Fair Trade USA has appointed Sugumar Raman as the organisation’s Chief Program Officer.
Raman, who most recently served as the Director of Operations at Fair Trade certification branch FLOCERT, will be tasked with designing, innovating, and implementing Fair Trade USA’s programs with the goal of increasing the organisation’s scope and scape of impact while tackling some of the most pressing global challenges.
“We are extremely lucky to have Sugumar join our team,” says Fair Trade USA Founder and CEO Paul Rice. “His years of leadership experience on the front lines of the global sustainable sourcing movement will be a tremendous asset to our organisation as we continue to reimagine how to best deliver the deepest and broadest impact to the farmers and planet we serve.”
At FLOCERT, Raman led the transformation of the organisation towards a 360-degree assurance provider by digitising its core processes, while inspiring internal teams and influencing stakeholders through that evolution.
As Chief Program Officer, Raman will be a stakeholder in Fair Trade USA’s new Innovation for Impact Initiative, a multi-stakeholder engagement and design lab aimed at developing a more scalable, higher-impact Fair Trade Certified coffee program.
Prior to joining FLOCERT, Raman served as the Global Production Manager at Chessumplants in Kenya and Nigeria, the Group General Manager at Solai Plantations in Kenya, and as the Deputy Manager and Assistant Manager of Production at Tata Global Beverages and Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. in Munnar, India.
Raman holds a bachelor’s degree in Botany and Agronomy from Bharathiar University in India, as well as an Advanced Management Program qualification from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.
For more information, visit www.fairtradecertified.org