É«»¨ÌÃ

Vice Chancellor of É«»¨ÌÃ, Professor Jon Timmis, with Sara Clancy

Sustainable business advocate Sara Clancy has been bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate by É«»¨ÌÃ.

Clancy has worked in the field of responsible and sustainable business for more than 25 years, with a passion for the positive impact businesses can have on improving the social, economic and environmental conditions of workers and their communities in emerging economies, especially Africa.

She has led programmes for the Work Bank Group, the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and companies such as Levi’s and the Body Shop.

The É«»¨Ìà Economics graduate currently supports more than 1,000 international and national businesses operating in Africa adopt sustainable business practices, including suppliers of textiles from Morocco, wine from South Africa, tea from Kenya and cocoa from Ghana.

Sara Clancy was presented with an Honorary Doctorate by Dr Patrick Finney, Pro Vice-Chancellor: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences on 15 July.

The full conferral presentation is available below, in the language in which it was delivered.

Ganghellor, Is-Ganghellor, graddedigion, gyfeillion.  Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Sara Clancy i dderbyn gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd, Prifysgol É«»¨ÌÃ.

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, graduates and supporters.  It is an honour and a privilege to present Sara Clancy with an Honorary Doctorate of É«»¨ÌÃ.

Sara studied Economics at É«»¨Ìà in the 1980s and on her graduation went as a volunteer to help build a library and nursery school in The Gambia. This was the beginning of a long career fired by a passion for the improvement of the social, environmental and economic conditions of workers and their communities in emerging economies, especially in Africa.

For over thirty years, Sara has advised on, managed and monitored development programmes across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, aimed at transforming the lives of children, workers and producers, through the promotion of ethical and sustainable practices in business, trade, manufacturing and banking.

She has worked with governments, the United Nations, the World Bank, Save the Children, Oxfam, and many other global organisations in numerous countries, including Vietnam, Tanzania, The Gambia, Nepal, Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan, Mozambique and Kurdistan.

Sara has been a prolific author of practical and influential guides for many global organisations. As an experienced social auditor for SEDEX  - the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange -  she co-authored its audit tool kit guides for sustainable and ethical supply chains; for the IFC  - the International Finance Corporation -  she co-authored guides to sustainable mining and sustainable agri-business in Africa; and for the United Nations, she prepared a guide to managing sustainable issues for the extractive and food processing industries in Vietnam.

Sarah has also worked directly with leading multinational companies, including Levi Strauss and The Body Shop, advising on human rights, responsible sourcing of materials and modern slavery, and providing guidance on how to ensure ethical working conditions in their supply chains.

Sara is currently the Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation Partner Africa. Premised on United Nations human rights principles, Partner Africa’s mission is to improve the livelihoods of African workers and producers, assisting them to access international supply chains and to bridge the skills and standards gap between Africa and the international community. Typically, this involves working with those producers to assist them in adopting internationally recognised ethical business standards which both improves the living conditions of their workers and enables the producers to access European and other international markets.

Through Partner Africa Sara has supported over a thousand international and national businesses operating in Africa in their adoption of sustainable business practices including suppliers of textiles from Morocco, flowers from Ethiopia, wine from South Africa, tea from Kenya and cocoa from Ghana.

Sara was the first in her family to go to University and she has been a proud ambassador for Aber across the world ever since. Her story should be an inspiration to many an unsure young student feeling their way towards the daunting prospect of post-University life. She seized the opportunity that Aber offered her, and used it, not only to help others, but to help them to help themselves in a business-like, ethical and humane way.

Our new University strategy posits that our core purpose as an institution is to ‘change lives for the better’. Sara’s life was undoubtedly changed for the better by her time in Aber, and her career since has been dedicated to the truly noble endeavour of transforming the lives of many, many thousands of people in Africa and the wider world.

Ganghellor mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Sara Clancy i dderbyn gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd, Prifysgol É«»¨ÌÃ.

Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Sara Clancy with an Honorary Doctorate of É«»¨ÌÃ.

É«»¨Ìà Honours 2025

Each year, É«»¨Ìà confers Honorary Awards on a small number of distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievement and contribution.

The 2025 Honorary Fellows are:

• Jamal Hassim:Ìýco-founder and CEO of Bolt Global, leading media practitioner and digital innovator.
• Elizabeth Treasure CBE:Ìýhigher education leader and former Vice-Chancellor of É«»¨ÌÃ.

In addition, three individuals will be bestowed Honorary Doctorates in recognition of outstanding success in their respective fields. These are:

• Sara Clancy:Ìýsupporter and promoter of responsible and sustainable business practices in Africa.
• Rob McCallum FRGS:Ìýinternationally acclaimed figure in deep ocean exploration, philanthropic science and conservation.ÌýÌýÌý
• Linda Tomos CBE:ÌýWales' first female National Librarian, who worked for over 50 years in the librarian

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