National Coordinators

Sasha Petroni

Sasha Pillow Petroni is currently in her 2L year of Law School at the University of Michigan. She is studying non-profit law, with an emphasis on human rights and legal education. Sasha first became involved with USFT in February 2010, and later became National Coordinator in May 2010.

Maria Louzon

Current Northeast/MidAtlantic Regional Coordinator as well as National Coordinator. Attended Justice Action Week in Baltimore, MD summer of 2006 where she first learned of Fair Trade at Catholic Relief Services from Jackie DeCarlo. Held many Fair Trade coffee & chocolate fundraiser sales in high school to raise money for her Youth Group at Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, MD.  After high school, attended John Carroll University for one year where she attended the Ohio Fair Trade Expo and also served as a CRS Fair Trade Intern. Transferred to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2010 where she has been working to establish a Fair Trade group and get more Fair Trade products in the dining halls. She organized a Fair Trade Marketplace as a part of the Earth Day Festival at UMD, which was the first time many UMD students were exposed to Fair Trade.

Regional Coordinators

Josh Eyre

Heartland and Midwest Regional Coordinator

Joshua Eyre is in his third year of undergrad at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. Josh is studying psychology and has absolutely no idea what he wants to do with it. He became involved with the fair trade movement his freshman year of college after meeting Maria Louzon (current national coordinator). Earlier this year after attending the Fair Trade Towns & Universities National Conference in Philadelphia, Josh decided he wanted to work to make an impact and became the Heartland and Midwest regional coordinator.

Lisa Wong

West Coast Regional Coordinator

Hey Everybody! My name is Lisa Wong and I am a 5th year Nutrition major at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA.

I have been an officer of the Fair Trade Club at my university for about 2 years and have been interested in the system of fair trade and how it focuses not only on artisans but also on the food system, specifically the cocoa farmers (mmm chocolate!). Fortunately, our university offers us an enterprise project that allows students to make a wide variety of Fair Trade Certified chocolates. With this, our club has been working tirelessly to utilize our education and the resources offered to us by our university to creatively educate students, faculty, staff, and the community. To sustain the momentum of fair trade, I think it is important to create a culture on campuses by not only having discussion, events, but also increasing the accessiblity and availability for people to make ethical choices.

Aside from fair trade, I love to travel, cook, ride my bike, go to the beach, meet new people, and just be in good company! I look forward to being the USFT's Western Regional Coordinator and hope our collaboration can build a fair trade culture on your campus and in your community.

Campaign Coordinators

Tim Casey

Affiliate Campaign Coordinator

I am currently a senior at Fordham University where I am majoring in International Political Economy and minoring in philosophy. I am originally from Scranton Pennsylvania and graduated from Scranton Preparatory School where I became inspired by its Jesuit ideal of “men and women for others” to continue service work in college. I am also a member of Fordham University’s Global Outreach program and regularly volunteer to help with New York City outreach activities. I became involved with Fair Trade over the past year through a service integrated class at Fordham taught by Dr. Kate Combellick called Fair Trade and Microfinance.  “Amani,” the business, which our class operates, works with primarily two groups of artisans in Kenya and has opened my eyes to the many struggles that disadvantaged producers face in the global market. In my spare time, I enjoy playing piano and guitar.

Annie Wendel

Webmaster/Social Media Coordinator

Hello USFT! I am a junior Public and Community Service major at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island and serve as a coordinator for an afterschool program in the public school district. As a PSP major, my studies and service-learning experience has led me to pursue my interest in democratic community, service and social justice.

Along with these three themes, I have always been inspired by the fair trade movement and acted on this motivation by being a part of the Social Justice Advocacy group on campus, bringing events like ‘Reverse Trick-or-Treating’ and promoting the movement at PC. I’ve also spent my past two summers working in a local storefront in my hometown of Connecticut, which features socially responsible artisan handcrafts made by communities in Ghana. I had the amazing opportunity of working with a Ghanaian drummer over the course of the summer and listening to his stories and experiences has put a face on the fair trade movement, allowing me to see its positive and far-reaching effect on families and entire communities. These conversations, as well as the incredible initiative shown by other motivated students across the country, have led me to become a part of United Students for Fair Trade to build a sense of community and promote the importance of this movement nationwide!

I will be serving USFT as the webmaster/social media coordinator for the coming year and look forward to reaching out to all college students to continue to raise awareness, publicize upcoming events and keep you posted on what’s going on with the fair trade movement! Feel free to contact me or any of the other USFT coordinators for more information about the movement, fair trade events, or becoming part of the community dedicated to fair trade!