Social Impact Consultant

Movement &
Market Strategy
Partner

I've spent my career building things, co-founding many organizations and taking on executive leadership roles at the intersection of fair trade, labor justice, and social impact, including Fair World Project, one of the most respected fair trade organizations in the country.

20+ Years in the field
Dana Geffner

"Grounded support for people and movements doing meaningful work."

Dana Geffner
Fair Trade ✦ Ethical Supply Chains ✦ Labor Justice ✦ Certification Systems ✦ Movement Strategy ✦ Market Development ✦ Social Impact ✦ Food Systems ✦ Fair Trade ✦ Ethical Supply Chains ✦ Labor Justice ✦ Certification Systems ✦ Movement Strategy ✦ Market Development ✦ Social Impact ✦ Food Systems ✦
What I Do

Think. Build. Tell.

I bring together strategic clarity, movement experience, and market understanding to support work that genuinely matters, across food systems, fair trade, labor justice, and ethical supply chains.

💡
01
Think
Strategic assessment & feasibility exploration
  • Developing the capacity to ask better questions
  • Challenging assumptions before committing resources or direction
  • Evaluating new initiatives before launch
  • Governance and partnership alignment
  • Certification and standards pathway review
  • Market positioning and viability
  • Risk mapping and scenario planning
For boards, executive teams, and founders who need sharper thinking, not just answers.
🌱
02
Build
Systems, partnerships & market pathways
  • Certification development and analysis
  • Joint ventures and cross-org collaboration
  • Market development for values-driven brands
  • Retail and supply chain strategy
  • Program architecture and rollout design
For organizations building durable, integrity-centered systems.
📣
03
Tell
Narrative, campaigns & movement engagement
  • Campaign strategy and cause-based marketing
  • Story development rooted in values
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Public speaking and facilitation
  • Translating complexity into clarity
  • Organizational impact reporting and storytelling
For movements and brands seeking resonance, not noise.
My Approach
"Good strategy isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions and building systems that hold the complexity."

I don't just advise from the outside. I've built and led purpose-driven organizations myself, which means I understand what it actually takes from the inside.

Areas of Partnership

How I Can
Support Your Work

I partner with mission-driven organizations, coalitions, and values-aligned businesses on projects related to ethical supply chains, certification, campaigns, storytelling, and systems change.

01

Feasibility Studies & Strategic Assessments

Before you can make good decisions, you need better questions. I help executive teams and boards develop the critical thinking capacity to assess what's real, what's viable, and what's worth doing, before committing resources or direction.

Deliverables typically include:

  • →Executive summary for board review
  • →Strategic options analysis with comparative pathways
  • →Risk and opportunity mapping
  • →Clear go / refine / pause recommendations
  • →Implementation roadmap if proceeding

My approach integrates:

  • Market opportunity and competitive landscape analysis
  • Certification and standards pathway review
  • Governance and partnership structure evaluation
  • Financial modeling and cost structure assessment
  • Brand positioning and reputational risk analysis
  • Scenario planning including alternative collaboration models

Best for: Mission-driven organizations navigating certification development, joint ventures, international expansion, or cross-movement collaborations.
02

Program & Initiative Design

I design and help launch programs and initiatives that turn values into real-world action, shaping strategy, building structure, coordinating stakeholders, and supporting implementation.

  • Program and initiative design
  • Strategy development and scoping
  • Timeline and budget creation
  • Stakeholder and committee coordination
  • Evaluation frameworks and learning processes

Best for: Organizations launching new initiatives, pilot programs, or collaborative efforts.
03

Certification, Standards & Ethical Claims

I work with organizations to build, analyze, and strengthen certification systems, standards, and ethical claims, ensuring they are credible, transparent, and meaningful. This draws on decades of experience with fair trade, labor justice, and organic and regenerative systems.

  • Certification and standards development
  • Comparative analysis of ethical labels and claims
  • Policy and process design
  • Consumer- and buyer-facing education tools
  • Reports and reference guides

Best for: Certification bodies, NGOs, coalitions, brands, and retailers navigating ethical sourcing and accountability.
04

Campaigns, Convenings & Market Engagement

I design campaigns and convenings that bring people together, build momentum, and shift narratives, across movements and markets.

  • Cause-based campaigns and promotions
  • Conferences, workshops, and convenings
  • Trade show and event strategy
  • Sponsorship strategy and materials
  • Multi-stakeholder collaboration

Best for: Organizations seeking to engage the public, strengthen movements, or align market activity with values.
05

Editorial Leadership, Writing & Storytelling

I help organizations communicate complex work clearly and honestly, through writing, editorial leadership, and narrative strategy, centered on integrity, accuracy, and lived experience.

  • Editorial direction and content strategy
  • Long-form writing and reports
  • Publications and media development
  • Messaging for campaigns and education
  • Impact reports for all stakeholders
  • Organizational impact reporting and storytelling

Best for: Organizations producing reports, publications, or public education materials.
06

Executive-Level Project & Organizational Leadership

I provide senior-level leadership and strategic support for organizations that need experienced guidance during periods of change or growth.

  • Strategic planning and organizational development
  • Budgeting, fundraising, and operational oversight
  • Staff, contractor, and board support
  • Governance and stewardship guidance
  • Interim or project-based leadership roles

Best for: Organizations in transition, restructuring, or launch phases.
07

Supply Chain Learning Journeys

I design and coordinate custom supply chain learning journeys for customers, buyers, advocates, policymakers, and stakeholders. Past journeys: textiles in Peru; shea butter in Togo and Ghana; coconut in Sri Lanka; palm oil in Ghana.

  • Co-developing learning objectives with organizational goals
  • Designing itineraries for diverse stakeholder groups
  • Coordinating with producer groups and community partners
  • Managing logistics, travel planning, on-the-ground scheduling
  • Supporting facilitation, reflection, and post-visit integration

Best for: Organizations seeking to deepen stakeholder trust and build supply chain accountability through direct, respectful learning experiences.
What to Expect

When Working Together

🌻

Thoughtful Listening

Time to understand the full context of your work before offering strategy.

📋

Clear Scope & Boundaries

Engagements structured with clear deliverables and expectations from the start.

🫶

Deep Respect

Every engagement honors the communities, workers, and farmers touched by this work.

🌍

Practical Outcomes

Grounded in lived experience, strategy always connected to real-world implementation.

⚖️

Values & Realities

Work that honors both integrity and the practical realities of markets and movements.

If you're exploring a collaboration or want to see whether my experience might be a good fit for your work, I invite you to get in touch.

Dana Geffner
About Me

Rooted in integrity.
Oriented toward impact.

For more than two decades, I've been a leading voice in food and agriculture, fair trade, labor and farmworker justice, and global supply chains, helping define what accountability actually means in practice. I work with mission-driven organizations to build ethical supply chains, credible certification systems, effective campaigns, educational reporting, and clear, honest storytelling.

I've co-founded and led organizations at the intersection of markets and movements, and I bring that lived experience to every engagement.

20+Years in the field
Foundation

Building Fair World Project and Movement Infrastructure

✦

Much of my work has been shaped through Fair World Project, which I co-founded and led as Executive Director for 15 years. Fair World Project became a nationally and internationally respected organization advancing fair trade, labor justice, and accountability in global supply chains.

I built and led the organization from the ground up, developing strategy, fundraising and managing million-dollar annual budgets, hiring and managing staff and contractors, overseeing communications and media, and working closely with a board of directors.

Through this work I led large-scale campaigns, produced influential reports and reference guides, convened global fair trade movement meetings, worked directly with farmers and worker organizations, and collaborated with ethical brands, retailers, certifiers, and policymakers.

Media

Publishing, Media & Public Education

✦

I created and edited For A Better World magazine for ten years, a platform that grew to a distribution of 50,000 to 200,000 in print and downloaded worldwide, distributed across 1,500+ locations throughout the US and Canada.

I co-founded and co-hosted the For A Better World podcast, a finalist for the Discover Pods Award in Best New Podcast and Best Food-Focused categories, bringing forward voices of farmers, workers, advocates, and movement leaders from around the world.

Standards

Certification, Standards & Accountability

✦

I built the social pillar of the Regenerative Organic Certification and co-founded the Regenerative Organic Alliance. My work has included comparative label analysis, farmworker certification reviews, and international reference guides developed with partners in Europe and the U.S.

Campaigns

Campaigns, Markets & Collective Action

✦

For more than a decade I led World Fair Trade Day cause promotions, engaging over 1,400 retailers nationwide. Brands including Alaffia, Alter Eco, Dr. Bronner's, Equal Exchange, Guayaki, Maggie's Organic, Theo Chocolate, and Farmer Direct reported significant sales growth, in some cases tripling volume.

My campaign work has addressed child labor, textile exploitation, farmer disempowerment, unfair trade rules, and human rights violations across global supply chains, including in the chocolate, dairy, and textile sectors.

Convenings

Events, Learning Journeys & Global Gatherings

✦

I have designed and executed conferences, workshops, and convenings at Biofach, Provender Alliance, and Organicology, and coordinated six-figure sponsorship programs for recurring conferences.

I have designed and led supply-chain learning journeys, immersive experiences in textile supply chains in Peru; shea butter in Togo and Ghana; coconut in Sri Lanka; and palm oil in Ghana.

Governance

Boards & Organizational Stewardship

✦

I have served in board leadership roles, including Treasurer, Secretary, and Chair, for:

  • Equal Exchange
  • Regenerative Organic Alliance
  • Grow Ahead
  • Zebras Unite
  • Fair Trade Federation
  • Maya Traditions
Education

Formal Training

✦

Master of Public Affairs

Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

Focus on public policy, governance, and systems-level approaches to social and economic justice.

Certificate in Food Systems

Berkeley Food Institute

Concentration in food systems analysis, sustainability, and equity across agricultural supply chains.

Exposure

Writing, Media
& Research

My writing and media work has focused on fair trade, ethical supply chains, labor justice, food systems, and accountability in global markets. I've written for a range of publications and authored reports and reference tools used by advocates, buyers, and policymakers.

Select Writing

Reports & Research

Video & Radio

Get in Touch

Let's do
better together.

I partner with mission-driven organizations, coalitions, and values-aligned businesses on projects related to ethical supply chains, certification, campaigns, storytelling, and systems change.

If you're exploring a collaboration or want to see whether my experience might be a good fit for your work, I welcome you to reach out.

I don't offer free strategy or consulting sessions, but I'm happy to review inquiries and suggest next steps if it feels aligned.
✉ dana@danageffner.com