Team and Board of Directors

Sandra is an international lawyer with over twenty years of experience and almost fifteen years defending and protecting victims of economics crimes, fighting impunity, and advocating for changes of legal frameworks. Prior to this position, Sandra headed the Globalisation and Human Rights Program within Sherpa for almost 8 years. She was a leading voice on the need to change the legal framework so that legal structures would reflect economic reality and contribute to achieving access to justice for victims of corporate violations of human rights.

During this period, Sherpa was at the forefront of some of the most important milestones in corporate liability for human rights, bringing new strategic litigation cases and testing innovative legal ground to fight against corporate impunity.

Sandra played a pivotal role in the development of the ground-breaking duty of vigilance legislation that was adopted in France in March 2017 after 5 years of intensive advocacy work. She also regularly engages constructively with and provides expert advice and submissions to various stakeholders, including the French government, and therefore took an active participation in the development of the French National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Prior to heading the GHR Program at Sherpa, Sandra had spent 8 years in England. She was working as a legal consultant for companies before volunteering for the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, conducting legal and general research for two years. Prior to that experience, she worked at a law firm in Paris where she provided counsel and litigation services, notably in business law. She also provided pro bono representation and legal advice to asylum seekers and refugees.  Before that, she worked within international organizations such as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, as well as for the European Union in Russia.

Sandra is the author of many scholarly legal articles, news articles, and op-ed’s and has participated in TV and radio news programmes and documentaries, and is an assistant Lecturer at Science Po Paris. She is also a member of the board of the non-profit organization RSE-et-PED, which aims to equip actors from the Global South with better access to information, CSR expertise and tools.

Sandra Cossart holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, as well as degrees from Sciences Po in Paris, the College of Europe in Bruges (LLM), Inalco (Russian) and the London School of Economics.

Sandra Cossart is Sherpa’s director since November 2017.

Within the team, Tiphaine works on the protection of civic space, including free speech and access to information in the digital era. She previously worked for the Permanent Mission of France to the UN in Geneva and assisted companies in their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives within a consulting firm. She has a Master’s degree in Economic Law from Sciences Po Paris and holds the French CAPA. She also studied in the United States, at the UC Berkeley School of Law and lived in India for a year. It is after an experience as a litigation lawyer in a Parisian law firm that Tiphaine joined Sherpa in September 2020. She had previously joined Sherpa between 2016 and 2018, to work on the duty of vigilance law for parent companies and instructing companies.

Prior to joining Sherpa in 2021, Théa worked for several years as a lawyer in environmental law.

After a first experience in advising and defending companies on the development of renewable energy projects, she worked on litigation cases, notably before the French Council of State, for environmental protection associations in the fields of air pollution, biofuels, and urban planning.  Meanwhile, Théa has taught administrative and environmental law at Sorbonne and Paris II universities and has been involved as a volunteer in environmental protection associations.

She holds a Master II in environmental law from the Universities of Paris 1 and Paris 2 as well as a Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession (CAPA).

Before joining Sherpa in 2020, Laura practiced business litigation in a law firm of the Hauts-de-Seine Bar, focusing on civil procedure and private international law (conflict of laws).

In addition, Laura has served in various operational and supervisory roles within Rotaract. She is a member of the UC Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Research Center and supports the EUCLID legal clinic at the University of Paris Nanterre.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Litigation from the University of Paris Nanterre, and has also studied in England and California.

Prior to joining Sherpa in 2025, Clotilde worked in the performing arts sector to support artists and as administrative and financial manager of a cultural establishment. She then worked for a solidarity-based finance organisation, where she developped skills in creating partnerships and financing social and solidarity economic structures.

Prior to joining the team in 2019, Lucie was an associate in the international arbitration team of a law firm in Paris. She also worked for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, while volunteering with several organisations involved in the defence of migrants’ rights.

She holds a Master’s degree in Economic Law from Sciences Po Paris and a LLM in International Law from the University of Cambridge. She also studied in Brazil and in Ecuador, where she lived for a year.

Before joining Sherpa in 2022, Carmen worked as a partnerships manager in Paris for a company in the social and solidarity economy sector. Prior to this, she volunteered in a fundraising project in Madagascar with a local NGO. She also worked in Germany as a project manager for an organisation conducting projects in the development aid sector, funded mainly by the European Commission.
Carmen holds law degrees from the University of Cologne (LL.B.), the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Master), and an interdisciplinary degree in development aid from the University of Bath (Msc). Carmen speaks fluently English, German and Spanish (one of her mother tongue).

Before joining Sherpa in 2023, Pauline practiced corporate criminal law at a law firm in Paris. She also worked as a legal and advocacy officer for a whistleblower support organization. In addition, she volunteered with NGOs supporting refugees and inmates.

She holds a Master’s degree in Economic Law from Sciences Po Paris and another in Private International Law and International Trade from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas. She also studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Before joining Sherpa in 2022, Jean-Philippe worked as a coordinator and then a lawyer and advocacy officer for an NGO dedicated to protecting whistleblowers. As such, he actively contributed to drafting and then passing the whistleblower protection system instituted by the “Waserman” law of March 22, 2022. Previously, Jean-Philippe held the positions of doctoral fellow and Temporary Teaching and Research Fellow at Paris Nanterre University, and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project (Yale Law School). Simultaneously, he acted as a whistleblower protection expert for several international organisations (OIF, Council of Europe) on the issue of the protection of whistleblowers, and was involved in several NGOS assisting exiled persons.

He is a graduate of the Master’s degree in “Human Rights” from the University of Paris Nanterre.

A committed advocate for international solidarity, Chloé joined Sherpa in 2025 to lead the organisation’s communications strategy. With a background in organisations working for environmental justice, international solidarity and freedom of expression, Chloé now uses her communications expertise to support those committed to fighting inequality and injustice, helping them to promote their actions within Sherpa.

Chloé holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology (Gustave Eiffel University – Paris) and a master’s degree in communications, specialising in ‘Humanitarian Aid and Solidarity’ (Lumière University – Lyon).

Prior to joining Sherpa in 2021, Anna worked at different organisations defending human rights through advocacy and litigation: first in the United States at a research center on the death penalty worldwide, then in India with an NGO fighting bonded labour and trafficking, and lastly in the United Kingdom with a charity providing face-to-face support to refugees and migrants to remove barriers to their integration.

Anna holds law degrees from the University of Cologne (LL.B.), the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Master), and Cornell Law School (LL.M.). She is admitted to the New York Bar. Anna speaks fluently English, German and conversational Spanish.