Who We Are

Todd joined Fair Trade USA in 2008 with more than 25 years of experience in the consumer goods and produce industries, and a strong desire to do mission based work.  Todd leads Fair Trade USA's overall business operations, which span the entire supply chain: Business Development, Marketing, Strategic Relations, Supply Chain Services, and Certification & Impact, the heart of the Fair Trade USA licensing model.   A proponent of social entrepreneurship that directly benefits the developing world, Todd brings to the organization broad business experience in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

During over two decades with Procter & Gamble Company, Todd rose through levels of increased responsibility in Sales, Marketing, Information Technology, and Supply Chain.  Five of those years were spent in P&G's Latin America Division, where he was responsible for the production, supply chain, and export operations of P&G's highly profitable Caribbean operations.  He also spent seven years leading the company's global e-Retailing supply chain ventures, working with almost 100 major retailers and start-ups around the world to build an entirely new retail channel.

Subsequently, Todd spent several years with Chiquita Brands International, running North American fruit ripening and distribution operations, and then the global ocean shipping subsidiary, Great White Fleet, moving fruit cargo, as well as selling and shipping automobiles, resins, papers, and other ocean cargos between multiple continents.  Throughout his career, he has gained valuable experience in running businesses, acquisitions & divestitures, inter-country sourcing, and general management.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University.

Chisara joins Fair Trade USA with international procurement management, supply chain consulting and nonprofit experience.

She began her career in procurement with Toyota, and later transitioned into management and supply chain consulting with Accenture and A.T. Kearney. Her development and nonprofit experience includes working with farmers through Peace Corps Guatemala, and serving as the Associate Director for the Maura Clarke - Ita Ford Center in Brooklyn. Chisara has a BBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Business Administration from Duke University.

Maya's commitment to economic sustainability for farming communities and her deep belief in positive systems change is grounded in her early work as an ethnobotanist.

Maya has found her niche at Fair Trade USA, spearheading strategic development of new Fair Trade categories. In this role, she works from idea inception to market launch, connecting all stakeholders in the sector and building Fair Trade supply chains. Maya has worked at Fair Trade USA since 2004, managing a multitude of products including tea, spices, honey, wine and cosmetics development with global brands. Maya is an experienced ambassador for Fair Trade USA , often visiting with Fair Trade producer groups and representing the organization at global industry events. Prior to joining Fair Trade USA, Maya worked in the gemstone industry on sourcing and sales. She also developed and sold her own line of jewelry. Maya is an avid gardener, music and art enthusiast, yogini, world adventurer and works locally in the Bay Area on sustainable food issues.

Jennifer comes to Fair Trade USA with 20 years sales and marketing experience and over 10 years of experience in the coffee industry.

Most recently, she served as Vice President of Sales with Coffee Bean International, which is headquartered in Portland. Her responsibilities included strategic sales planning and developing private brand business partnerships with national chains. She was heavily involved in product and program development, marketing, process improvement, outbound communication, category management, and financial assessments. Under Jennifer's sales leadership, Coffee Bean became one of the country's leading specialty coffee roasters, and the size of its business nearly quadrupled during her tenure. In this period, Coffee Bean also emerged as one of the nation's fastest-growing Fair Trade Certified™ licensees. Previously, she worked in channel management, account management, and brand management with PepsiCo and was involved in PepsiCo's joint venture teams with Lipton® and Starbucks®, the latter of which sparked her interest in coffee. Jennifer is also on the BOD and chair of the Strategic Alliances committee of the International Women's Coffee Alliance, as well as on the on the International Relations Council of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Gallegos is a graduate of Colorado State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. She lives in Southern Colorado with her husband Brett and dogs Doka and Dehlila.

David began his career with one of the Big Eight public accounting firms, focusing on non-profit organizations and retail clients.

After earning his certification as a Public Accountant David accepted a position as Controller for a firm that administers benefits for organized labor. He soon became Chief Financial Officer and spent nearly twenty years as the firm's CFO during a period when the organization grew five-fold to become the largest third party Taft-Hartley administrator in the country. After the sale of the administration company and his children's graduations from college he began the next stage of his career with a move to Fair Trade USA. David is able to use his accounting and business skills and his background managing growth to deal with Fair Trade USA's unique combination of complex non-profit accounting with both retail and service industry features.

Jill Southard comes to Fair Trade USA with 25 years of wide ranging leadership experience in international business, corporate social responsibility, international philanthropy and entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining Fair Trade USA in August 2009, Jill was a Senior Officer at the Levi Strauss Foundation, developing programs that advanced the foundation's social change agenda and gaining experience in critical initiatives in the fields of labor rights, worker empowerment, fair trade certification, microfinance, asset building, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive rights. Prior to joining the foundation, Jill held positions of increasing responsibility at Levi Strauss & Co. in areas such as international brand management, business analysis & planning, international marketing, supply chain operations, corporate citizenship, contract management, brand and IP protection, and finance. Prior to joining Levi's, Jill had a successful career as an entrepreneur, founding and managing the production, importation, and marketing operations of a Brazilian and Indonesian clothing and handicrafts wholesale and retail operation, and creating and managing a niche boutique in San Diego. She has also been an educator, teaching English as a second language and U.S citizenship in California and Brazil. Jill is a graduate of the Monterey Institute of International Studies MBA program and the International Relations program at the University of Hawaii. Jill was raised in Hawaii, has lived and traveled extensively throughout the world, and speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Carlos Vargas began his work with cooperatives in 1979 with CoopeSanta Elena R.L. in Monteverde where he was the general manager for 18 years. From 1997 to 2004 he worked as general manager of COOCAFE based in San Jose, Costa Rica. Carlos was responsible for the marketing and coffee sales of nine COOCAFE affiliated cooperatives. Aside from his management experience, he has supervised other developmental and financial projects with Tostadora de Café, and worked on evaluations of production and industrialized coffee. He received a Bachelor degree in Finances Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the Universidad Interamericana in 2002, and is completing his Masters degree in General Management. His educational background includes studies of Cooperatives and Rural Development in Israel (1989), and Leadership Management in Cost Rica (1997). Actually he works as CFO of CoopeTarrazu R.L., one of the largest coffee cooperatives in Costa Rica.

Theresa Fay-Bustillos is a consultant for International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group.  Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation and Vice President of Worldwide Community & Corporate Citizenship for Levi Strauss & Company for over eight years.  She was responsible for leading their corporate social responsibility, philanthropic and employee community involvement activities globally. The Foundation provides $10 million in grants in 35 countries to alleviate poverty for women and youth through a focus on creating assets and promoting savings, supporting market conscious approaches and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.  In addition, the company and foundation established the Workers’ Rights program aimed at educating apparel workers, enforcing workplace rights and creating public policy change. 

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975 and University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1980, Ms. Fay-Bustillos became a trial attorney specializing in labor and employment law, voting rights, education and immigrants’ rights issues. She litigated class action and complex cases at the U.S. Department of Labor, the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Law Offices of Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak and Baller. Theresa briefly became an Administrative Law Judge and taught civil rights litigation at the University of Southern California Law School before changing careers and moving to the field of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy.

Tom Bullock, the President and CEO of Ocean Spray Cranberries from 1997 until 2000, brings a unique background and set of skills to the task of corporate governance. He is an executive with years of packaged goods marketing experience, a well as an in-depth knowledge of the food and beverage industry. He has served on two corporate boards, the Avedis Zildjian Company (1992-1999), the world-leading maker of cymbals and drumsticks, and Mac-Gray Company, where he currently serves as the chairman of the board. Mac-Gray is a New York Stock Exchange company which offers laundry, copier and other services, many using smart-card technology.

As the CEO of Ocean Spray, he introduced twenty new products and executed an overhaul of operations intended to improve customer satisfaction, speed-to-market and operations efficiencies with significant savings. Recognizing the healthy qualities of the cranberry, he initiated research into its medical benefits with Harvard Medical School. The research set industry standards and initial results proved the efficacy of the cranberry as a curative and preventative of urinary tract infections. The research continues on many other health and medical benefits of the cranberry, placing Ocean Spray as an industry-leading agriceutical company. Bullock directed the entire Ocean Spray Marketing and Sales effort from 1983 to 1994 through the period of tremendous growth and prosperity. During that time the company grew from $450 million to $1.4 billion.