- Empower local artists, citizens to be self-supporting
- Create meaningful connections between cultures in an ever-increasing global community
- Mobilize westerners who want to become more aware of the world around them
- Bring unique and creative art that speaks to a culture to the western world
Who we are:
Founder: JD Stier (jd@fairtradeworld.org) is a
Madisonian who has been impassioned by the global community. His travels to developing countries have inspired desires to help fellow westerners see an increasing disparity between the average western country and the average developing country. Furthermore, he has concentrated on empowering people from the US to take notice and action against the western exploitation of the developing world. JD has been politically and socially active, starting and joining organizations who aim to end the atrocities that persist in our world.
More recently, JD decided to take a different approach; deciding to enrich lives through fair trade art and goods, by connecting the developing and western world.
Throughout his travels, JD has come across many artists. Often times these individuals are prevented from doing what they love because it does not pay the bills. J.D. has identified artists on the brink of being forced into working at sweatshops. These individuals do not have access to the tourist-laden market places. By supporting FAIR TRADE WORLD you directly support these individual artists; maintaining their chosen way of life and cultural identity.
Their vision for FTW is to allow travelers to make their adventures about much more than "self". They believe every traveler can make a lasting and positive impact on the places they travel, thus creating a stronger bond between peoples and cultures. J.D. would like to see more global citizens in the west, and developing world artists' lives' improving.
