Staff + Board

Meet the Leaders Behind Fair Trade LA

At Fair Trade LA, our team is united by a shared passion for ethical trade, sustainability, and social justice. Each member brings unique expertise and unwavering commitment to empowering communities, advocating for fair wages, and making ethical consumer choices accessible to all.

Get to know the dedicated individuals who make our mission possible.

 


Rebecca Dunn, Executive Director

Rebecca (Becca) is the Executive Director of Fair Trade LA, a nonprofit that officially made Los Angeles the largest Fair Trade City in North America and the fourth largest in the world. She and the previous Executive Director Elisha Chan host the FAIR Talks Podcast: educating everyday people for extraordinary change.  

Becca brings over 20 years of experience to her role. With a distinguished career working with various non-profits, she has dedicated her professional life to combating human trafficking, supporting fair trade initiatives, and promoting social enterprises. Her deep passion for creating a better world through Fair Trade is evident in her extensive background and unwavering commitment.

Becca's career includes a significant tenure at Ten Thousand Villages, the world's first Fair Trade restailer, where she spent the past 8 years. Her global perspective is enriched by her travels to 35 countries, which has profoundly influenced her understanding and advocacy for fair trade practices.

Becca and her husband Kris are the proud parents to their beautiful son, Callen. Her family life adds to her motivation and dedication to making a positive impact through her work.

Michelle Chavez, Board of Directors

Michelle is the Co-Founder of The Tote Project, a fair trade accessories brand that gives back to support human trafficking survivors. She's been writing and speaking about ethical fashion across the country for the past ten years, and has advocated alongside Fair Trade LA as a business member for even longer. She also served on the board of Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena as the Marketing Chair, where she helped organize events and curate social media. Michelle lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and rescue pup Jean Valjean.

Joelle Dueck, Secretary

Joelle is a passionate advocate for positive change in the apparel industry. With a Bachelors degree in Communications and another associates on the way in Technical Design and Product Development specializing in Apparel Industry Sustainability, she has the skills and knowledge to create healthy and strong business models through product design. She believes that intentional design has the potential to powerfully disrupt destructive cycles of apparel waste, poverty, and injustices seen through the supply chain. From her exposure to vulnerable girls in a safe house in India to serving refugees in Anaheim as an ESL teacher, her heart breaks for people that lack basic necessities and are given unfair circumstances. She desires to offer tools that can give a better chance at a thriving life. As her skills develop and education continues, she is excited to serve the FairTrade LA community and involve herself with important decisions that can make a better world for all people.

Erin Wallace, Treasurer

Erin is a CPA who continues to manage bookkeeping clients from the business management company where she began her career. Her professional background includes supporting teacher trainings with SCOE and UCLA, as well as working for SRA/McGraw-Hill, providing educational products to LAUSD. Passionate about social equality, climate issues, education, and combating homelessness and poverty, Erin channels her values into both her professional and personal pursuits. In her free time, she enjoys photography, design, genealogy, and exploring documentary films.

Elena Alcerro, Board of Directors

Elena’s journey toward fair trade advocacy began during her travels to the Dominican Republic, where she witnessed the harsh exploitation of Haitian sugarcane workers living in Bateyes. Deeply moved by their difficult conditions, she resolved to take action and founded HUMAIN, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of sugarcane workers across the Dominican Republic. As the Fair Trade Representative for Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and Co-President of the Oxfam America Club, Elena works to educate the LMU community about fair trade. She is passionate about showing how everyday purchases on and off campus can create lasting, positive impacts on people and communities around the world.

Laurel Averill, Board of Directors 

Laurel has been actively involved with Fair Trade LA since 2010, creating her role as “Boutique Coordinator” to organize pop-up Fair Trade boutiques throughout Los Angeles County. She also serves as the Los Angeles representative for Gifts of Nature, supporting global artisans through sustainable income opportunities. Currently, she manages Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena, a nonprofit fair trade retailer partnering with artisans in over 25 countries to ensure fair wages and safe working conditions. Laurel’s passion for economic justice and ethical commerce continues to drive her advocacy and leadership in the fair trade movement.

Glynn Barrish-Carroll, Board of Directors

Glynn is a Los Angeles-based sustainable and ethical fashion consultant and environmental advocate, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). She consults for Fair Trade LA member KINdom, curates sustainable fashion events like TheO2Show and Impactfashion, and has guest lectured at top fashion schools. With over 30 years of experience through her business Ragroyalty.com, she specializes in buying, design, merchandising, and sustainability consulting. A global citizen from Cape Town, South Africa, now living in Redondo Beach, USA, she brings a deep understanding of global fashion challenges and opportunities. Glynn holds degrees in Fashion Design, Journalism, Public Relations, and Sustainability certifications, and advocates for climate justice, DEI, and equitable policies through organizations like The Climate Reality Project and CCL’s J.E.D.I. and F.I.A.T. teams.

Rebecca Devereaux, Board of Directors

Rebecca is a dedicated advocate for educational access and economic empowerment, focusing on marginalized communities, particularly young people and women in developing countries. With a background in higher education, nonprofit leadership, and community engagement, she has been involved with Fair Trade LA since the late 2000s and now serves as a Board Member. Her passion for equity, shaped by her studies in Ghana and her doctoral research on under-resourced schools, fuels her commitment to fostering partnerships, supporting volunteers, and promoting global solidarity through fair trade principles and economic justice.

Joan Harper, Board of Directors 

Joan co-founded Fair Trade LA in 2005 and has been a dedicated advocate for social justice and global solidarity ever since. She worked with the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 16 years, promoting domestic anti-poverty and Fair Trade programs. Holding an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and prior corporate experience, Joan brings a strong business perspective to her advocacy work. Her global engagement includes travels to India, Thailand, Ghana, El Salvador, and Honduras with Catholic Relief Services, where she witnessed development programs in agriculture, micro-finance, and fair trade. Travels also include visiting Fair Trade artisan cooperatives in Palestine, learning directly from artisans about their craft and their stories.

Ashley Park, Board of Directors

Ashley is originally from Arkansas and holds a degree in International Studies. She moved to Los Angeles in 2021 after living in Colorado. She ran B Twentyfour Café in Lincoln Heights for two years before stepping back to pursue an MSA with the goal of becoming a CPA and making a greater impact in the business world. Passionate about fair trade, environmental protection, and sustainable livelihoods, Ashley finds joy in surfing, trail running, and connecting deeply with nature, people, and her Christian faith.


Lauren Seely, Board of Directors

Lauren Seely is an eCommerce, merchandising and marketing expert, who has spent the last 20 years in the fashion, active and outdoor industries working for sustainability and equity-minded brands such as Dakine, Manduka, ModCloth and Coach. Lauren has always been passionate about giving back, volunteering from a young age. Growing up in California and inspired by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, she developed a passion for labor rights. Lauren's journey to Fair Trade came through the desire to model her personal values—dignity, fairness and justice for all. In addition to Fair Trade Los Angeles, Lauren serves on the board of trustees with the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and is an active member of the Junior League of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Tenant's Union. Lauren is vegan, a huge sports fan, an avid reader and enjoys hiking and walking all over the state with her dog, Halo Bean Bryant. 

Brittany Skiles, Board of Directors

Brittany's journey into fair trade advocacy began as a student at Vanguard University of Southern California, where she promoted fair trade as a way to combat labor trafficking while working at the Global Center for Women and Justice. During a trip to Kenya, she witnessed how artisans employed by a company paying fair wages and maintaining high ethical standards created generational change through poverty alleviation. This experience solidified her commitment to supporting fair trade initiatives and advocating for ethical trade practices ever since. She has been a volunteer with Fair Trade LA since 2018 and was part of the team that campaigned to make LA the largest designated fair-trade city in the US!

Karina Toro, Board of Directors

Karina is a passionate high school student committed to advancing the Fair Trade movement. Currently leading efforts to have her school Fair Trade Certified, she is dedicated to raising awareness and empowering her peers to make ethical and sustainable choices. Karina envisions a brighter, more equitable future for her generation and hopes to inspire other young people to take action and drive meaningful change in their communities.

Elisha Chan, Advisor

Elisha is the founder of Impactful Missions, a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty through job creation, education, and empowerment. She is also the former Executive Director of Fair Trade LA and co-host of the FAIR Talks Podcast: educating everyday people for extraordinary change. She found her passion while traveling on many Haiti trips as a student at UCLA and started her social enterprise, Impactful Market, six months after she graduated. She currently works with many artisans and producers throughout Haiti, while giving back to a small village called Fond Doux, Haiti. She has established a Scholarship Program that has given over 345 scholarships, sending underserved youth to school, from preschool to university. Now, she is building a Leadership Academy and Trade School in Haiti from the grounds up. A passionate advocator of establishing long-term solutions to break the cycle of poverty.