Fair Trade Original (FTO) Foundation invests in the development of fair and sustainable trade value chains and promotes market access for farmers and SMEs in developing countries in order to enable them to realize economically profitable and sustainable growth that contributes to their socio-economic context.
The organization and its legal predecessors have been at the forefront of the fair trade movement ever since its inception in 1959.
Board
FTO Foundation has no employees and is located in Culemborg – the Netherlands. The board of the FTO Foundation is formed by statutory directors (natural persons). The board is a motivated team of professionals, intrinsically driven by the ambition to have meaningful impact on the target groups and societies of the Foundation.
Bart Kroon
Chairman
Bart Kroon is a senior executive and obtained management and board experience in various agro and food companies and has extensive experience with commodity trade & trade technology. Bart is driven by realizing sustainable change in agro and food chains and with his creative and entrepreneurial personality he knows how to strategically strengthen organizations and drive them forward. Currently Bart works as an interim executive and serves on the supervisory board of several companies, including Fairtrade Original BV, North Sea Port SE, Voergroep Zuid and AB Werkt Zuid Nederland.
Frank nagel
Secretary
Frank Nagel is an experienced retail banker having worked in 50 countries worldwide. His expertise is focused on building strong institutions that are vital in bringing sustainable progress and prosperity. As such he’s currently acting as an advisor on corporate governance especially with regard to international cooperation. His entrepreneurial character and language skills allow him to easily connect to people from different cultures and backgrounds. In his view many economic principles are universal and are a great means for effective cooperation.
Sanne Steemers
Vice-chairperson & Treasurer
Having twenty years’ experience in corporates and as an entrepreneur, Sanne has worked with many organizations in over fifty countries. Her diverse experience in global supply chains includes impact assessments, agricultural finance, sustainability strategy, in sectors such as banking, insurance, high-tech and commodities trade. She speaks the language of corporates and entrepreneurs, finance and impact, Europe and Africa. Sanne serves on several investment committees and boards.
Berg de Bleecker
Board member
Berg has over twenty years of experience in the investment world. Having passed through BNP Paribas and PGGM, she has held several executive roles at impact investment fund houses (Triodos Investment Management and ASN Impact Investors) with a focus on emerging and frontier markets. She is currently serving as Sr Investment Manager at Oost NL, where she is allocating funds to and actively engaged with venture capital firms pioneering the global transition to sustainable food systems.
Cees van Rij
Board member
Born and raised on a mixed dairy farm, Cees did not lose track of his farming roots since most of his work experience is related to cooperative business development in rural areas. He made a career at Agriterra and acted until 2020 as Manager Agri-Advice in the C-suite of the company with branches in 20 countries. Next to his current position as Director of AgriGRADE, he pro bono supports several non-profit organisations active in agribusiness development, either as board member or as member of the advisory board.