- 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:
Founders: JD Stier (jd@fairtradeworld.org) and Anne
Eichmeyer (anne@fairtradeworld.org) are
Madisonians who have been impassioned by their global community. Their travels to developing countries have inspired their desires to help their fellow westerners see an increasing disparity between the average western country and the average developing country. Furthermore, they have concentrated on empowering people from the US to take notice and action against the western exploitation of the developing world. Both JD and Anne have been politically and socially active, starting and joining different organizations who aim to end the atrocities that persist in our world.
More recently, JD and Anne decided to take a different approach; they decided to enrich lives through fair trade art and goods, by connecting the developing and western world.
Throughout their travels, JD and Anne have come across many artists. Often times these individuals are prevented from doing what they love because it does not pay the bills. J.D. and Anne search out 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. and Anne would like to see more global citizens in the west, and developing world artists' lives' improving.
