Reflections from the Director, Sarah on the new year and year's past accomplishments

To my dear friends and supporters

Happy New Year and Many Blessings from AWAZ

We welcome this new year with new beginnings and continued growth. We had another year of sales and service and we want to share our accomplishments!

The United Nations has coined 2012 the year of cooperatives. Will you join us in getting behind a movement that empowers economic independence for small producers and supports sustainable consumption?

Our goals this year were to become more well known in the Portland community and increase sales. We succeeded!

Thanks to new partnerships and more community outreach, we had a stronger presence in the greater Portland community last year and our sales grew 20% from the previous year. AWAZ has been a personal journey of mine since 2008 inspired by my passion for women empowerment and social and economic equality. While I miss working directly with communities in India, I feel I’ve helped more people see the problems and create change by buying fairly traded products when they shop. By addressing the root of the problem – our consumption – we can create an economic system that is a tool for empowering women and creating global change.

Thank you all for your ongoing support! Think of AWAZ’s Online Shop when you need a gift!

Over time, I’ve built a solid team of volunteers to support our work and represent the voices of our partner organizations in India. Learn more about Our Team.

We have just appointed our first Sales Manager to help take us into the new year! We’re only helping our partners and making change if we sell their products and can make regular orders – our goal this year: increase orders for our producers in India!!! We are going through some re-branding, revamping our website and producing a wholesale catalog as we speak! Contact Us and let us know some of your favorite stores that might be interested in carrying our products.

We had two Fundraiser Sales for local non profit organizations where we gave 20% of the proceeds to support their missions – Jubilee Oregon and Saint Mark Presbyterian Church. An AWAZ Ambassador hosted our first Fair Trade Home Party in her home this year, as well! Call us to book one for your friend’s birthday or an upcoming holiday gathering – it’s easy, fun and helps more people get to know about AWAZ and fair trade!

I’ve been an active leader for the NWFTC that has been working in partnership with local businesses and community organizations to promote fair trade in Portland collectively. We’ve done a lot of education and awareness building on a united front sponsoring year-long campaigns, events and networking to promote local fair trade.

Northwest Fair Trade Coalition

- 2^nd Annual Portland Fair Trade Marketplace at First Unitarian Church

- ‘Fair Trade Third Thursdays’ Education and Networking Night @ Equal Exchange

- Over 400 Reverse Trick-or-Treating Kits delivered to families to promote fair trade chocolate for Halloween

It’s been an exciting last few years for the fair trade movement as more small producers and their products became part of the supply chain and sales grew as a result of increased demand by consumers.

Globally, sales grew over 2009 by a strong 27% to $5.8 billion, with U.S. sales growing 5% to $1.3 billion, and Canadian sales growing 6% to $330 million. More farmers and producers are adopting sustainable farming practices, fair labor practices, democratic work structures and earning a better living as a result of joining the fair trade system. Learn more at the Fair Trade Resource Network.

Now, you can find more body care, medicinal teas and oils with fair trade ingredients in them – just read the labels at your local groceries and you’ll see! This year, fair trade vodka, gold, gemstones and organic and fair trade cotton were brought into the supply chain.

In India, our groups got increased visibility with the launch of the Indian national Fair Trade brand. The Fair Trade Forum-India is a membership organization representing over 60 artisan and producer organizations around the country to the international fair trade movement, buyers and stakeholders. With all the fragmentation happening in the international movement, producers are uniting to promote their efforts and values together. FTF-I opened Fair Trade Stories in cities throughout India representing their members that sell everything from apparel and home decor, featuring handwoven and embroidered threads to spices coming from women’s cooperatives. All our artisan partners in India are members of FTF-I and I’ve worked closely with them over the years helping some of our partners gain membership and get linked up with the movement.

I had a lot of interest this year for a tour to India for people to visit the organizations we work with, work with them and learn. While we’ve always facilitated Volunteer Work Placements for people, I hope to offer annual delegations to India, possibly starting in the Fall. It would be a great dream to be able to offer this for people. I have a great friend Neena who has opened a yoga ashram near Dehradun who I’m working with to promote her spiritual and healing programs there, nestled nicely in the foothills of the Himalayas. It all is dependent on the interest from you. Spread the word and let us know if you’re ever interested.

So please join us in this movement for change. We all have a Voice and are a voice for empowerment.

Be a Northwest Fair Trade Coalition Member!

Fair Trade Chocolate, Marketplace, and Movie with the NWFTC

Join AWAZ and the Northwest Fair Trade Coalition (NWFTC) for awesome events to get your 2012 off to a great start!

NWFTC Fair Trade Third Thursdays @ Equal Exchange

January 19th

‘Chocolate Awareness and Fair Trade Desserts and Gifts for your loved ones on Valentine’s Day’

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Equal Exchange, 1033 SE Main, Portland

Join us at Portland’s monthly fair trade networking night!

Help us raise awareness for the 'Raise the Bar, Hershey' Ca mpaign. On Jan. 19th, come by Equal Exchange from 7-8:30 to sign the petition (sign the online petition here), learn about new NWFTC projects, and meet some great new people! Last year, NWFTC did some great things with projects they promoted, including film screenings of the acclaimed documentary, ‘The Dark Side of Chocolate’, to help raise awareness about the child labor and trafficking in the cocoa trade around Portland. They passed out over 400 Reverse Trick-or-Treating kits promoting fair trade chocolate to communities in Portland and we’re gearing up for more!

There will also be a Fair Trade Marketplace, with LOTS of great Valent ine's Day gifts for him and her!

The marketplace includes:

• Raffle of Gift Basket filled with fair trade goodies worth $50
• Enjoy FREE Equal Exchange chocolate and hot cocoa and desserts made from fair trade baking cocoa!
• Member Marketplace offering Fair Trade wine, flowers, chocolate and gifts from local fair trade businesses

  

After that, gear up for a special screening of 'The Dark Side of Chocolate' (in cased you missed it last year!) at the NW Multnomah County Library, 2300 Northwest Thurman Street from 6-7:30. Come for the movie, and stay for the FREE chocolate and drinks, and to check out the NEW fair trade chocolate Valentine's Day set available at NW Food Front! You can find them at 2375 NW Thurman St., Portland, Oregon 97210

NW Food Front Cooperative Monthly Film Series

Wednesday, February 8^th

Screening of ‘The Dark Side of Chocolate’

6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Meet the AWAZ Team

I’ve been extremely fortunate over the years to be surrounded by great people who’ve helped me support the work of AWAZ. Making AWAZ a community driven effort has always been my dream – the more people involved, the more awareness and impact we can bring. The model is grassroots and I am thankful for all the people who have helped along the way: AWAZ interns and volunteers, fair trade colleagues, community leaders, business owners, textile designers, professors, family and friends.

From designing flyers to designing websites, they’ve offered their time and commitment to a vision of trade justice by helping to represent the voices of our partners in India : without them we would not have come so far.

I’d like to introduce the beautiful people who are working with us today and who’ve been a part of this journey to take the time to thank them. We’ve seen you grow and we thank you for growing with us!

AWAZ Interns and Volunteers - Portland, Oregon

Current

Sarah Snyder, Social Media and Communications

Salem native, Sarah Snyder, joined us this fall with a background in fair trade and an enthusiasm to learn more. She has been a godsend of newfound energy that is reminiscent of my college days as a campus organizer and I’m thankful to have her at my side to support key functions. Her positive attitude keeps me inspired and AWAZ filled with great new ideas.

Sarah first learned about fair trade after becoming a volunteer for Salem's fair trade store, One Fair World. She has a degree in Sociology where she wrote her Senior Thesis on the Social Impact of Fair Trade which highlighted the success story of 10,000 Villages, the founder of the fair trade movement. After college, she spent a year of Ameri-Corps service as a Farmer's Market Manager in WA and now gives her time to AWAZ by helping with community sales and outreach events, NWFTC and managing our blog, social media and newsletter.

She is doing an amazing job researching the latest news about the fair trade movement, sharing stories about our artisan partners, AWAZ events and keeping us all informed through regular facebook posts, tweets and writing blog articles. She shares loads of great resources – so LIKE US on facebook and follow OUR BLOG to stay connected to local and global action!

Read her latest post that shares more about her journey to fair trade.

Amy Price, Community Outreach

After 15 years of experience in the corporate and non profit sector, Amy stepped back from her full time job to pursue her long-time passion and interest in international social justice. She joined AWAZ in the fall to get some experience working for a local organization with an international mission while preparing to go back to school for a Masters in Sociology. I’m a firm believer that we all must be doing what we love or we wouldn’t be fulfilling our purpose in life – it takes guts and courage and I love that she, and many people alike, are beginning to walk that path.

She has been a great addition to the team, using her background and great interpersonal skills to help promote AWAZ and the ideas behind global economic justice to new demographics and communities. She is a voice for fair trade at many of our events in the community and by organizing her own – she recently hosted an AWAZ Fair Trade Home Party to help her friends, vote with their dollars and implement the ideas they value in their everyday life.

Her belief of fair trade as a tool for sustainable international development inspired her to join the NWFTC, the local fair trade grassroots organization that serves as an educational resource for fair trade in Portland and surrounding areas. (learn more about the NWFTC monthly film series and annual events around Portland and how you can get involved)

She is gearing up for a 3 month trip to Colombia next year to volunteer and understand grassroots community development overseas. And while she may not always be an intern with AWAZ, she forever will serve as a goodwill ambassador for fair trade and that in itself, is our main aim – learn about it, practice it and promote it.

Chris Elliott, Web Developer

Chris is the amazingly, skilled IT guy behind the screen who keeps our website alive, functioning and forever improving. Often unnoticed and not praised enough (like most people in IT these days), he spends hours at end reading, coding and making all the changes to the website to appease my expectations. I am truly thankful for his time and energy he gives to AWAZ every time I look at our website!!

With a degree in Anthropology, he combines his interest in global cultures with a newfound passion for information technology to AWAZ. Over the years, he’s learned various coding languages and skills through professional upgrades and various work experiences which has helped him, with ease, maintain our website. He was instrumental in the planning and implementing of the new facelift of our website - from enhancing the functions to our shopping cart, to creating rotating banners and event calendars, he is continuously helping us convey our mission by making our website user-friendly and search engine optimized.

Congratulations to him and his wife for becoming new parents to a baby son, Orin, this year!

Previous

We've had some amazing interns and volunteers over the last few years. We recognize you for your valuable contributions to AWAZ!

Megan Gex, Graphic Designer

Trina Jones, Social Media and Communications

Annie Quimet, Graphic Designer

Stuart Wood, Social Media and Development

Kim Elliot – Expressions of Eden Photography