In addition to being a full professor, I am an applied researcher, policy advisor, and business strategist. I bring research-based insights to real-world decision making.
Formal Advisory Roles
- United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS)
- Permanent Member of the Academic Advisory Council
- Advising six UN agencies on how to engage with voluntary certification programs (e.g., Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil)
- Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
- Voting Member of the Standards Committee
- Setting policies with implications for over 3 million textile factory workers world wide
Advise, Consulting + Contract Research
- Multi-stakeholder initiatives – WageMap, ISEAL, Textile Exchange, Ethical Cannabis Alliance, Teal Helix, Equitable Origin
- Think tanks / NGOs – International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Fair World Project
- Government – USAID Broad-Based Economic Growth Team
- Consulting firms – Article One, SB+Co, GlobeScan, New Foresight, Social Venture Partners RI
- Companies – On, Dr. Bronner’s, Target, Equal Exchange, Wonderfil, Runa Tea
- Research funders – Swiss NSF, Polish NSF, US NSF, French Agropolis Foundation
Select Media Coverage
NPR, PBS Nova, NHK World-Japan, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Aftenposten (Norway), Follow the Money (The Netherlands), Virginia Public Radio, Mother Jones Magazine, The Oregonian, Coffee Intelligence, Fresh Cup, Montana Cannabis Magazine, Rooster Magazine, JStor Daily
Presentations (for policy makers, business leaders, NGOs, students, and the public)
2026. From Innovation to Accountability: AI, Human Rights, and the UN Guiding Principles, Business and Human Rights Summer School (a collaboration of European universities/think tanks), Naples, Italy
2026. Keynote Address: Embedding Trade within Planetary Boundaries: Towards a Common, Equitable Future. Green Trade Lab Workshop, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2026. The Governance of the Anthropocene: Critiques and Promises, “Spring School” hosted by Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, funded by the European Union, Pisa, Italy
2026. Global Systems, Ethical Commerce & the Human Story Behind Trade, Voices of our Coast Series, Willow Camp, Stinson Beach, CA
2025. Regulating Business in the Anthropocene. Forum Basilience, University of Basel, Switzerland
2025. Supply chains from the dawn of humanity until today. Forum Basiliense Podcast: Life in the Anthropocene, episode 4, Basel, Switzerland
2024/5. Living Wages in Global Supply Chains. Energy and Resources Group, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, US
2024. Which fair trade principles travel to distant sectors? An analysis of social and sustainability enterprises and entrepreneurship in the legal cannabis sector. Fair Trade Essentials Reading Club, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (international policy advocacy NGO), Brussels, online
2024. A Look at Sustainability Certifications, Teach-In, Bark (grassroots environmental NGO),Portland, Oregon
2024. Reflections on the past decade of progress toward living wages, Global Living Wage Coalition (multi-stakeholder initiative)online webinar on “Transforming knowledge into action to achieve living wages” (500+ registered)
2024. Interview with Living Wage Expert Dr. Elizabeth Bennett, blog post Article One (consulting firm)
2023. Expert Discussant on book: Global Shifts, Politics and Deforestation in a Changing World Economy (By Philip Schleifer, MIT Press, 2022). European Union EU-RENEW, online
2023. Bold Claims, Low Wages: Sustainability certifications and the decoupling of living wage commitments, King’s College Business School,London, UK
2023. Does “Sustainable” Shopping Really Teach Society How to Create a Sustainable Economy? Adaptation and Innovation for Sustainable Societies conference, Stanford Initiative on Business and Environmental Sustainability, Graduate School of Business + Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
2022. Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Value Distribution: Worker Cooperatives, Employee Ownership, and Profit Sharing, United National Forum on Sustainability Standards, University of Leuven, Belgium
2022. Bold Claims, Low Wages:Sustainability certifications and the decoupling of living wage commitments,Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA
2022. Fair Trade Weed: A public education on moralizing markets(?), After Ideas: Political Economy in a Disrupted World, Brown University, Providence, RI
2021. Standards scope, content, and implementation: Moving beyond the legal minimum? panel presentation, Sustainability standards and social concerns: An academic roundtable,United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS), online (417 registered)
2021. Producer agency in certification schemes: challenges and opportunities, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) online
2021. How can companies distribute value more equitably with their suppliers? Introducing the profit-sharing model, Re:co Symposium, the invitational leadership event for the Specialty Coffee Association, with J. Grabs, L. Landers, and M. Orellana-Powell, online (400+ registered)
2021. Discussant: Equity and Wild Harvested Plans: Building Mutually Beneficial Partnerships Webinar sponsored by the Sustainable Herbs Programme, FairWild Project, andAmerican Botanical Council, online (450 registered)
2021. The end of globalization? (An alternative perspective) Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, Harvard University, online
2021. The end of globalization? WorldOregon Great Decisions series, online
2020. Author’s introduction to ‘Who Governs Socially-Oriented Voluntary Sustainability Standards?’ Fair Trade Essentials Reading Club, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), Brussels, online
2018. Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Cannabis,lecture Smart Cannabis (multi-stakeholder initiative), Portland, OR
2018. Economic Impacts of Cannabis: Labor Issues, Washington State Cannabis Summit (for policy makers), Seattle, WA
2017. Social Criteria for Textile Supply Chain Sustainability Standards, Global Organic Textile Standard Conference at to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements Annual Meeting, New Delhi, India
2017. Fair Labor and Cannabis, presentation and panel discussion, Denver Cannabis Sustainability Symposium (businesses and policy makers), Denver, CO
2017. Demand for Ethical Cannabis in Portland, Oregon,Presentation, Standards Setting Kickoff Event, Ethical Cannabis Alliance, Portland, OR
2016. Ethical Cannabis: A new frontier for domestic fair trade? Workshop, Annual Meeting, Domestic Fair Trade Organization (with A. Preece), Portland, OR
2016. Stigma to Acceptance: Challenges and opportunities of marketing a newly legalized drug, keynote lecture, Cannabis Marketing and Advertising Conference, The Canadian Institute (thank tank), Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016. Cannabis and the Environment,panel presentation, Portland WomenGrow Network, Portland, OR
2016. Domestic and International Fair Trade, panel presentation, InFARMation event, Friends of Family Farmers, Portland, OR
2014. When Americans Disavow Politics – “Public Intellectual” series, Brian Lehrer TV Show, City University of New York (CUNY), online
2012. A Verification System for Social Enterprise, presentation, Social Enterprise Ecosystem Economic Development Conference (multi-stakeholder event), Providence, RI