Rights CoLab

What Rights CoLab does

Rights CoLab is a US nonprofit research and advocacy organization founded in 2018 by Paul Rissman and Joanne Bauer, headquartered in New York with a European base in Amsterdam. Its mission is to strengthen civil society and to use market mechanisms — particularly investor engagement and corporate disclosure standards — to advance human rights. The organization serves four primary constituencies: institutional investors seeking human rights risk tools, corporations navigating ESG and DEI disclosure requirements, civil society organizations needing investor engagement channels, and standards-setters and regulators. Its revenue model is foundation-funded (grants and donations), not commercial; named supporters include Humanity United, Tipping Point Fund, and Genfound. Rights CoLab does not sell a software product; its outputs are publications, frameworks, convenings, and advocacy initiatives.

The organization's core intellectual product is a set of data science methodologies applied to the financial materiality of human rights topics. It uses natural language processing, machine learning (including weak supervision via Snorkel and transfer learning), and proprietary classification pipelines — notably the XBGL-10K classifier (~81% predicting accuracy) and a Financial Materiality Heuristic Method built on co-occurrence analysis — to analyze corporate 10-K filings, proxy statements, news, and sustainability frameworks. This research is produced through an ongoing collaboration with Columbia University's Data Science Institute (Data for Good Scholars Program) and an embedded Standards advisory relationship with SASB/ISSB that dates to 2020.

Rights CoLab's flagship outputs are research publications and multi-stakeholder initiatives rather than a platform. Major reports include "What Is DEI? Market Signals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (2022) and "What's the Matter with DEI? A Reset" (2026), a 16-action roadmap derived from analysis of 741 indicators across 35 sustainability frameworks. Active initiatives span Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence, Freshwater Institute, Systemic Risk of Inequality, Mapping Civil Society Innovation, Human Rights in Human Capital Standards, the RINGO Project (re-imagining INGOs), and the Just Ground subsidiary, which focuses on rights-holder-led access to remedy and operates a community-led research partnership with EarthRights International in the Mekong region. The organization co-founded the CSO-Investor Dialogue Table with Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights and has approximately 12 staff across the US and Netherlands.

Name

Rights CoLab

Legal name

Rights CoLab

Website

https://rightscolab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rights CoLab is a US nonprofit research organization founded in 2018 that uses data science and policy advocacy to demonstrate the financial materiality of human rights, serving institutional investors, corporations, civil society, and sustainability standards-setters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Research and Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer Rights & Public Interest Advocacy (BPAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Media Freedom, Access to Information & Digital Rights (BPADAGAE)

Keywords

• Human rights research
• Sustainability standards
• ESG data analytics
• DEI advisory services
• Corporate accountability research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Rights CoLab is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that produces publications, data-driven frameworks, and multi-stakeholder initiatives to advance human rights and DEI through financial markets. It applies natural language processing and machine learning to corporate disclosures (Form 10-Ks), sustainability frameworks, and news articles to identify financially material human rights risks. Its outputs include research reports, DEI roadmaps, ISSB integration guidance, and the Just Ground community-led research initiative.

Product overview

Rights CoLab is a research and advocacy organization (not a technology product company) that produces publications, frameworks, and initiatives focused on advancing human rights through market mechanisms. Its core offerings include research publications (DEI roadmaps, human rights due diligence frameworks), data science methodologies for analyzing financial materiality of human rights topics, and multi-stakeholder initiatives addressing corporate accountability. The organization does not offer a software platform but rather publishes reports, frameworks, and convenes dialogue between investors and civil society.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• What's the Matter with DEI? A Reset A comprehensive DEI roadmap report providing investors and companies with an actionable framework for advancing DEI in today's polarized environment, grounded in anti-discrimination law and business resilience.
• A Roadmap for Integrating Human Rights into ISSB Standards A report and roadmap advocating for the integration of human rights due diligence (HRDD) into International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) frameworks, aimed at investors, companies, and global sustainability reporting.
• Facilitating Community-Led Research in Challenging Contexts A co-published brief with EarthRights International providing training on strategies and participatory research tools to support community-led responses to human rights abuses in the Mekong Region.
• Just Ground Initiative A research and advocacy project advancing rights holder-led approaches to access to remedy in business and human rights, working with communities confronting corporate human rights violations.
• What Is DEI? Market Signals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Major published report analyzing 429 metrics across sustainability frameworks to characterize market signals on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Quantifiable outcome

• Mapped and analyzed 741 indicators across 35 sustainability, human capital, and DEI-related frameworks
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EarthRights InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Just Ground, a project of Rights CoLab, partnered with EarthRights International to provide training on strategies and participatory research tools to support community-led responses to human rights abuses in the Mekong region. The partnership convened community organizers and human rights defenders from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam for workshops on facilitation of community-led research.
• Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human RightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRights CoLab co-founded the CSO-Investor Dialogue Table with Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights. This joint initiative facilitates regular informal meetings to build trust between financial professionals and human rights advocates to promote effective collaboration on human rights.
• Oxfam Great BritainminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOxfam Great Britain co-chaired a roundtable on business structures that prioritize human rights, bringing expertise from the business and human rights, corporate governance, impact investing, and social enterprise sectors.
• Columbia University Data for Good Scholars ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing research collaboration with Columbia University's Data Science Institute providing data science support, including natural language processing and machine learning expertise for analyzing financial materiality of human rights topics.
• Value Reporting Foundation / SASBcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRights CoLab has an formal research collaboration with the Value Reporting Foundation (now part of ISSB) since 2020, advising SASB staff on how to better reflect human rights risks in standards, particularly regarding rights at work and human capital management.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Inclusive Development International: IDI supports communities affected by development and extractive industry projects, similar in scope to Rights CoLab's Just Ground initiative. It is smaller and more focused on community-led advocacy but shares the rights-holder-led remedy orientation.

Direct peers

• Shift: Shift is the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, focused on human rights due diligence implementation. It directly parallels Rights CoLab's human rights due diligence initiative and its engagement with sustainability standard-setters.
• AccountAbility: AccountAbility is a global consulting and standards firm focused on sustainability, ESG, and human rights. It parallels Rights CoLab's work developing sustainability frameworks and advising corporations and investors on responsible business practices.
• Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): IHRB is an independent human rights organization working with business leaders, investors, and governments on human rights in the economy. Comparable to Rights CoLab for its focus on leveraging market mechanisms to advance human rights outcomes globally.
• EarthRights International: EarthRights International is a nonprofit that combines legal advocacy, research, and community organizing on human rights and environmental abuses linked to corporate activity. Rights CoLab already partners with EarthRights on the Just Ground Mekong project, reflecting their close alignment.
• World Benchmarking Alliance: WBA develops free, publicly available benchmarks that rank companies on human rights and sustainability performance, mirroring Rights CoLab's analytical approach to corporate disclosure. It similarly targets investor and corporate audiences with comparative assessments.
• BSR (Business for Social Responsibility): BSR is a global nonprofit advisory network that works with businesses on human rights, sustainability, and DEI. Like Rights CoLab, it bridges civil society expertise with corporate and investor engagement, producing research and convening stakeholders on responsible business conduct.

Others

• Oxfam America: Oxfam America conducts research and advocacy on corporate accountability and inequality, including participation in the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. While its mandate is much broader than Rights CoLab's, it shares the civil society advocacy posture and has directly partnered with Rights CoLab on corporate governance roundtables.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RightsCoLab
• Facebookfacebook.com/RightsCoLab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rights-colab
• Instagraminstagram.com/rightscolab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rights CoLab