Board of Directors

Janet Nezhad Band has more than two decades of leadership experience in philanthropy and development with particular expertise in strategy, volunteer team building, donor engagement, solicitation, and stewardship.

Janet is the Chair of Fair Trade USA’s Resource Development Committee and serves on its Executive and Governance Committees. She is a Member of the Harvard College Fund Executive Committee and a Board Member of the Harvard Club of New York Foundation. Janet also serves on the Advisory Council of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

Janet clerked for the Honorable William C. Conner in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York prior to joining the litigation practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She left Paul, Weiss to join MTV Networks as lead counsel for Nickelodeon’s off-channel businesses and the “Nick Jr.” programming block.

Janet received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and an A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College. In 1984, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt.

Ricardo is Chief Commercial Officer and third-generation co-owner of Wholesum, family owned and operated farms that grow and market certified organic produce in the US and Mexico. Motivated by a sincere belief in stewardship, Ricardo’s efforts have positioned Wholesum as a pioneer in organic growing methods, ethical farming, and responsible sourcing.

Ricardo spearheads Wholesum’s Sales and Marketing efforts through deep industry knowledge and vision. His triple bottom line approach addresses Wholesum’s responsibility to the people who grow and buy its produce, the one planet we all share, and the profits that enable the continued growth of the company. These commitments are exemplified not only by Wholesum’s organic growing methods, which eliminate synthetic chemicals to grow vegetables that are safe for both farm workers and consumers, but also through equitable labor practices and environmental protection. Wholesum first began certifying its operations in Mexico under fair trade in 2011 and in 2016 became the first Fair Trade Certified vegetable farm in the United Sates. In Ricardo’s tenure there, Wholesum has also become a leader in environmental sustainability by making investments in solar energy, irrigation efficiency projects, and promoting biodiversity at the farms.

As company leader and fair trade ambassador, Ricardo has worked to create a market for fair trade produce by educating retailers and connecting consumers with farm workers through authentic story telling. He has also propelled the fair trade movement by partnering with growers of the same vision and social and environmental commitments.

To serve his local community, Ricardo serves as a board member of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, an organization that fosters trade between US and Mexico. He is also a volunteer at the Kino Border Initiative helping migrants in the Sonoran Desert by feeding and clothing those in need.

Ricardo holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He resides in Nogales, Arizona with his family.

Robin Evitts has over 30 years’ experience solving costly business problems and managing risk – often innovative “firsts” – with emphasis on global organizations in consumer products, retail, social sector and K-12 education. Currently, she serves as a hands-on advisor to two women-owned start-ups: as the Treasurer (chief financial officer) for a fastener distributor, and as Partner/Chief Operating Officer for Reach Partners LLC, a transformation consulting business.

Robin has a long history of advising and working with organizations on critical finance, corporate governance, and IT initiatives. As a partner at Deloitte, she led the enterprise risk management practice for retail/consumer goods companies, advising Boards and senior management on corporate governance matters including Board governance, internal controls and compliance efforts.  Prior to that, she audited the financial statements of mid-market and Fortune 1000 companies. More recently, Robin was a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, where she consulted with companies on major transformation initiatives and financial management issues.

In addition to her consulting roles, Robin served for 7 years as a corporate executive with The Clorox Company, first as the Chief Audit Executive and then as Chief Information Officer. She was responsible for driving the technology strategy for the company and delivered a major organizational transformation of IT services that improved service and efficiency, while reducing costs. She also provided strategic leadership to corporate governance and compliance programs, executed operational audits and investigations across the company, and led a finance transformation effort.

Robin holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Illinois and is a licensed CPA (inactive).

In addition to her work with Fair Trade USA, Robin is currently actively involved with Girls Inc. of Alameda County (Oakland) as the Board President and Great Minds in STEM as Board Treasurer. Robin has also held industry leadership roles with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Information Technology Committee and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

Carlos Vargas Leitón was born into a peasant family in the northern mountains of Costa Rica. Being one of 12 children, he grew up with the experience of struggling to meet basic needs. Despite their hardships, Carlos’s family always prioritized schooling and professional development.

Carlos has been involved in coffee cooperatives in Costa Rica for over 40 years, with major focuses on the strategy, finance, and marketing of coffee. Carlos holds two bachelor’s degrees in International Commerce and Finance from the UIA of San José, Costa Rica, as well as a master’s degree in Management from the Universidad Inter América (now Universidad Latina). He has completed specialized courses in the areas of Senior Management, Management with Leadership, Management and Finance, and Consulting at the INCAE Business School.

From 2000-2001, Carlos was part of a team of three people who spearheaded the process to reform the National Coffee Law in Costa Rica. He also was part of the group that worked to make the resources of the Banking Development System reach small producers and placed Coopetarrazú as one of the main operators of the system.

Since 2004, Carlos has been a member of the CoopeTarrazú Management Team and has been General Manager since 2017. This cooperative currently processes 15% of Costa Rica’s production, with over 4,500 small affiliated producers. The cooperative is one of the main suppliers of Fair Trade Certified coffee.

Carlos previously served as a Fair Trade USA Member of the Board of Directors from 2003 to 2013, then moved to its Advisory Council. He was elected to re-join the Board in October 2019.

Paul opened our first "national headquarters” — a one-room office in a converted warehouse in downtown Oakland — in late 1998. Since launching the Fair Trade Certified label, Paul has pushed to mainstream the Fair Trade movement and expand its impact on farmers by innovating the model, partnering with over 800 U.S. companies and expanding certification across new product categories. This vision and leadership helped push U.S. retail sales of Fair Trade products to an estimated $1.5 billion in 2011, enabling millions of small farmers and workers to live better.

Paul came to Fair Trade by way of the mountainous Segovias region of northern Nicaragua, where he served for 11 years, organizing cooperatives and training farmers. While in Nicaragua, Paul founded and led PRODECOOP, the country's first Fair Trade, organic coffee export cooperative, which introduced him to the transformational power of Fair Trade. Subsequently, Paul served as strategy consultant and development advisor to 22 cooperative enterprises throughout Latin America and Asia, helping them become more competitive, democratic and self-reliant. Paul’s first-hand experience over the last 30 years in the areas of global supply chain transparency, social auditing, sustainable agriculture, and cooperative enterprise development is unique in the certification world.

Paul has received numerous honors and awards for his pioneering work as a social entrepreneur in the Fair Trade movement. In 2000 he received the prestigious international Ashoka Fellowship for social entrepreneurship. In 2001 Paul was recognized by the AVINA Foundation for his "leadership for change.” Paul was honored by the Klaus Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the World Economic Forum as one of the world's top 40 Social Entrepreneurs in 2002. Fast Company magazine named Paul “Social Capitalist of the Year” four years in a row (2005-08). Paul also received the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and has been honored by the Clinton Global Initiative for his leadership in Fair Trade. Paul holds an Economics and Political Science degree from Yale University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Watch Paul's speech from the 2011 TEDx AshokaU event. 

Liesel Pritzker Simmons is Co-Founder and Principal of Blue Haven Initiative, an innovative family office that invests for profit and with purpose. An early leader in the impact investing space, BHI manages an international portfolio of diversified investments in traditional asset classes, groundbreaking impact business models, and nonprofit organizations. It applies a rigorous portfolio-management lens to its investments with the goal of generating measurable financial returns as well as societal and environmental benefits.

Liesel is also Co-Founder of IDP Foundation, a private Chicago-based foundation focused on achieving universal primary education. There, she helped create the IDP Rising Schools Program, which leverages microfinance networks to empower nearly 450 low-cost private schools — established and managed by local entrepreneurs — in some of the least-developed regions of the world.

Liesel is a sought-after speaker on the topic of impact investing. She serves on for-profit and nonprofit boards and investment committees of organizations including Impact Assets, Synergos, Toniic, Eco-Post, and the ImPact, a network of families committed to the conscientious stewardship of wealth. Liesel attended Columbia University in New York City, where she studied African History. She lives in the Boston area with her husband, Ian Simmons, and their daughter.

Robert Stiller, long time entrepreneur and Fair Trade enthusiast, brings with him over 40 years of business, fundraising, and coffee industry experience to the Fair Trade USA Board of Directors. After making his first fortune as the Co-founder of E-Z Wider doublewide rolling papers, Robert entered the coffee business by founding Green Mountain Coffee Roaster (GMCR) in Vermont in 1981, taking it public in 1993. He served as its Chairman, President, and CEO from 1981-2007, when he hired his successor and remained Chairman until 2012. He later retired and was made Chairman Emeritus.

Over the years, Robert Stiller led a number of key initiatives with a very inclusive, innovative culture that helped propel the growth of GMCR. For example, he spearheaded investment in Keurig in 1998, and purchased it outright in 2006 to transform the company from a regionally recognized specialty coffee roaster to a leader in the emerging single-serve beverage category in North America. GMCR became Keurig Green Mountain in 2014.

Under his leadership, the company also received numerous international accolades for its environmentally and socially responsible business practices. Since 2010, Fair Trade USA has recognized GMCR as the world’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee. It was one of the first national brands to bring Fair Trade coffee to mainstream U.S. consumers in 2000. It also donates 5% of its operating income on charitable causes, and offsets 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions. Today Robert serves on the Board of the Norton Museum and is Chairman of the Board of AgNovos, a medical device company. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Forbes in 2001 and helped establish the Stiller School of Business at Champlain College to include many of the management techniques that made GMCR so successful.

James is a transformational leader and former president, chairman, and CEO at Jamba with 20 years of Board experience with over 16 Boards in total. He has chaired 6 company Boards. His areas of expertise are in public/private company Board experience, public company CEO, M&A, Board succession, brand building, turnarounds and start-ups.

James currently serves on the boards of Air Protein, where he is Executive Chair, Adtalem Global Education (NYSE:ATGE), Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM, Medallia NYSE:MDLA) and Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL). He also served on several private company Boards. His non-profit Board experience includes Directors Academy, where he also is a founding member. He previously served on the non-profit Boards of the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, The Organic Center and the Network of Executive Women.

Ronnie Robinson is the Founder and President of Kaleidoscope Solutions, LLC, an innovative strategic consultancy group supporting the founders and leaders of emerging food and beverage brands and products.

Previously, Ronnie worked with Walmart Inc as VP of Merchandising, responsible for various food and beverage and general merchandise product categories spanning a 29-year career. In addition to various merchandise leadership roles, Ronnie was the VP of Fresh Food operations covering the US market. During his time with Walmart, he also held various international roles such as Regional Director to Brazil, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and he served on two separate expatriate tours to Canada over a four-year period. At Walmart, Ronnie successfully led many innovation, sourcing, and sustainability initiatives, and during his tenure was awarded the prestigious Sam M. Walton Award.

Ronnie holds several board seats with private emerging food and beverage companies and also sits on the Board of First Christian Church of Fayetteville as the Stewardship Chair. In addition to board seats, Ronnie acts as a strategic advisor to several private food companies and tech firms, where his passion for food, innovation, technology, and people all merge together.

Ronnie is also a Strategic Advisor with several tech companies, including Rock Solid Retail and One Stone.

Ronnie has a deep and rich passion for social justice, responsible sourcing, sustainability, and conscious capitalism. He is a Bentonville, Arkansas area resident, living with his wife Candy, and is a proud father of two children, Brooklyn and Grey.