About Natalie
Natalie Bridgeman Fields is a senior consultant dedicated to supporting justice-oriented organizations to achieve their missions.
Her collaboration with organizations draws on her three decades as a lawyer, consultant, award-winning social entrepreneur, founding executive director, and educator.
Natalie consults for a range of organizations, from small non-profit organizations, to foundations and large international institutions, where her learning across sectors and projects enriches the values-driven services she offers her clients. See her Portfolio.
Alongside her consulting career, Natalie has been a leader in the international movement for rights-based climate and environmental justice, and human rights. Natalie’s substantive expertise spans her passions for advancing corporate accountability, rights-focused impact investing, international finance and development accountability, media and communications for change making, and movement building and advocacy alongside communities speaking truth to power.
Natalie has been a TEDx speaker, and regularly guest lectures at policy, law, and business schools, as well as at conferences, meeting, and events worldwide.
In addition to her work as a consultant throughout her career, Natalie recently led the International Program at Earthjustice, where she was fortunate to support the work of an international team of lawyers, consultants, and scientists at the forefront of climate litigation.
Previously, Natalie was the founder and 14-year executive director of Accountability Counsel. She began Accountability Counsel with an Echoing Green Fellowship, and later a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation fellowship, building on a decade of her advocacy for the rights of predominantly Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities harmed by internationally financed projects.
She led Accountability Counsel’s growth from a concept with no budget or staff to a preeminent and sustainable global organization of diverse community-driven lawyers, policy advocates, and researchers working to amplify the voices of people to defend their environmental and human rights. She ultimately oversaw an annual budget of $4 million for an organization where she was the primary fundraiser. The organization has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in the growth, improvement, and understanding of international accountability mechanisms (IAMs).
As a lawyer, Natalie has litigated cases against oil companies in Peru, has sued human rights abusers in US courts and won, and has taken on abusive agribusiness companies in Liberia. Natalie's work alongside partners and communities has resulted in environmental victories in multiple world regions. Her early litigation experience included corporate and securities litigation at Wilson Sonsini.
Natalie’s consulting for international institutions has included the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where she led a multi-stakeholder process to redesign the EBRD’s complaint mechanism, and the World Bank Inspection Panel, where she developed investigation procedures and provided lead support on several complaints. She has also consulted on accountability issues for UN institutions and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Natalie has undergone extensive training in leadership development, human resources with a focus on leadership and management, financial management for nonprofits, and JEDI-B (justice, equity, diversity and belonging). She is a graduate of Cornell University (BA, Government and International Relations) and UCLA School of Law (JD, Program in Public Interest Law and Policy).
Natalie and her husband are proudest of their three children and budding family band. They live in San Francisco, California.
