Dara O'Rourke
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Dara O’Rourke is an expert on the environmental, health, and labor impacts of global supply chains. As both a professor and a practitioner, Dr. O’Rourke teaches at the University of California, Berkeley and is co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of GoodGuide, the most comprehensive source for consumer product and company ratings based on their health, environmental and social performance. Under Dara’s leadership, GoodGuide has been named: one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, one of the Top 100 Web Sites of 2009 by PC Magazine, the CNET Editors’ Choice “Best Newcomer”; the New York Times “App of the Week”; the TechCrunch Startup “Most Likely to Make the World a Better Place”.

Dr. O’Rourke has consulted to the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and a wide range of non-governmental organizations. His report on Nike’s labor practices in Vietnam in the 1990’s led to a front page New York Times exposé and helped ignite a new era of corporate accountability. Dr. O’Rourke’s work has also been featured in numerous other national media outlets such as Newsweek, Time, the Economist, O, the Oprah Magazine, Glamour, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS, and NPR. Dr. O’Rourke was previously a professor at MIT. He holds an MS and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS from MIT.

Blog Entries by Dara O'Rourke

Trick or Toxic? The Chemical Industry's Newest Tricks on Your Kids' Health

Posted November 2, 2011 | 11/02/11 06:08 PM ET

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an unusual request from the American Chemistry Council. The chemical industry trade association actually asked the FDA to restrict the use of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups.

After millions of dollars spent lobbying to...

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How Could Nike Not Know? And How Do We Find Out?

Posted July 15, 2011 | 07/15/11 03:13 PM ET

Two major stories have broken in the last few days that raise questions about how much global brands -- and in particular Nike -- know about conditions in their supply chains.

First, Greenpeace released a report accusing Nike (and Adidas, Puma and other international brands) of sourcing apparel from factories...

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Eighty Percent of Vitamin C Is Imported from China. Is it Safe?

Posted July 1, 2011 | 07/01/11 07:57 PM ET

I went to buy a multi-vitamin for my daughter this week and discovered it was virtually impossible to find out where the ingredients were actually made. Labels said soothingly that the vitamins were "Marketed by..." or "Distributed by..." a "natural" or "health" or "natural health" sounding company with an office...

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Are Obama Donors Inadvertently Helping Republicans?

Posted October 21, 2008 | 10/21/08 06:46 PM ET

Much is being made of Barack Obama's latest fundraising accomplishment: A whopping $150 million in September alone. Most people who are donating to Obama are making small contributions over the Internet with their credit cards. But anyone making a donation with a Wells Fargo, Wachovia, US BankCorp or Capitol One...

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