Dr. Çiğdem Çımrın is BHRTR’s co-founder and chairperson, establishing the organization after serving as country manager of the Centre for Child Rights and Business and a history of international business law and human rights law. Currently she leads BHRTR’s organizational strategy and work by engaging public, private and civil society actors with the purpose of advancing corporate responsibility to respect human rights.

In recent years, Dr. Çımrın has focused on responsible business conduct in supply chains where she has been deeply engaged in human rights compliance related issues including child rights, modern slavery, forced labour & human trafficking, occupational health and safety, seasonal migrant work, union rights and fair wage in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors in Türkiye. She works with companies to develop and improve their human rights risk management systems, embed relevant policies, design human rights due diligence processes, conduct human rights risk assessments, and contemplate and implement remedial actions.

Dr. Çımrın is currently serving as a Business and Human Rights Expert with UNDP Türkiye. She is responsible for providing expertise on business and human rights to public and private stakeholders by equipping them with tools necessary to implementing relevant laws as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. She also teaches “Right to Food and Sustainability in Agriculture Supply Chains” at Bahcesehir University Law Faculty.

Dr. Çımrın previously practiced corporate law at international law firms, where she advised international companies on cross-border business transactions, public-private-partnership projects and risk management.

She has Ph.D. from the Faculty of Law at Istanbul Bilgi University with a thesis titled “A Right-Based Approach to Companies’ Human Rights Responsibility: Human Rights Due Diligence”, as well as an LL.M. degree from Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands.

Selected Project Roles