Dr. Pınar Kara, the Co-Founder and Vice-Chairperson of Minerva, is a distinguished lawyer renowned for her proficiency in business and human rights, with a strong foundation in corporate law.

Holding a Bachelor’s in Laws (LL.B.) from Bilkent University in Turkey (2006), she then pursued her Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Advanced Studies in European Business Law in Leiden University in the Netherlands (2008), where she attended as a Jean Monnet scholar. Pınar’s academic journey extended to Queen Mary University of London (2018), where she assumed the role of a visiting research associate at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS). In 2021, she achieved her Ph.D. degree in Civil Law at Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey, culminating in the publication of her thesis “Tort Liability in Multinational Corporate Groups: A Comparative Analysis with Particular Focus on Turkey”, by Springer, discovering legal grounds for civil liability of corporations for human rights abuses occurring due to the operations of transnational subsidiaries.

Pınar’s expertise revolves around civil liability of corporations for human rights abuses, corporate group liability, parent company duty of care, and human rights due diligence (HRDD). Her experience of over 10 years as a lawyer extends to various areas of private and commercial law, including corporate and M&A, banking and finance, competition and labour law. Within Minerva, she plays a pivotal role in strategic planning, project design, research management, and analysis. Her hands-on involvement in projects related to human rights and environmental due diligence, including grievance and remediation processes, spans diverse industries such as agriculture, garment and textiles, cosmetics, food, automotive, and industrial supply chains.

Notably, Pınar serves as a Business and Human Rights Expert for UNDP Türkiye in the “Business and Human Rights: Promoting Responsible Business Behaviors in Türkiye Project.” In this role, she has contributed to drafting Türkiye’s first Preliminary National Baseline Assessment on BHR, engaged with various stakeholders, including public authorities, civil society organizations, labor unions, and the private sector, and conducted training and mentoring sessions on BHR and HRDD for private sector professionals. Pınar also acts as a BHR Consultant for UN Global Compact Türkiye. Currently, she holds the position of Project Co-Manager in a project funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Consulate in Istanbul, focusing on Strengthening BHR Awareness and Monitoring Capacity of Business and Civil Society Organizations in Relation to the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG).

Publications