Ed Potter

Edward Potter has spent his career supporting human, workplace and labor rights in senior positions in legal, intergovernmental and company contexts. He has spent the past 10 years as the Director of Global Workplace Rights for The Coca-Cola Company. He has also served as chairman of the U.S. Council for International Business’ Labor and Employment Policy Committee.

He has an extensive background in international labor, workplace rights and employment law issues. Attending the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference since 1982, Ed became the US Employer Delegate in 1997. In 1998, he was the employer spokesperson for the negotiation of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Between 2005 and 2011, he was the employer spokesperson on the ILO Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations that holds countries accountable for their obligations resulting from the ratification of ILO conventions. In 2014, he was the employer spokesman that negotiated a forced labor Protocol and Recommendation that updates the 1930 ILO forced labor standard to encompass human trafficking and address prevention, protection and remedy gaps for forced labor. He previously served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Consultative Group on Forced and Child Labor in Agriculture and the Department of Labor’s National Advisory Committee on Free Trade Agreements and Worker Rights.

Edward Potter was an attorney practicing international labor and employment law in Washington, DC for 26 years and was a federal mediator for seven years.