Becoming a Fair Trade Ambassador
To start, you will complete fair trade training to increase your knowledge as a fair trade advocate. This is a 2-3 hour, asynchronous process, which you will need to pass by 70% to prove your knowledge. Once trained, you can start planning what you want to do during the year, with the support of fair trade leaders across Canada!
As a Fair Trade Ambassador, you will volunteer for various outreach projects and events. Some examples from the the past are:
- Survey: Designed a campus-wide survey assessing fair trade knowledgeability in students and staff. In the past, this has been completed as a capstone project after consultation with the ambassador’s professor. Skills practiced: concise writing, communications, analytics.
- Presentations: Spread awareness and education about fair trade through various presentations, on and off campus. Skills practiced: public speaking, research, communications
- Events: Planned engaging events to inform students about fair trade. Skills practiced: planning, team coordination, public speaking, research.
- Working with children: Collaborated with the Highlands Elementary School and SFU Childcare to introduce fair trade themes to children. Skills practiced: communication, research, working with children.
- Social media: Posted regularly to the social media accounts, led social media campaigns, designed posters and graphics. Skills practiced: design, writing, planning, communications.
- Writing: Created posts for the blog, wrote articles for local news papers, interviewed fair trade leaders. Skills practiced: research, concise writing, interviewing, communications.
Room to Grow
Want to help organize the program's activities? As a Fair Trade Ambassador program executive, you have the opportunity to take on more of a leadership role. In these positions, you will oversee your team's operations, hold meetings, and offer guidance and support for Fair Trade SFU members.
As a bonus, Fair Trade Ambassador program executives can be sponsored to travel to a country in the global south as part of the programs Trips to Origin to learn about the production and export end of our global supply chains. Upon your return, you will write a trip summary report and present about the experience to the other ambassadors.
Executive Positions:
- President/Co-President
- VP Administration
- VP Finances
- VP Events
- VP Communications
- VP Research
- VP Education
Co-operative Learning Experience
If you enjoy the program and are passionate about fair trade, you could be offered a Co-operative Education (Co-op) position working for Fair Trade SFU. This opportunity may be adjustable according to your personal interests. Some possibilities include coordinating the SFU Fair Trade Ambassador Program, establishing fair trade programs at other schools and universities, or even working with the Canadian Fair Trade Network! This is paid, full-time work that requires additional training from SFU. Click here to learn more about Co-op.
