Meet Teresa Baxter | Co-founder, Fair Trade Long Beach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Teresa Baxter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teresa, what do you attribute your success to?
I have devoted my life to the principles of fair trade as a business model, and as an activist movement. I have been a part of many campaigns from coast to coast promoting the economic empowerment that ethical consumerism can create.

Prior to founding Fair Trade Long Beach and opening the Fair Trade Long Beach Retail Collective, I helped to develop these social justice movements with the New York City Fair Trade Coalition, Fair Trade Alexandria in Virginia, and Fair Trade LA, to name a few.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Fair Trade Long Beach began as an awareness campaign that many other cities, internationally, have formed to encourage ethical consumerism through your purchases of everything from chocolates, coffees, home goods, and more.

But what is notable about Long Beach is that we are the first town campaign in the world to open an actual brick and mortar retail destination, dedicated to our mission, supported by our sales of ethically sourced gifts and goods.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love Long Beach! It is a beautifully progressive and diverse city. If a friend were visiting, I would put the spotlight on the wonderful Parkview Village Shops, where our Fair Trade Long Beach Retail Collective is located.

There is something for everyone here to spend a better part of the day. We would have the absolute best breakfast at the Village Cafe, then wander around to the locally owned mom and pop shops here. Once Read Books is a definite stop for used books, and I love the whimsical gifts and flower bouquets from Romance, etc. We also have a Michelin-rated chef at Cali Chilli restaurant that fuses Indian and California cuisine. The dining experience is impeccably scrumptious.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My most admired mentor would definitely be Sister Maureen McGowan, of HandCrafting Justice, an international non-governmental organization that was based in Astoria, NY.

I returned to college in my mid-forties, got accepted into Columbia University, and was hired as the publicity coordinator for HandCrafting Justice from 2010 to 2014. Sister Maureen started her fair trade mission there in the late 1990s, working in many countries with the focus of empowering women artisans through economic justice and fair wages for their beautiful handcrafts.

In my time in New York, during the Occupy Wall Street protests, I fondly remember advising Sister Maureen, as her publicity coordinator, not to get arrested at the protest. She quickly and defiantly responded that she had been arrested many times in her fight for what is right and just. My activism is and will always be inspired by her.

Website: www.fairtradelongbeach.com

Instagram: @fairtradelongbeach

Facebook: @fairtradelongbeach

Image Credits
Teresa Baxter