Our Team

Just Business was founded by Robert E. McNulty, PhD, after 14 years in academia where he specialized in business ethics, and a prior career in international corporate consulting. Seeing the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, he saw an opportunity to be of service by helping companies to draw on positive ethics, which he sees as a source of personal and organizational empowerment, as well as opportunities for businesses to support peace through their economic engagements in fragile regions. Just Business is supported by several consultants and a network of experts in countries around the world.

Robert E. McNulty, PhD
Founder & President

Following a career in international business consulting, for over two decades, Dr. McNulty’s professional focus has been on ethics in its theoretical and applied forms. For 14 years, he worked at Bentley University, initially teaching in the Philosophy Department and then for 13 years as the director of programs at the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics. There he launched the Bentley Business for Peace (B4P) Initiative to focus on ways businesses can advance stability and peace in regions facing serious conflicts. He served on the Steering Committee of the United Nations Global Compact Business for Peace Initiative and was the inaugural co-chair of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Business for Peace Working Group.

“While I recognize the severity of the current health and economic crisis, I believe that we must seize this moment to find unrecognized strengths in employees and other stakeholders that can empower the needed transformations in businesses and the economy more broadly.”

Robert is the founder of the nonprofit organization, Applied Ethics, Inc., the main work of which is the Pax Populi people-to-people peacebuilding initiative, which since 2010 has provided online educational services to students living in Afghanistan, a country he has visited three times for this work.

Earlier, Robert held business leadership roles in New York, Jakarta, and Singapore where he specialized in the development and applications of communications strategies to assist countries in their economic development efforts as well as strategic communications programs for corporate clients.

Mark van Dorp
Associate Consultant

Mark combines a strong drive for a more peaceful and equitable world with the art of bringing people and stakeholders together and inspiring them to find creative and innovative solutions to let companies operate successfully and responsibly in the most complex situations, such as in fragile states and those emerging from post-conflict situations.

Mark has broad experience in investigating and analyzing business-related human rights risks, as well as identifying economic opportunities in fragile contexts. He specializes in consulting on responsible business in fragile and conflict-affected settings. He has 25 years of experience in the role of business in fragile and conflict-affected settings, corporate social responsibility, socio-economic opportunity mapping in post-conflict settings, value chain development for SMEs, peacebuilding, conflict-sensitivity, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues, business and human rights, and natural resource management.

“For business leaders, it is no longer possible to mind their own business. It is time to invest in a better understanding of the context in which the company operates, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings.”

Mark has worked for different corporate clients, NGOs, think tanks, and UN organizations in over ten countries in Africa as well as Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, with a focus on the most challenging and complex settings. Mark is the founder of Bureau Van Dorp, a consultancy firm based in the Netherlands that specializes in responsible business in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Just Business and Bureau Van Dorp work in partnership, benefiting from their shared focus on B4P as well as complementary expertise and experience.

Marcel Smits,
Associate Consultant

Marcel has over 20 years of experience working with international organizations in the areas of sustainable social and economic development in fragile and conflict-affected situations. His work has focused on consulting on political and business issues, research, data reporting, and training services. Some of his specific areas of expertise include social impact measurements, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues, theory of change, human rights, international justice, and rule of law. Marcel has developed a systematic approach to business for peace that involves conflict sensitivity, data analysis, conflict prevention interventions, and peacebuilding.

“I have seen the unwanted effects of irresponsible practices in many fragile and conflict-affected communities. I am motivated to change these practices and help demonstrate genuine positive impact because I believe that all people are entitled to know that the products they buy and the officials they elect make responsible choices based on the best available evidence.”

In addition to his consulting work, Marcel is a director at the Institute of Economics and Peace. Earlier in his career, Marcel worked as a policy specialist at Oxfam, where he helped to develop the organization's Business for Peace program. Before that, he served as the director of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

In addition to his work with JB, Marcel is CEO, FCS Impact. Geographically, Marcel’s work has been concentrated in East and Southeast Asia, the Western Balkans, Caucasus and East, Central, and West Africa.