Activating Consumers to Create Shared Value and Sustainability

Bio: Paul Rice, founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA, received the Ashoka Fellowship for social entrepreneurship and is a four-time winner of Fast Company magazine’s Social Capitalist of the Year. He won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and was named one of the World Economic Forum’s top 40 Social Entrepreneurs. Prior to starting Fair Trade USA, Paul worked with coffee farmers in Nicaragua for 11 years and founded the country’s first Fair Trade coffee cooperative. Paul holds degrees from Yale and Berkeley-Haas.

Synopsis: Companies are increasingly looking for ways to make their global supply chains more transparent and secure. Growing numbers of consumers are asking how their food and other favorite products are produced, which is driving a shift in global sourcing toward more responsible, sustainable practices. Fair Trade leverages these macro trends to improve the working conditions and livelihoods of farmers and workers around the world. Once limited to coffee, the Fair Trade Certified label now appears on products including produce, flowers, tea and chocolate at Whole Foods, fish at Safeway, apparel at Patagonia and West Elm rugs. Join us in a lively discussion on the intersection of sustainable development, responsible sourcing and conscious consumerism.

Agenda:

Lunch provided @ 12:30 p.m.
Programming @ 1:00 pm
This event is sponsored by Dean Elizabeth Davis and the Net Impact Club.