Our Team and Governance

Guided by passion and expertise, our diverse team drives our mission with unwavering dedication. Transparent governance and democratic decision-making, are at the heart of our organisation, ensuring that every member's voice is heard and valued.

Our team comprises individuals with a wide range of skills and backgrounds, coming together with a shared purpose: to advance our mission of advocating for a new economic system that puts people and planet before profit. We celebrate diversity and actively seek perspectives that challenge and enrich our thinking.

Our Team

Chief Executive Leida Rijnhout

Guarantee System Manager Tamara Cobussen

Branding & Marketing Manager Natalie Hesketh-Maré

Communications Manager Michael Sarcauga

Membership and Monitoring Officer Sandra Garcia

Compliance Officer Francesca Gnesutta

Finance and Administration Coordinator Bojana Vasić

MADE51 Project Officer Sergio David Silva Gutiérrez

Communications Manager Marta Frigato

Communications Officer Valia Almpani

Projects Officer Ecem Yildiz

Project Coordinator Zerrin Cengiz

Membership and Monitoring Officer Nicole Salazar

Membership and Monitoring Officer Pilar Barranco

Communications Intern Joy Gibelin

THE BOARD

WFTO is democratically run by its members on a one-(full guaranteed)member-one-vote basis. The Board and President are elected by the members, who also vote on the strategy, budgets and updates to our Fair Trade Principles, together with any other major change to the organisation.

Roopa Mehta

President

Roopa is a graduate with a major in Economics and holds a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of Delhi. She has additional qualifications in Social Communication. In her earlier career graph, Roopa has worked in the Hospitality and Merchandising sectors. Currently she is heading a Fair Trade Enterprise, Sasha Association for Craft Producers.

A chance meeting with the founder of a Fair Trade Enterprise in Calcutta drew Roopa to the alternative business model which assured artisans their rightful place in the supply chain and sustainable livelihoods with dignity while respecting their traditions, culture and inherent generational skills.

Roopa speaks Hindi and English fluently. When not working, she is an avid reader, listens to Indian and Western Classical Music, meditates, devours films and enjoys spending time with her family.

Sophie Tack

Vice-President

Sophie works as a director in Oxfam-Magasins du monde, leading the department focused on research, campaigns, partnerships, education and communication. She is also a member of the board of Directors of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office, and chaires the Fair Trade group in Oxfam-International. She studied International Politics and Development Cooperation at the University of Ghent (Belgium).

Sophie has been working in Fair Trade for more than 20 years. To her, inequalities and injustices need to be tackled, and Fair Trade is a wonderful tool to make a difference. She is just passionate about people and planet.

During her free time, Sophie likes to dance, walk, do yoga, listen to music, read books, and enjoy spending time with family and friends.She speaks Dutch, French and English, and she is working on her Spanish skills.

Pieter Swart

Treasurer

Pieter has been working in the development field for over 30 years with a specific focus on entrepreneurship and social enterprise development. Pieter is also the co-owner of Turqle Trading, a WFTO Fair Trade Enterprise.

Pieter is a firm believer in “being the change you want to see in the world”. Fair Trade Enterprises provide the perfect home where this philosophy can be put into practice on a daily basis.

Outside of work, Pieter’s other passions are food and wine – cooking and sharing with family and friends. He also loves watching sports and participating in extreme endurance events.

Luis Heller

WFTO LA Board regional representative

Luis is the Sustainability Manager at Allpa, a Peruvian WFTO-verified Fair Trade Enterprise. Luis is also part of the WFTO LA Board and represents the WFTO Global board in the International Fair Trade Towns Steering Committee. As an administrator in the private sector, he decided to move in 2003 to the Fair Trade sector to apply his expertise on it and show how Fair Trade products and artisans can compete in the global market.

Luis believe strongly in equality and justice in the world and the need to confront the lack of them uniting people to get it. He believes that Fair Trade is a positive answer to this struggle.

In his free time, Luis enjoys reading, listening to music and collecting art with his companion and mascots.

Sunil chitrakar

WFTO Asia Board Regional Representative

Sunil had started his career facilitating SMEs in their capacity building and later completed a PhD from Tribhuvan University in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. He runs Mahaguthi Craft with Conscience, a WFTO-verified Fair Trade enterprise as MD/CEO and provides leadership to the Fair Trade Group Nepal as Chairperson. He has also been teaching social entrepreneurship at Nepal Open University and School of Management, Tribhuvan University.

He believes that Fair Trade is one of the best ways of empowering people economically and socially to brings sustained change.

His family name Chitrakar means painter and his traditional profession is ritual painting. During his free time, Sunil enjoys painting and cycling. He speaks Newari as his mother tongue along with Nepali and English.

Chris Solt

Board member

Originally Chris studied to become a secondary school social studies teacher, but along the way he found a strong passion for alternative economies rooted in restorative justice, so completed a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Social Science at Cleveland State University. After working in the Fair Trade movement for 10 years, he decided to hone his leadership and nonprofit organization skills and completed a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership with a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources from Southern New Hampshire University.

Chris developed a passion for Fair Trade on a trip through Canada in 1998, where he discovered Dix Mille Villages (Ten Thousand Villages). He had been studying Noam Chomsky, Aldous Huxley, Mahatma Gandhi, Howard Zinn, and found an alignment of values despite the limitations of consumer capitalism.

Chris is a lifelong musician and plays many instruments. He loves hiking, bicycling, hiking, kayaking, cooking, gardening, travelling, and spending time with his dog, Teddy the Carin Terrier.

Giorgio Dal Fiume

Board Member (Independent)

Giorgio graduated in Modern History and because of his experience as a trainer for adults on social, environmental and intercultural issues, he decided to get back to university to deepen his studies and obtain a second Degree in Education Sciences. After many years working in International Cooperation, he then decided to move from training to practice, and that’s why he chose to work in Fair Trade.

Giorgio’s youthful interest in cultures and travels quickly became a passion for International Cooperation. His studies and field experience made him aware of the root cause of global injustice and unfair economy. When in 1992 he met Fair Trade, he understood that it was the right way to work on them.

Giorgio’s free time is for travel, hiking in the mountains, reading, friends and of course family. Giorgio speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and naturally Italian, most of them learned on the road.

Swapan Kumar Das

Board Member

In today’s global landscape, it is imperative that both producers and consumers embrace ethical and equitable production and consumption practices alike. This commitment is vital to foster a sense of shared responsibility and mutual care among individuals and communities worldwide. As a dedicated advocate for fair trade principles, I have studied business and am committed to actively promoting and practicing these values to contribute to the creation of a more just and sustainable global marketplace.

Nearly two decades ago, I embarked on a journey in the fair trade industry with the mission of effectively promoting an alternative trading system. My commitment to this cause has remained steadfast ever since.

Getting involved in sectoral associations and networking. There are three languages those are required to be used.

Indro Dasgupta

Board Member (Independent)

Indro is Director of Craft Resource Center (CRC), India and previously served as Principal Economist for 17 years at Mary Kay Inc., Dallas, Texas. Indro earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, where he also teaches as Adjunct Professor in Economics. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Calcutta and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics.

Indro’s passion for Fair Trade started in 1993 when he did a study on the impact of “Alternative Trade in Rural India” as part of his Master’s degree. Seeing the positive impact of Fair Trade, since then Indro has been an ardent supporter and practitioner of Fair Trade.

Outside of work, Indro loves watching movies and listening to world music. He speaks English, Bengali and Hindi fluently, and he hopes to be fluent in Spanish some day.

WFTO REGIONAL OFFICES & NETWORKS

WFTO Global works closely with regional representation to ensure a strong and inclusive Fair Trade movement at both global and local levels. Recognising the diverse contexts and challenges faced by Fair Trade Enterprises across different regions, WFTO collaborates with regional networks and organisations to address specific regional needs and promote the values represented by our 10 Fair Trade Principles worldwide.