When businesses aim to improve performance, boost productivity, or grow sustainably, one factor often gets overlooked: the people who make it all happen. Across global supply chains, countless workers operate in conditions invisible to the companies they serve. Many of these challenges are subtle, hidden, and often ignored, yet they ripple back to affect business resilience, brand reputation, and long-term growth. &Wider recognized this gap early on, building a company that places listening at the heart of better business.

&Wider’s journey began in 2014, sparked by a tragedy in South Africa at a platinum mine called Marikana. Witnessing the deep human cost of unsafe and unfair working conditions, the founders knew that business-as-usual was not enough. They sought to create a solution that would put workers’ voices at the center of supply chain management.

The company’s first engagement was with a multinational fishing firm, involving direct, face-to-face conversations with workers. It was here that &Wider developed its core approach: trust-driven engagement combined with metrics that measure a decent working life. These early lessons laid the foundation for a technology-driven model that could scale globally.

What started as trials with external apps and tech providers eventually led &Wider to build its own platform. Today, their technology and implementation teams operate out of a sunlit office in Cape Town, while the client accounts and operations teams run initiatives from a historic canal-side office in Amsterdam. The company has since expanded across Europe and North America, offering a truly global presence.

The Challenge: Invisible Labor, Fragile Supply Chains

Despite globalization and increased corporate responsibility initiatives, working conditions across supply chains often remain invisible. Poor oversight can enable hidden exploitation, putting both workers and businesses at risk. Fragile supply chains, unstable labor environments, and inadequate monitoring lead to inefficiencies, reputational risks, and operational setbacks.

&Wider addresses this head-on. Their mission is simple but powerful: increase visibility and improve conditions along global supply chains. By listening directly to workers, analyzing data, and delivering actionable insights, &Wider helps businesses create environments where employees thrive—and where companies grow sustainably.

Solutions That Make a Difference

At the heart of &Wider’s approach is the combination of technology, data, and human expertise. Their solutions allow businesses to monitor working conditions, track progress, and take proactive steps to improve outcomes for workers worldwide.

Business-Level Monitoring

The flagship offering, business-level monitoring, gives companies the ability to track human rights impacts and working conditions in real time. With high-quality dashboards, strategic support, and scalable solutions, businesses gain clarity on where and when interventions are needed. Pricing is tailored to workforce size and monitoring frequency, ensuring companies only pay for what they need. This tool provides more than data—it delivers insight, accountability, and confidence.

Landscape Assessments

Understanding risk isn’t just about immediate problems—it’s about seeing patterns over time. &Wider’s Landscape Assessments track human rights risks and improvements over a year, across entire sectors and sourcing geographies. Based on direct input from workers and smallholders, these assessments give companies a comprehensive picture of supply chain realities and highlight opportunities for meaningful improvement.

RAPT – Risk Assessment Prediction Tool

Proactive risk management is key to resilient supply chains. &Wider’s RAPT tool uses worker reports combined with predictive analytics to identify emerging risks before they escalate. This allows companies to act early, strengthen due diligence, and safeguard both employees and operations. RAPT transforms risk from a reactive challenge into a strategic advantage, helping businesses build more resilient and transparent supply chains.

Global Reach: Anywhere, Anytime

&Wider’s methodology is designed to work across industries and geographies. From construction and logistics to beverage, apparel, energy, and automobile sectors, the company reaches any workforce, anywhere on the globe. Their experience spans 28 sectors in 73 countries, demonstrating that human-centered supply chain monitoring is not only possible but scalable. In practice, &Wider can enter a new geography within just ten working days, bringing rapid insights and actionable guidance to businesses wherever they operate.

The impact of &Wider’s work extends far beyond compliance checklists or corporate social responsibility statements. By elevating workers’ voices and using data to guide decisions, companies see improvements in productivity, employee satisfaction, and operational resilience. Supply chains become stronger, more transparent, and more sustainable. Workers experience safer, fairer conditions. Businesses gain a reputation for integrity and accountability, which translates into loyalty, efficiency, and long-term growth.

The Path Ahead

Today, the global economies, the companies that succeed are those that truly understand the human side of their operations. &Wider has demonstrated that listening to workers is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic advantage. By combining trust-based engagement, innovative technology, and actionable insights, they have redefined what it means to create healthy, resilient, and ethical supply chains.

As &Wider continues to expand its footprint, it sets a new standard for how businesses can balance performance with responsibility. Their story is a reminder that behind every product, shipment, and service, there is a human life, and every life deserves to be seen, heard, and valued.

Lea Esterhuizen | Founder and CEO

Lea has always been drawn to the unseen, those injustices and struggles that often go unnoticed. Her career as a data scientist and methodologist is guided by one simple belief: when you shine a light on hidden problems, change becomes possible. She knows that improving working conditions not only helps people, it strengthens businesses, supply chains, and communities.

Over more than two decades, Lea has worked in South Africa, Bosnia, the MENA region, and the UK, focusing on state violence, forced labor, genocide, and violence against children. She designed early warning systems, researched crises for her PhD, and collaborated with civil society actors to turn insights into action. These experiences shaped her love for international, diverse teams and her drive to create scalable solutions that make real impact.

The tragedy at South Africa’s Marikana mine in 2012 struck a chord with Lea. In the months that followed, with two newborn boys in her arms, she explored how invisible working conditions affect millions around the world. Two years later, &Wider was born.

Lea’s talent lies in turning complex social challenges into simple, data-driven solutions. Today, she is excited about using AI alongside &Wider’s data from 12 sectors across 68 countries to predict and prevent human rights risks.

Outside work, she finds joy in wandering through desert dunes, reading by a fire, dancing in the kitchen, or snowboarding while she can. She even has a quirky skill: standing on her head for several minutes when needed.

“We unlock better visibility into working conditions; supporting businesses to make continuous improvement in workers' lives, their business practices and supply chains shaping these working lives.”