Ram Gidoomal CBE is currently Chairman of Fair Trade pioneers Traidcraft plc and Welsh based renewables energy company Dulas Ltd. He is also Chair of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education in England & Wales; the South Asian Development Partnership; and Allia and Future Business Ltd (a social profit society). Past roles include UK Group CEO of Inlaks Group, an international food production and marketing company with 7,000 employees in 15 countries. He was co-founder of the Christmas Cracker Charity Trust which engaged over 50,000 young people in the UK to raise over £5m for good causes in the developing world.

La Rhea is a fifth generation cotton farmer from Lubbock, Texas and is currently the Managing Director of Textile Exchange. La Rhea began farming organic cotton in the early 1990s, and since then has been a key figure in the organic cotton movement. La Rhea co-founded the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative, which has grown to 40 producer members who plant 10,000-19,000 acres of organic cotton a year.

Susan has extensive experience in Commercial and Business Management in the clothing and fashion supply chain across multiple product categories, working with major high street retailers and brands in the UK, EU and USA. Susan’s career has spanned the whole product life cycle from Concept product design through to delivery. Susan graduated in Fashion Design from the London College of Fashion, and has held a number of senior design and commercial positions in major supply companies as well as providing consultancy services and advice to large global manufacturing organisations throughout her career. Susan has been an active participant on the UN Global Compact Child Labour Platform, and the Global Child Platform.

Arvind brings with him more than 15 years of experience in the textile business, having worked with some of the leading textile mills in India and a wide range of international Brands & Retailers. Arvind’s career has spanned various components of the cotton supply chain including spinning, fabric manufacturing, wet processing & garmenting. Arvind and his team in India focus on delivering many CottonConnect customer programmes in South Asia, while building on our work as we continue to support the creation of more sustainable cotton supply chains globally.

Frank has a degree in Textile Engineering and Economics and more than 15 years industry experience in technical and commercial roles. Having worked in both local and international textile and apparel companies in China, he has a thorough understanding of value chains from finished garment back to farm.

Rakesh is a finance professional with over 18 years of experience in business analytics, strategic planning, MIS, accounting, audits, taxation, corporate law and credit control. He spent six years with Kelly Services (a US based multinational company providing human capital solutions) as Manager –Financial Planning and Reporting.  He is a qualified Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He graduated in Commerce (Honours) from Delhi University.

Hardeep is a development professional who has spent more than 9 years working on water & sanitation, decent work, tribal development, education and agriculture with NGOs, Government organisations and the UN. Prior to joining CottonConnect, Hardeep worked on assignments for the WASMO (State level Water And Sanitation Mission promoted by Government of Gujarat) and BAIF (NGO working towards sustainable livelihoods). Hardeep is committed to contributing to the sustainable cotton space with a special focus on decent work.

Anna has more than 14 years of experience in sustainable development, having worked with conservation and sustainable development organisations on projects in South America, South Asia and the UK. She brings her experience in sustainable livelihoods, conservation and impact assessment to the CottonConnect team. She has extensive knowledge of the cotton supply chain.

Sandeep has more than 17 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, public health IT systems and other information systems, data management and analysis. He has written on e-governance and software development. In his tenure he has worked with social development organizations like WHO, UNICEF and PSI on monitoring and communication projects for Routine Immunization, Polio Communication and Family Planning.

Abhishek holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and is an Associate Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has been with CottonConnect as a Manager in Finance since November 2014 and brings with him over 10 years of rich experience spread across diverse industries. Prior to joining CottonConnect, he was associated with Inox Wind Ltd., DishTv India Ltd. (An Essel Group enterprises), Bharti Airtel Ltd and Serco UK.

Amol is an MBA graduate from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and has had prior experience in category management in apparel retail, production and supply chain management and a setup and launch experience for an ecommerce startup based in San Francisco. He was working with Wrangler denims (VF Corporation) in India before going for his MBA. As part of his academic studies he developed skills in strategy development, consulting, digital marketing tools and campaign design, in addition to financial & economic modelling, corporate valuation and statistical tools for analysis & decision making. He has also been awarded the Impact Business Leaders fellowship by Shell Foundation.

Rudrani has versatile experience in the development sector. She has worked for over 12 years in the areas of HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, water & sanitation, and children’s rights. She has experience right from the grass root level to policy making level, and has worked in urban, rural and tribal areas.  Prior to joining CottonConnect, Rudrani worked on assignments for the GFATM PACT Project (Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India), Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, WASMO (State level Water & Sanitation Mission, promoted by Government of Gujarat) and Baroda Citizens Council.

Wenxiang has extensive experience in the private and government sectors, and knowledge of agricultural industry issues affecting businesses, solving sustainable development issues through business approaches and linking farmers to markets. Prior to joining CottonConnect, Wenxiang worked for UNDP, ITC (CIDA’s Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets Project) and the Chinese Government. Wenxiang is dedicated to scaling up best practices amongst cotton farms and bringing real benefits and sustainability to cotton farmers and the Chinese cotton industry as a whole.

Sabina joined CottonConnect as Project Manager Consultant for South America in November 2013. Sabina has a degree in Business Law with a background in sustainable development, conservation and project management within the not-for-profit sector working in Buenos Aires and Patagonia, Argentina. Before joining CottonConnect she ran her own consultancy business with special focus on arts & sustainability. Sabina is bringing her experience in sustainable development, environment, communication and project management to the CottonConnect team.

Julio has been heading up CottonConnect’s Peru team since 2013. He has a degree in Agronomical Engineering and a Masters degree in Entomology from the University of La Molina, Peru. He also teaches as a Senior Lecturer at the National University of Piura on Pest Control and Integrated Pest Management. He has been President of the Entomological Society of Peru, as well as former Head Director at the Faculty of Agronomy at the National University of Piura for two consecutive periods. Julio has also been acting as head for the Plant Health  department at the university, as well as Vice President of the Agricultural Engineers Society of Peru

Muhammed is a native of Village Tali Taluka Sakrand District Nawabshah, Sindh Pakistan. He has completed B. Sc Hons (Agri) and M. Sc Hons (Agri) from the Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam sindh Pakistan and also a Master Degree in economics from University Sindh Jamshoro. He has over 10 years professional experience in the agriculture and rural development sector. During his professional career he has worked with NGOs such as NSDC, the NPIW Water Courses Program, ACTED (FRANCE), PLAN International (UK) and Sustainable Agriculture Sindh. He has varied experience in the fields of rural development, emergency response, agriculture research, capacity building and is a certified master trainer for the World Bank microfinance programme.