Team
Maureen Upton is Founder of Resource Initiatives, a sustainability and communications consulting firm. She works with the world’s largest gold producers as Sustainability Advisor to the World Gold Council, publishing research and providing advice on community relations, environmental stewardship and workplace safety & health, and presenting her findings at conferences around the world. She has completed mining services assessments for global engineering firms, community engagement advisory for mid-size mining companies, and sustainability report writing for consumer-oriented companies including the Molson Coors Brewing Company.
Before founding Resource Initiatives in 2006, Ms. Upton served as Director of Public Affairs & Communications for Newmont Mining Corporation, where she had primary responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region. She worked extensively in Indonesia on litigation and operational issues, interacting with multiple stakeholders.
In her prior role at Goldman, Sachs & Co., she held positions in both the Equities and the Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities divisions of the firm. Previously serving as Vice President of Corporate Marketing & Communications for Chase Manhattan Bank, she worked with corporate finance teams in both the mining & metals and the oil & gas industries, primarily in Latin America. Working in public relations, she managed accounts with the Mexican government related to NAFTA negotiations and with the Brazilian government related to its privatization of energy, mining and telecommunications assets.
Ms. Upton has served on the board of one of the largest mutual fund complexes in the United States, Janus Funds, overseeing the management of funds in both international equity and U.S. value categories. She was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations in 1994 and was a legislative appointee to the Compliance Advisory Panel in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in 2004.
Ms. Upton holds both an MBA in finance and a Master of International Affairs in economic policy from Columbia University in New York, a Diploma de Estudios Hispánicos from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and is based in Denver, Colorado.
