WFTO-Europe Board of Directors is currently composed of:
Juan José Martinez (Oxfam Intermón, Spain)
Charlotte Beacon (Traidcraft Exchange, UK)
Cassandre Maury (Les Jardins de Gaïa, France) – Co-opted in 2019
Jean-Christophe Galland (Malongo, France) – Co-opted in 2019
Karel Vieler (Seepje, the Netherlands)
Manfred Winkler (Globo Fair Trade Partner, Germany)
Caterina Occhio (SeeMe, the Netherlands)
Kirsi Kotisaari
WFTO-Europe staff currently includes:
Mikkel Kofod Nørgård, WFTO-Europe Coordinator
My name is Mikkel Kofod Nørgård, I am from Denmark and since September, 2020 I am WFTO-Europe’s Coordinator. From September 2018, I was WFTO-Europe’s Junior Project Officer. I am coordinating the European branch and am responsible for developing and implementing our fundraising strategy. Should you, as a member of our network, have any questions or requests do not hesitate to contact me. Similarly, I am always interested in hearing about your needs and difficulties as a Fair Trade organisation, since I firmly believe our fund-raising activities should focus on meeting the needs and building capacities for our members.
Concerning my background, I have a bachelor’s degree in Japan Studies, and a Master’s in International Studies from University of Aarhus in Denmark. Throughout my studies of international relations, Asia, and international political economy, I have focused particularly on inequality on both national and international level. It is clear to me that poverty and the stark gap in state of development between many countries are structural problems born from a highly flawed world economy and trade system. Therefore, I was extremely happy for the opportunity to intern here at WFTO-Europe in the Autumn of 2016, where I learned about an existing and feasible alternative model: Fair Trade. Particularly, I am very keen on Fair Trade’s commitment to constant improvement, empowerment of the marginalised, and striving for decent and transparent working conditions and fair payment for workers and producers. While Fair Trade is naturally most urgent for many communities in the global South, the strengths of this alternative model for world trade can and should benefit everyone across the world. This will be my approach to working here at WFTO-Europe.
Contact: projects@wfto-europe.org and coordination@wfto-europe.org
Paola Plaku, Project Management & Fundraising Assistant
Hello everyone! I am Paola from Italy and I am the Project Management and Fundraising Intern from July 2021 to January 2022.
During my internship I am going to assist with the planning and implementation of projects, aiming at empowering the Fair Trade movement. Furthermore, I will have an eye out for possible fundraising opportunities.
Currently I am in my final year of the Double Degree Master in
International Relations between the Free University of Brussels and the LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome. I grew up in Italy but I moved to Brussels to pursue my studies in an international environment. During this period, I became a youth ambassador for the ONE Campaing, an organisation which aims at eradicating extreme poverty and preventable diseases by 2030.
I’m happy to be a part of WFTO-Europe Team and I can’t wait to develop my understanding of fair trade better and to contribute my fair share.
Contact: administration@wfto-europe.org
Francesca Genovesi, Communication & Advocacy Assistant
Hi everyone! My name is Francesca, I am italian and from September 2021 I will be the new provisional Communication and Advocacy Assistant at WFTO-Europe. This means I will mainly assist in the development and implementation of internal and external communication of WFTO-Europe Office, managing Social Medias promoting WFTO-Europe values and Members.
Concerning my background I am a Political Science and International Relations graduated from the University of Bologna, Italy. In 2018 I had the opportunity to live in Cambodia for a internship in a local serving NGO partecipating in operations carried out in the NGO sector. Now, I am attending my last year of master’s degree in Global and Local Development in Bologna. I am delighted to be part of the WFTO-Europe and I felt immediately drawn to the Communication position it offers due to its well-known reputation i.e being the “authentic voice” of Fair Trade having driving the movement for 20 years. The organization’s mission is fully aligned with my beliefs on pressing problems people face nowadays and I am eager to support WFTO-Europe communication activities as well as its policy work.
Contact : communication@wfto-europe.org