Dr. Martin Kunz, Executive Secretary

Martin Kunz has focused on Fair Trade for over 40 years. As a university student, he co-founded a World Shop in his hometown, Ludwigsburg, Germany. His doctoral thesis on “World Shops“ has been the first dissertation world wide on Fair Trade. He was the first chairman of the board of the Fair Trade wholesaler GEPA, co-founder and first executive secretary of the international Fair Trade umbrella associations Transfair International and its successor FairTrade Labelling Organization (FLO) International. When he is not working for the Fair Rubber Association, Martin Kunz sets up production chains for sustainable products for a number of companies and he is co-chair of the criteria committee of the ethical investment fund Oekovision. His latest activities involve honey from Asian bees (to help enhance agricultural yields of small farmers in India) – and the preservation of meadow fruit orchards in Swabia (southwest Germany): To him local things have always mattered, on a global scale. More about Martin Kunz here.

fon +44 (0)20 ‒ 89920175

fax +44 (0)843 ‒ 5240770

gf[at]fairrubber.org

Olaf Paulsen, Project Manager

For more than 20 years, Olaf has been connected to Fair Trade - it all started during his work in development cooperation when he was supporting producer groups and bringing them into contact with Fair Trade actors (traders). Back in Germany, he worked for TransFair International which then became FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organisations) where he worked until the end of 2004 as the head of Standards & Policies and member of the management team.

Since 2005 Olaf has been a freelance consultant but still mainly involved with Fair Trade matters from different perspectives, i. e. value chain analysis of the coffee sector in Jemen, developing a monitoring system for suppliers of German worldshops, and conducting audits for WFTO.

fon: +49 (0)6384 - 925372
fax: +49 (0)6384 - 925372
paulsen[at]fairrubber.org

Leni Kristen-Schweizer, Administration

At a young age, Leni Kristen-Schweizer worked at the Diakonisches Werk of the EKD in Stuttgart and at TransFair/Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International in the administration department. For years, she has then been employed in the private sector. Connected to the Fair Trade idea over the years, she now likes to get involved again with Fair Trade by supporting the management office.

leni.kristen-schweizer[at]fairrubber.org

Dr. David Löw Beer, Chairman

David Löw Beer has been chairman of the Fair Rubber Association since 2014. He has studied international economics and political science in Tuebingen, Germany, Burlington, US, and Niteroi, Brasil. He has written his dissertation on "economic education for a sustainable development". David Löw Beer works as a research associate at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. His work focuses on sustainable investment, divestment, capital theory as well as political and economic education.

loewbeer[at]fairrubber.org

Oliver Gothe, Deputy chairman

Oliver Gothe opened in 1988 at the age of 19 a condom shop in Cologne and went on to develop Europe's largest condom producer condomi. In 2004, during his final days as CEO of Condomi AG, Oliver got to know Dr. Martin Kunz and supported greatly the installation of the first supply chain for fairly traded latex.  With his new company Lebenslust Oliver developed in 2006 the first condom made of fairly traded latex under the brands Hot Rubber and Lümmeltüten. Since 2012, he distributes through his company FAIR SQUARED vegan and natural cosmetics made of fairly traded ingredients and of course still condoms.  Oliver is engaged in various charitable institutions. He is, among others, since 2002 an advisory board member of AIDS Hilfe Cologne e.V. (Cologne AIDS Foundation).

Heather Shuster, Board member

Heather Shuster is a credentialed teacher and graduate of the Ohio State University. She has spent ten out of twenty years living overseas and working as an educator in Ecuador, the UK, South Korea and China and the US. In an effort to create a better flip flop, she visited rubber plantations in southeast Asia and witnessed firsthand poor living and working conditions of rubber workers. Heather co-founded Olli, an ethical footwear brand that utilizes natural rubber and sustainable materials. Heather joined the Fair Rubber board in 2017. She is currently working on new products made from natural rubber.