Continuing efforts to build its iCompli sustainability assurance services, BPA Worldwide has named Joel Charron as Vice President, Sustainability Assurance. He will be based in Houston, Texas.

In his new position, Charron will have direct responsibility for marketing and business development for iCompli’s suite of sustainability assurance services related to reporting in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.

“Joel’s wide-ranging experience and industry knowledge in regards to sustainability reporting will be a great benefit to BPA,” noted Glenn Hansen, BPA President and CEO. “Given his previous efforts relating to reporting frameworks (including GRI 3.1 and G4), corporate social responsibility and stakeholder engagement, I am confident Joel will help move iCompli’s reporting assurance business to the next level and position iCompli as a leader in assuring companies' sustainability performance."

The widely-used GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework encourages independent third-party assurance. Report assurance adds to the credibility of the information presented by the organization. It also helps to improve internal performance. BPA’s approach to assurance includes an analysis of the content of an organization’ report to evaluate inclusion of information, the materiality of what is being reported on and willingness to address the areas identified in the reporting.

For those organizations that already report using the GRI framework, iCompli’s “GRI Gap Analysis” is a useful way to identify gaps and opportunities as a tool for improving a next report and/or preparing for assurance. iCompli’s Gap Analysis analyzes an organization’s most recent Sustainability/Integrated Annual Report against GRI’s performance indicators and creates a confidential management report.

Prior to joining BPA, Charron was Vice President of Business Development at Pierpont Communications. Previously, as Regional Vice President at Curran & Connors, Inc. from 1998-2013, Charron was a leader of the organization’s Global Sustainability Practice and a frequent panelist on the topic of GRI. He also represented Curran & Connors as an Organization Stakeholder and Sector Leader for the GRI.

Charron earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Stephen F. Austin State University.

About BPA Worldwide. BPA Worldwide is in the business of providing assurance. For 80+ years as a not-for-profit assurance service provider, BPAWW was originally created by advertisers, advertising agencies and the media industry to audit audience claims used in the buying and selling of advertising. Today, in addition to auditing audience claims, through its iCompli service, BPAWW verifies compliance to defined government, industry, and organizational standards as well as adherence to privacy, data protection and sustainability guidelines and best practices. With more than 3,000 members in over 20 countries, BPAWW is a trusted resource for compliance and assurance services. Its latest offering, Ad iCompli, measures and scores online ad campaign performance for business and consumer marketers.

For more information on BPAWW and its services, please visit the website.

iCompli/BPA Worldwide

iCompli/BPA Worldwide

ICompli is a division of BPA Worldwide, a not-for-profit auditing organization established in 1931 to audit newspaper and magazine circulation for publishers, advertisers and their agencies. Today, BPA’s audit services have expanded to include external assurance of government and industry standards and independent verification of companies’ technology and service claims.

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