About

Elizabeth A. Bennett, PhD, is an internationally recognized expert on sustainable supply chains and values-driven business strategy, with more than 20 years of experience advising companies, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and policymakers at the intersection of profitability, labor standards, and global governance.

Dr. Bennett is the Joseph M. Ha Endowed Chair and Full Professor of International Affairs and Director of Political Economy at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

She is also currently affiliated with the University of California – Berkeley and Rutgers University. At Berkeley, she is a Faculty Affiliate and Visiting Professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy and a Research Affiliate at the Cannabis Research Center. At Rutgers University, she is an Institute Fellow at the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, where her research has been supported by a J. Robert Beyster Fellowship, as described by Businesswire.

Additionally, Dr. Bennett has recently completed residential fellowships at the Forum Basiliense at the University of Basel in Switzerland (2025) and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University (2022).

Dr. Bennett serves on the Academic Advisory Council to the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) and the Standards Committee of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). She is also a member of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) Research Network on Sustainable Global Supply Chains. She has authored more than 40 publications on sustainable business and related topics and is currently working on a book about living wages in global supply chains, which she describes in this interview with consulting firm Article One.

She holds a PhD in Political Science from Brown University and a MALD (Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) focused on the political economy of economic development from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. She completed her dissertation in residence at Colorado State University’s Center for Fair and Alternative Trade (CFAT).

Dr. Bennett’s publications include a book (The Civic Imagination: Making a Difference in American Political Life), co-edited volume (The Handbook of Research on Fair Trade with Laura T. Raynolds). Her work is published in the top journals in her field, including World Development, Sustainable Development, Global Policy, International Review of Applied Economics, and Business Ethics, Environment, and Responsibility. Her scholarship is interdisciplinary and engages literature from international relations, political economy, public policy, sociology, social movement studies, consumer culture, business management, and sustainable development. Her current research focuses on living wages, global supply chains, apparel manufacturing, fair trade coffee, ethical cannabis production in the US, employee ownership, and revenue sharing contracts for supply chains.

Dr. Bennett’s work has been featured in The Guardian, PBS Nova, The Oregonian and other media outlets. One time, she helped save two trees.

Download book chapters and journal articles that introduce these topics:

Access shorter essays (e.g., magazine articles and blog posts) for a general audience:

Stream sample keynotes and public lectures: 

See examples of thought leadership and public engagement:

  • Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) standards committee member – setting policies with implications for over 3 million textile factory workers world wide (2018-present)
  • United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) – Academic Advisory Council member – advising five UN agencies on how to engage with voluntary certification programs (e.g., Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) (2021-present)
  • Expert reviewer for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) report on farmer/worker/supplier inclusion in sustainability standard governance (2023)
  • Lead researcher for the International Guide to Fair Trade Labels (2020)
  • Reviewer of research grants the Swiss, Polish, French, and American National Science Foundations

Dr. Bennett is at times available for keynotes, guest lectures, consulting, short-term workshops, and blog/magazine articles. Please contact directly: ElizabethBennett@lclark.edu.