Fair Trade USA Expands Leadership Team and Invests in the Future With Key C-Suite Hires, New Board Chairman

OAKLAND, Calif., July 19, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Fair Trade USA, the award-winning social enterprise and leading certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, welcomes Mark Gunton as Chief Operating Officer, Nancy Girouard as Chief Financial Officer, Anna Banks as Chief Marketing Officer and James White as Chairman of the Board.  These new hires underscore the organization’s commitment to foster a culture of innovation, drive efficient operations and expand impact on farmers and workers around the world.

“This is a historic moment for our organization. We’re celebrating the positive impact we’ve had on the lives of millions of farmers, workers and consumers over the past 20 years and we’re making ambitious plans for the next 20,” said Paul Rice, Founder & CEO of Fair Trade USA.  “We are confident that Mark, Nancy, Anna and James' collective experience will round out our leadership team, bringing new energy and fresh ideas to the organization as we scale our market-based approach to sustainability.”

Since its launch in 1998, Fair Trade USA and its partners have generated over $500 million in additional income for farmers and workers in more than 45 countries worldwide, allowing them to keep their kids in school, care for the land and steadily improve their livelihoods.  Fair Trade USA is now poised to go to scale, investing significant capital in global expansion. The new leadership is an important component of this growth strategy that aims to generate $1 billion in impact for farmers and workers by 2022. 

Mark Gunton, Chief Operating Officer

Mark Gunton, who joined Fair Trade USA in July, leads the executive team, oversees daily operations, and directs the execution of the organization’s growth strategy.

Mark’s interest in international development began during his undergraduate studies at the University of East Anglia in the UK. In 2005 he co-founded the North Star Alliance, a network of roadside clinics that provide healthcare to vulnerable communities across 10 countries in Africa. More recently he was the CEO of the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership and pioneered a shared-value approach to poverty alleviation based on the creation and replication of a portfolio of social businesses that bring small producers in developing countries into the high value supply chains of large food manufacturers and retailers.

Prior to this Mark spent 28 years in business and finance roles at Fortune 500 companies, including as Managing Director of a $1 billion unit at TNT spanning North America, South America, Africa and parts of Asia, and as CFO of a global logistics business. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, and he has lived and worked in five countries on four continents.

Nancy Girouard, Chief Financial Officer

Nancy Girouard, who joined Fair Trade USA in April, brings a commitment to helping ethically-grounded enterprises grow to profitability and success.

Prior to joining Fair Trade USA, Nancy spent four years at Sycle.net, manufacturers of audiology software that helps people improve their quality of life through improved hearing.  As Sycle's CFO, Nancy brought the company to consistent profitability, sustainable headcount growth and financial excellence which led to its successful exit to Cochlear in May 2017.  She has also worked at RelayHealth (exit to McKesson), and Joyent (exit to Samsung).

Nancy was raised in a farming community in Quebec. She earned an MBA at the University of San Francisco, followed by her California CPA license. Nancy is Co-Chair of the CFO Leadership Council San Francisco Chapter, which is a non-profit professional association dedicated to empowering senior level financial executives. Nancy also volunteers as an industry screener and advisor with Astia, a non-profit Venture Capital and Private Equity organization that provides financial access to women-led, high-growth startups.

Anna Banks, Chief Marketing Officer

Anna E. Banks, who joined the organization in May, has more than 25 years of marketing leadership experience that has spanned companies large and small from tech to tennis shoes and consumer packaged goods to African couture. She spent several years as a Senior Director at Walmart.com, leading marketing across Category, Campaign and Consumer Segment teams. With a specialty in digital marketing, Anna brings expertise in strategy development, consumer insights, marketing ecosystem design, content and influencer programs and CRM.  At Fair Trade USA, she will turn her skills towards bringing greater equity to an imbalanced global economy through consumer activation.

Anna, a San Francisco native, is a member of angel investing network Pipeline Angels, which focuses on social entrepreneurship ventures founded by women; serves on the board of an independent K-8 girls school; and is a former board member of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB from Harvard College with a double major in Sociology and Visual & Environmental Studies.

James White, Chairman of the Board

James D. White is the Executive Chairman at Bradshaw International and the former Chairman, President and CEO of Jamba Juice, a leading global healthy lifestyle brand. Prior to his tenure at Jamba Inc., White held executive and management positions at Fortune 500 companies including Safeway Stores, the Gillette Company, Nestle-Purina, and Coca-Cola. He currently serves on the Boards of Callidus Cloud and Adtalem Global Education, and previously on the boards of Panera bread, Hillshire Brands and Keane, Inc. His non-profit board experience includes Directors Academy and Conscious Capitalism, Inc. White previously served on the boards of the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, GenYouth Foundation and the Network of Executive Women.

White is a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion and has been recognized with numerous awards including the American Heart Association Corporate Citizen Award in 2014 and Junior Achievement’s Northern California Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. In 2010, the San Francisco Business Times named him the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEO.

About Fair Trade USA
Fair Trade USA is an internationally-acclaimed social enterprise that promotes sustainable livelihoods for farmers and workers, protects fragile ecosystems, and builds strong, transparent supply chains in partnership with over 1,300 leading brands and retailers. Its trusted Fair Trade Certified™ seal signifies that rigorous standards have been met in the production, trade and promotion of Fair Trade products from countries across the globe. Recognized as a leading social venture by the World Economic Forum, the Skoll Foundation, Fast Company and Ashoka, Fair Trade USA also provides critical capacity-building programs at origin and educates consumers about the power of their purchases. Visit www.FairTradeCertified.org for more information.