneva and degrees in business from International Institute for Management Development (Lausanne) and Getulio Vargas Foundation/ISAE. He was also a visiting scholar at Georgetown University.

He participates in numerous organizations as

• a member of Royal Dutch Shell’s External Review Committee,
• the lead representative on the International Council on Mining and Metals,
• the president of the Brazilian Center for International Relations,
• the vice-president of the Brazil-China Business Council,
• the natural resources theme leader in the E15 Initiative,
• a member of the Global Advisory Council on Business and Peace with Oslo Peace Research Institute and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, (PRIO – Oslo Peace Research Institute – Stellenbosch University, South Africa), and
• a member of the business councils of. of BRICS, FIESP, FIRJAN, CNI, and AMCHAM.
• as Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce – BCCC