Organizational Structure and Leadership

A working board of directors provides leadership for FTRN and its staff. Made up of dedicated volunteers, the board donates their time, their financial support, and their passion for economic justice to develop our growing organization. FTRN’s Executive Director and staff report to the board, and direct our programs and projects. Both staff and board members have experience in developing countries, and important personal and professional relationships with artisan and farmer groups, and within the international Fair Trade movement.

FTRN’s Team

Executive Director - Jeff Goldman joined FTRN in January 2009.  He has fortunately received directions, cultural insights, and genuine kindness from countless locals while working & backpacking in 54 countries across six continents. Just prior to joining FTRN, he served as Executive Director of Mango Tree, a socially responsible business designing & producing low-literacy communication materials in Uganda. He was first introduced to Fair Trade while working as a Membership & Development Coordinator at Co-op America (now Green America). He has led service learning & personal growth trips for groups of secondary school students to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cuba, Thailand, Australia, and Hawaii.  He taught English in China, environmental science in Bolivia, and social studies at two Washington, DC high schools. For five years he led experiential education programs for students at Close Up in Washington, DC, by guiding week-long government & politics education tours.   He earned an M.S. in Energy and Environmental Policy from MIT, and a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. He loves health food, digital photography, playing tennis & adventuring in nature.

Administrator - Steven Kretzmann (aka “Stevik”) has worked with FTRN since 2002. Currently living in Philadelphia, Stevik is active in his local Quaker Meeting and food co-op, as well as various political, environmental and social change causes, including Fair Trade. He is a pacifist and conscientious objector to military taxes.

Board of Directors

Board Chair - Sam Carpenter is general manager of Global Gifts, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization with two stores in Indianapolis, Indiana. Global Gifts annually hosts the Helping Hands Festival, an event designed to broaden artisan and public participation in Fair Trade. Sam wrote his master’s thesis on the subject of Fair Trade in fulfillment of a M.A. degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.

Board Vice Chair - Denise Attwood has served on FTRN’s board since August 2005. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Washington University’s Huxley College of Environmental Studies in 1984, and earned her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1988. In 1984, Denise and her husband, Ric Conner, started the for-profit, fair-trade import company, Ganesh Himal Trading. The company imports directly from handcraft producers in Nepal, creating long term partnerships with low-income, refugee, and fair trade artisan groups there. Denise is also currently  on the board of the Center for Justice, a non-profit law firm dedicated to the experience of justice for those of limited or no resources, including the earth. She is a co-founder and former board member of Global Folk Art, a non-profit fair trade store in Spokane, and a proud mother of a great son.

Board Treasurer - Chris O’Brien is Director of the Responsible Purchasing Network at the Center for a New American Dream. In this position, he works with institutional purchasers to advance socially and environmentally responsible procurement. In his dozen years of corporate responsibility experience he served as Director of the Co-op America Business Network and the Fair Trade Federation. He is part-owner of Seven Bridges, the world’s only supplier of organic and fair trade beer-brewing and coffee-roasting supplies. Chris is the author of the award-winning book Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World about sustainability in the beer industry. He has lived, worked and traveled extensively in Africa, South America and Asia researching traditional brewing practices.

Board Secretary - Cheryl Musch is Director of International Development for SERRV, one of the first Fair Trade organizations in the U.S. SERRV works in 35 developing countries, and Cheryl frequently visits artisan and farmer organizations. Cheryl was FTRN’s first Executive Director and has served as the Executive Director for the Fair Trade Federation. She has also been active in Fair Trade retail at stores including Crossroads Global Handcrafts and Global Exchange.

Board Member - Tex Dworkin is an independent Fair Trade Consultant and Director of Marketing for Global Exchange, an international human rights organization. Tex’s work in Fair Trade, e-commerce, and cause-based marketing continues to inspire her to act on behalf of the expanding socially conscious consumer movement. In addition to her service on FTRN’s board, Tex is on the Fair Trade Federation Board of Directors.

Board Member - Susan Gardner Nelson is Education Coordinator at the Ten Thousand Villages store in Goshen, IN, where she shares the story of Fair Trade with customers, volunteers, in churches, schools and community organizations.  She has also served as a consultant to regional and national Fair Trade and educational organizations on Fair Trade education.  Through her association with Ten Thousand Villages, she has traveled to numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to meet the artisans and learn the stories first hand. Susan joined the FTRN Board in August 2008.

Board Member - Martha Newell is an activist parent/social change connector living in Missoula, MT. She was the Manager of the Global Village World Crafts Fair Trade store (Missoula) for 6 years. She and her family recently returned from a year of living in Central America. She is excited to be furthering the cause of Fair Trade as a member of FTRN, with an emphasis on connecting donors to the Fair Trade cause.

Board Member - Larry Larson, CEO of Larry’s Beans, Inc. sincerely lives up to his corporate tag line, “coffee sticklers and fair trade mavericks.” In addition to providing fresh roasted java to a growing roster of markets and coffee houses from Raleigh to Maine, Larry’s Beans frequently holds informational events to introduce people to the merits of Fair Trade. His company website includes a “sustainability school” and a documentation section where customers can follow the fair paper trail for their particular pound of coffee.

Board Member - Stephanie Sheerin is a grant advisor of the Fair Trade and Economic Justice Fund.  She founded and coordinates ‘It’s Only Fair’, a local faith-based program promoting economic justice through Fair Trade.  Stephanie is also the lead organizer of the Montclair Fair Trade Coalition (in October 2008 Montclair became the first Fair Trade town in NJ!).  Other economic justice work includes working as a tenant organizer and living wage advocate in Washington and Maryland.  While living in Kenya, she worked with a micro-credit program for women.

Board Member - Lee Wallace joined FTRN in 2008 and is the Director of Peace Coffee, a 100% fair trade coffee company, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to working at Peace Coffee, Lee’s professional experiences include work on rural economic development and business incubation, natural foods cooperatives and directing a NGO that focuses on globalization, immigration and human rights issues in the Americas. She is actively involved in the Local Fair Trade Network, the Domestic Fair Trade Association.

Board Member - Benita Singh

Additional Volunteers

Various volunteers.

Other Key Players

• Branding and strategy by The Change
• Printing by Red Sun Press

Download FTRN overview brochure