Lead for Change Blog

Assumption College: Campaign Spotlight

March 15, 2013

by: Colleen Putzel (originally in Le Provocateur as “AC Approved as Fair Trade College”) Over the past three years Assumption College has worked tirelessly to become approved as a Fair Trade College.  On Tuesday, February 12th, Assumption officially celebrated this achievement joining the ranks of other Fair Trade Colleges and Universities around the world.  Students, faculty […]

Campaign Spotlight – Chapel Hill, North Carolina

March 7, 2013

FIRST FAIR TRADE TOWN IN N.C. In the summer of 2012 Nadia took her students on a class visit to Ten Thousand Villages to learn about how Fair Trade can be a solution to exploitive labor practices in the fashion industry.  The store manager Keilayn Skutvik mentioned the Fair Trade Towns movement as a possible […]

Webinar: Fair Trade Towns & the UN’s Millennium Development Goals

February 20, 2013

The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are coming to an end in 2015 – what lies ahead?   The International Fair Trade Towns community will be advocating for Fair Trade to be incorporated into a Post-MDG framework as a way to reform international trade to benefit farmers and workers around the world.  Join Fair […]

Meet the new Fair Trade Campaigns Interns – Kelly and Ellen!

February 6, 2013

We’re pleased to welcome two new interns, Kelly Jackson and Ellen Watlington, to the Fair Trade Campaigns team! Kelly and Ellen have been working over the last couple weeks to perform outreach and support for our campaign organizers and develop some exciting content for the Fair Trade Towns USA and Fair Trade Colleges and Universities […]

The Toolkit (New Resource) is Here!

January 18, 2013

Over the last few months Fair Trade Colleges and Universities has been creating a Toolkit for organizers and advocates. The Toolkit serves to link together various resources and provides a thorough overview of what it means to organize a Fair Trade Campaign on campus. Now that it’s here, open it up, explore, learn and share! Within the Toolkit […]

Get Ready for Valentine’s Day!

January 14, 2013

If you are looking for a great opportunity to host your first Fair Trade event of the year then Valentine’s Day may be your best bet. Now is the perfect time to begin reaching out and planning your Fair Trade Valentine’s Day Celebrations. Below we have compiled a number of ideas and resources to help […]

Hand in Hand Soap Giveaway!

January 7, 2013

We’re giving away 5 bars of sustainable, Fair Trade suds with our friends from Hand in Hand soap! Check out this great company and enter your chance to win at the bottom of this page. The bath & body brand, Hand in Hand Soap was founded by couple, Bill Glaab & Courtney Apple.  During research, […]

Giveaway: Hand in Hand Soap

January 7, 2013

We’re giving away 5 bars of sustainable, Fair Trade suds with our friends from Hand in Hand soap! Check out this great company and enter your chance to win at the bottom of this page. The bath & body brand, Hand in Hand Soap was founded by couple, Bill Glaab & Courtney Apple.  During research, […]

International Fair Trade Towns Conference – A Global Affair

December 13, 2012

By: Courtney Lang, National Organizer – Fair Trade Towns USA It’s hard to know when you’re in Boston, MA or Teaneck, NJ that there are tens of thousands of Fair Trade Town organizers across the globe.  As of December 2012, there are 1,227 declared Fair Trade Towns in 24 countries and 6 continents.  Imagine if […]

Who is Fair for Life?

December 12, 2012

How many of you have enjoyed a delicious Equal Exchange chocolate bar, or woken up to a refreshing Guiyaki Yerba Mate?  Have you noticed the Fair for Life label presented to you on their packaging?  Through this guest blog post, Fair Trade Towns hopes to clarify who Fair for Life is and the key features […]

America Goes Bananas for Fair Trade!

December 10, 2012

Did you know that bananas are the number one selling item in almost ALL grocery stores?  It’s true! That’s why it is important that you ask for Fair Trade bananas. It is also why we’ve been rallying Fair Trade Town, University and College campaigns across the country to Go Bananas for Fair Trade since October! […]

Fair Trade Your Holidays!

November 30, 2012

  Looking for a simple way to help your community or campus Fair Trade their holiday?  Well, we decided to help compile some helpful resources – check it out! Fair Trade organizations have been hard at work the last few weeks getting ready for the holiday season! These groups have compiled a list of Fair […]

Banana Spotlight: Equal Exchange Bananas

November 26, 2012

Go Bananas for Fair Trade is a campaign created by Fair Trade Towns USA with the aim of building awareness and demand for Fair Trade bananas all across the country.  We kicked the campaign off in October (Fair Trade Month) with over 30 campaigns hosting banana-themed events. We’re thrilled with this success and will continue […]

Fair Trade Towns USA Now Recognizes Fairtrade International USA Certification

November 21, 2012

  PRESS RELEASE                                                                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Billy Linstead Goldsmith                                                   Date: 11/21/2012 Tel. (267)886-9990 E-mail: blinsteadgoldsmith@fairtradetownsusa.org Fair Trade Towns USA Now Recognizes Fairtrade International USA Certification Oakland, California, 11/21/12 – Fair Trade Towns USA (FT Towns USA) has officially announced the acceptance of Fairtrade International USA under the FT Towns USA criteria. Fair Trade Towns […]

Intern with Fair Trade Campaigns – Join the team in January!

November 19, 2012

Become part of a team helping provide support for hundreds of Fair Trade advocates across the country! We are looking for two bright, enthusiastic and dedicated college students (or recent graduates) to help create a more dynamic campaign as we move forward. If you have a passion for social justice and sustainability, live in the […]

Post Conference Challenge – Win Free Stuff!!

November 5, 2012

Thank you everyone who came to the conference, you brought incredible energy and enthusiasm. For those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to attend, take heart; we will be posting reflections, resources and various documents from the conference in the coming weeks. Meanwhile please participate in our Post Conference Challenge! We want to head out […]

Great Coffee, Good Vibes, Pass It On! Our lead sponsor for the Fair Trade Campaigns Conference is Green Mountain Coffee!

October 23, 2012

This Fair Trade Month, Green Mountain Coffee continues its creative and groundbreaking support of the Fair Trade movement. From Live Facebook Concerts to Consumer Sweepstakes to providing the key funding necessary to hold our 2nd National Conference, they are ensuring that advocates and consumers have more and more opportunity to drive the success of Fair […]

Hannah Dodoo from Global Mama’s is On Tour!

October 20, 2012

Today we kicked off our Fall 2012 Artisan Tour with a visit to Bloomington, Indiana. Over the next week or so we will travel to four states and the District of Columbia as part of our tour with seamstress and businesswoman Hannah Dodoo. Hannah is a founding member of Global Mamas, a Fair Trade cooperative […]