Panel Discussion: "From Closet to Consequence: Sustainable Fashion, Global Inequality, and Human Rights" UConn 14 April 2026

 

I am delighted to pass along this announcement of this Panel Discussion sponsored by the Goldstein Family Human Rights Institute Business and Human Rights Initiative:     From Closet to Consequence: Sustainable Fashion, Global Inequality, and Human Rights   Tuesday, April 14 | 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM  Join Virtually on Zoom (or) In Person in The Dodd Center, Conference Room 162   The global fashion system links everyday consumer choices to complex questions of environmental harm, labor rights, and social inequality across borders. This hybrid panel brings together scholars and practitioners to examine fashion not only as an environmental issue, but as a human rights challenge embedded in global production, trade, and waste flows.

About this Event Opening with a systems-level overview of ethical dilemmas and policy responses, the discussion moves through comparative perspectives from the U.S. and India, lived experiences of textile waste and creative resistance in Ghana, and material-level insights into textile production and life-cycle impacts. Together, the speakers explore how sustainability efforts can either reinforce or challenge global inequalities and what more just alternatives might look like. The event centers on social sustainability, workers’ rights, community-based solutions, and the role of policy and accountability in shaping fairer fashion futures.

Join Us!

About the Speakers Dellasie Aning is a rising Ghanaian-American polymath artist, philanthropist, and CEO who bridges the creative worlds of New York City and Accra, Ghana. Known for her Afro-fusion music, she is also a dedicated humanitarian and entrepreneur focused on health advocacy and sustainable fashion. She is the founder and CEO of an e-commerce sustainable clothing business for women (Panalove Online). As a humanitarian, her work centers on skin cancer and skin disease in Africa due to skin bleaching (Panalove Foundation). She is also an alumna of Emory University, holding a degree in political science and marketing. Imran Islam, is an Associate Professor in Textile Development and Marketing Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). He specializes in sustainability, textile waste management, textile fibers and yarns, knit development and analysis, textile testing and analysis, and application of textile technology to design. Dr. Islam has served on the New York City Task Force on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Use and Disposal of Textiles (Local Law 112). He is a recipient of the State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and an active member of the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC). Meital Peleg Mizrachi, Ph.D., is an adjunct faculty member at UConn and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Economics at Yale University, where she conducts research in the realm of sustainable fashion with a particular focus on regulation and textile waste. Her ongoing research initiatives encompass the assessment of policies within the New York Fashion Act—a pioneering global regulation in the fashion industry—and the exploration of textile waste issues in Ghana, often resulting from clothing donations.   Swayam Sampurna Panigrahi, Ph.D., is a Fulbrighter currently hosted at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut, where she is pursuing a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Fellowship since May 2025. Her research lies at the intersection of sustainable supply chains and business and human rights, with a specific focus on labor practices and human rights due diligence in the textile and apparel sectors of India and the United States. Back home, Dr. Panigrahi is an Assistant Professor in the Operations Management department of IFMR Graduate School of Business, Krea University, India. About the Discussants Rachel Chambers – Assistant Professor of Business Law, UConn School of Business; Director of the Business and Human Rights Initiative. Shareen Hertel – Professor of Political Science and Human Rights, UConn; Director of the Research Program on Economic & Social Rights.

Our Sponsors This event is hosted by the Business & Human Rights Initiative (BHRI) and co-sponsored by the Research Program on Economic & Social Rights (ESRG) at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute. Part of the 2025-26 ‘Why Human Rights Matter’ series.