Highlights from the 2023 Conference & Expo

From March 28-30, the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) held its Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California, the first in-person event in four years!

Under the theme Regenerate + Rekindle, over 200 attendees–including FTF Members, entrepreneurs, students, advocates, retailers, and industry leaders from organizations like the World Fair Trade Organization, Faire, IMC, Emerald/Bulletin, the Museum Store Association, Fair Trade LA, and local fair trade partners Fair Trade Long Beach–all connected and networked over three days of sessions, workshops, and the ever-popular Expo, which featured the products and stories of 44 verified fair trade enterprises. 

Many attendees chose to offset their carbon footprint for attending the conference, and collectively, the FTF is forwarding a donation of $600 to Grow Ahead, who partners directly with small-farmer organizations to plant trees in agroforestry systems.

Reconnection

This year’s conference centered around regenerating and rekindling as a fair trade community. After three years of virtual conferences, we were able to meet in-person to reconnect in California, a state a high percentage of our members call home.

It was important for us to connect our new members and supporters with our more seasoned advocates through team building exercises, networking opportunities, and parties!

Plenary Sessions

Joy McBrien, Founder of Fair Anita and FTF Board Chair, facilitated an energetic group activity focusing on the theme Regenerate + Rekindle to kickoff the morning on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, Zellipah Githui, President of Gitzell FairTrade and FTF Board Member, shared her powerful immigration and entrepreneurship journey.

Roopa Mehta, President of the WFTO, connected the work of FTF members to the global movement, and inspired us all to keep evolving.

Then special guest, Olufunmilayo Arewa from the Temple University Beasley School of Law shared themes and findings from her book, Disrupting Africa: Technology, Law, and Development. A book signing was held afterwards, and the books ran out quickly!

Breakout Sessions

This year, we were excited to have many speakers who are industry leaders from organizations like Art of Citizenry, ByHand Consulting, Faire, Feel Good Retail, International Market Centers, and the Museum Store Association in addition to our member speakers.

The sessions touched on subjects like Ethical Storytelling, JEDI Marketing, Data Metrics, Importing, Selling to Museums, Market Access, Working with Producers, and Fair Trade Campaigns. 

It was the most diverse group of session leaders and topics the FTF has ever had!

Read more about each session here.

Fair Trade Expo

The fair trade expo featured 44 FTF verified businesses showcasing beautiful, unique fair trade products.

The expo was open two days of the conference to attendees and on the second day to non-attendee buyers and retailers.

We would like to extend a thank you to the speakers, panelists, and exhibitors for making the 2023 Conference & Expo a success, and would especially like to thank our dedicated sponsors!

Photos by TenSixteen Photography.