Jessica Russell is a Senior Policy Adviser at BusinessNZ, where she jointly leads work on domestic and international labour, employment relations, and social policy, ensuring New Zealand employers have a strong and influential voice in global labour policy and analysis.
She represents New Zealand business internationally as Co-Chair of the Business at OECD (BIAC) Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC) and serves as BusinessNZ’s representative on the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) for both the NZ–EU and NZ–UK Free Trade Agreements, which advises on the implementation of the NZ–EU FTA, and the labour, environment, and sustainable development chapters of the NZ–UK FTA.
With more than 16 years’ policy experience — spanning international labour standards, global conventions, multilateral engagement, and labour provisions in trade agreements — Jessica has worked extensively across the Asia–Pacific and has led New Zealand’s engagement in labour and social policy forums at both regional and global levels, including the UN, ILO, APEC, and OECD.