Int. FTTs Steering Committee
When the number of national campaigns increased to 24 the International Fair Trade Towns Steering Committee was set up primarily to ensure networking and communication between the national Fair Trade Town coordinators. The Steering Committee members represent a wide range of Fair Trade Organisations and geographical locations. The initial members of the committee were approved by the assembled National Coordinators at the International Fair Trade Towns conference in Poznan (2012), Poland after a call for volunteers to serve and the first Steering Committee meeting took place the following year in February 2013.
The current members of the International Fair Trade Towns Steering Committee are listed below:
Benoit Berger
Director of Fair Trade Lebanon, representing Africa and Middle EastBenoit is the director of Fair Trade Lebanon, to the creation of which he has actively contributed... ...
moreBenoit is the director of Fair Trade Lebanon, to the creation of which he has actively contributed in 2006. Involved since 30 years in the field of international solidarity, he shared his career between France and Lebanon.
Fair Trade Lebanon initiative was based on the observation that Lebanese women of rural communities have strong but underemployed skills and potential. The founders decided to use fair trade as a means to promote local expertise in food processing and to generate revenues for disadvantaged rural communities by creating marketing opportunities for small producers and women processing cooperatives.
In 12 years, Fair Trade Lebanon has developed a wide range of products resulting from traditional know how, including olive oil, wine, preserves, jams, distillates… which are sold through the fair trade networks of outlets in Europe, the USA and in some Gulf countries, as well as on the Lebanese market.
Fair Trade Lebanon is collaborating with 50 production units – mainly cooperatives – providing jobs to 1.400 producers, including vulnerable communities (Lebanese and refugees).
Since 2014, Fair Trade Lebanon has developed a network of nine Fair Trade Towns in Lebanon and it organized the 10th International Fair Trade Town conference in one of them, Baskinta, in 2016.

Billy Linstead Goldsmith
National Coordinator, Fair Trade Campaigns, USABilly Linstead Goldsmith came to Fair Trade Campaigns from an eight year career in community... ...
moreBilly Linstead Goldsmith came to Fair Trade Campaigns from an eight year career in community organizing in the environmental movement where he recruited, trained and developed hundreds of grassroots organizers and facilitated campaigns at the national, statewide and local levels. As the first full time National Coordinator of Fair Trade Campaigns in the U.S., he has worked closely with the wide range of stakeholders in the U.S. and international Fair Trade movement, and collaborated with them to build an inclusive campaigns movement via the "Big Tent" approach outlined in the International Fair Trade Towns Guidelines. In his 7 years in this role, he has seen the U.S. movement grow to include Fair Trade Colleges & Universities, Fair Trade Schools and Fair Trade Congregations.
Billy lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife, Rachel and their new son, Jack.
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Jatta Makkula
National coordinator, Fair Trade Towns, Finland (representing Europe)
Luis Heller
Administration Manager, Allpa, Peru and WFTO and WFTO LA Board MemberI am Luis Heller, Administration Manager in Allpa, a Peruvian WFTO member. I am also a board member... ...
moreI am Luis Heller, Administration Manager in Allpa, a Peruvian WFTO member. I am also a board member of WFTO and WFTO LA.
Before Allpa, I worked in the corporate world as an Administrator for many years. I decided to change things in my life, move on and work in the Fair Trade world; I think it was the correct decision.
Working in Allpa for 12 years and working in WFTO and WFTO- LA has made me aware of the struggle that a Fair Trade organization goes thru to be more modern, efficient and more socially responsible in order to get closer to the producer/artisans, clients and colleagues. Indeed, it is hard work done with a team effort approach: sharing ideas of innovation, following the principles of our organization WFTO, and the commitment to provide high quality products to our customers from the Fair Trade or conventional market.
I accepted the position in WFTO LA and the WFTO Board to learn more from our movement and bring our ideas to it.
I see our work in Fair Trade Towns and now on the Int. Fair Trade Towns Steering Commitee as a challenge to make our region and the global organization closer to make our objectives as only one. Our regions have different particularities and that is what make us unique; but at the end, we only have one Main Objective: to make Fair Trade and Fair Trade Towns globally stronger.
Our job in the global south, in this case LA is in partnership with CLAC, SPP and WFTO LA. It is very important to bring the position of producers and artisans to the table of progress and integration of North and South. To me we are a global movement, not north and south separate; but, one social movement.
closeMaria Young Sin Lim
representing Asia-Pacific and OceaniaAcross the Asian field, we have faced fair trade producers and participated in fair trade activities by testifying and writing about the hopes and alternatives we found there. Since 2010, I have joined the local fair trade movement centered on Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do. As a National Coordinator, it was a grateful journey for six major cities -- Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Hwaseong, Hanam and Bucheon -- to join in the process of certified growth and proliferation. Thank you for being able to join IFFTTC at a precious time when it spreads to community movements such as fair trade universities, fair trade churches and fair trade companies. I hope it will be a precious journey to learn and inspire in solidarity.

Miriam Elizabeth Pérez Zelaya
representing Latin America including Mexico & CaribbeanMaestra de Educación Primaria e Ingeniera Agrónomo, con diplomados en Gestión de Proyectos y... ...
moreMaestra de Educación Primaria e Ingeniera Agrónomo, con diplomados en Gestión de Proyectos y Economía Social de Mercado.
Es productora de café especial orgánico, biodinámico y pranico, está calificada para dar enseñanza en asistencia técnica agrícola, fortalecimiento organizacional, género, diseño y manejo de proyectos, desarrollo económico local, planes de negocios y conocedora de las normas de certificaciones en café, para estar en nichos de mercado diferenciado. Trabaja en la empresa: Café Orgánico Marcala S. A. de C.V. “COMSA” como gerente de certificaciones y el programa: Juntos Limpiamos Marcala, siendo la responsable de la operatividad del sistema interno de control “SIC”. Entre sus resultados de trabajo comunitario están el establecimiento de La Coordinadora de Mujeres Campesinas de La Paz, “COMUCAP”, fundadora de La Regional Agrícola de Productores Orgánicos de La Sierra, “RAOS”, precursora de COMSA, BANCOMSA, SOLUCIONES DE DESECHOS PROSOSTENIBLES y facilitadora del proceso de declaratoria “Marcala Ciudad Comercio Justo”.
Nació en Marcala, La Paz, Honduras C. A., es tercera generación de una familia humilde productora de café, Ella trata de devolver a su país de alguna manera los conocimientos que ha recibido, trabajando con mujeres, jóvenes y niños, para hacer incidencia en su forma de pensar, pues si cambiamos nuestra forma de pensar, cambiaremos nuestra forma de vivir.
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Tadeusz Makulski
President, Polish Fair Trade AssociationTadeusz is a Fair Trade Expert of the Polish Fair Trade Association; national... ... ...
moreTadeusz is a Fair Trade Expert of the Polish Fair Trade Association; national coordinator of Fair Trade Campaign in Poland; former member of the Board of Directors for WFTO-Europe; coordinator of the program Have a Heart adoption” of "Maitri" Movement Poland (sponsorship of orphans and children from poverty stricken families in Africa and Asia); Master’s degree in Political Science and used to be an entrepreneur for 20 years.

Valeria Rodriguez
Head of Advocacy & Public Engagement of Max Havelaar France
She began her career working as a communication officer for Taller Visual, a small nonprofit organization specializing in the research and preservation of photographic records of Ecuador’s cultural heritage. She participated in several research projects focused on finding and preserving the first images of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador, and this was the beginning of her permanent commitment to the struggles of indigenous organizations in Ecuador. In 1992 she worked at CONAIE, Confederation of Indian peoples of Ecuador as Press officer during the campaign for the commemoration of 500 years of Indian resistance. In 1996 she was Press officer for the Indian candidate, Miguel Lluco during the election campaign that brought him to the Chamber of Deputies of Ecuador.
Then Valeria turned to journalism. Between 1997 and 2001, she worked in Ecuador as a reporter for the TV station, SÍ TV. She was also a freelance journalist for the daily newspaper Hoy.
In France, Valeria obtained a master’s degree in Communication and Political Science, while working as a freelance for several daily newspapers in different countries, such as El Universo (Ecuador), and La Prensa (Panama), Super (United Arab Emirates) or Deutsche Welle TV-Latin American section (Germany). She also worked for two years in the Latin American section of Radio France Internationale (RFI) as a news anchor, reporter, and editor of the website.