KEYNOTE SPEAKER INFO:
Pedro Antonio Ascencio Jiménez
Cooperative Member & Marketing Coordinator
Las Colinas Cooperative
Tacuba, El Salvador
Pedro Antonio Ascencio Jiménez, was born on April 8, 1971 in the village of El Nispero in Tacuba, El Salvador.
Pedro has worked in agriculture, particularly with coffee, since he was a child. He completed the ninth grade. He is married and has six children. His eldest son is finishing high school. Pedro and his family depend on income from coffee.
Pedro joined Las Colinas Cooperative in Tacuba in 1987. Over the years, he has served in various leadership positions of the cooperative. In 1996-97 he served as secretary of the marketing committee. In 1998/1999 he was elected secretary of the administrative committee and in 2003 he became the president of that committee. In 2004 he worked in the processing of coffee. In 2007 he became the manager of coffee processing and marketing operations.
As manager, Pedro ensures the quality of the green coffee from the time the coffee comes to the processing plant until the product is sent to the buyers. He guarantees the processing is done efficiently and according to the work plan approved by the cooperative. He is also responsible for cultivating and maintaining business relations with buyers, sending samples and ensuring they are shipped out on time. This position has given him experience in organic certification and fair trade at the international and national level.
When coffee prices fell, the cooperative had to revise its business model, internally and externally. They moved from conventional to organic farming. Also members of the cooperative contributed with voluntary labor and harvested in a collective manner. This allowed members to guarantee the sustainability of the cooperative.
Equal Exchange has partnered with Las Colinas since 1998. The relationship includes providing a stable, long-term market for Las Colinas’ organic production; and collaborating in quality improvement in harvesting and processing, enabling the payment of premium and super-premium prices for Las Colilnas’ coffees.
Since 2009 Catholic Relief Services has supported Las Colinas through its Café Livelihoods Project. This support has increased productivity of the cooperative and improved the cultivation areas and manufacturing of organic inputs. It also ensures the quality of the investment in infrastructure and processing, as well as the treatment of water residues.
As an active member of the Cooperative, Pedro has the commitment to oversee that resources are used responsibly and effectively. He also works with other members of the cooperative to guarantee a quality product for consumers, while also ensuring the well-being of the producers.
Rink Dickinson
Co-Founder, Co-Executive Director, and Cooperative Member
Equal Excahnge
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Rink Dickinson is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Equal Exchange, located in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Born in 1957 in Columbus, Ohio, Rink was influenced by two areas where he grew up: inner-city Detroit and southern New Jersey. He first gained a passion for organic foods when working at the New England Food Co-ops in the early 1980’s, where he met Michael Rozyne and Jonathan Rosenthal, Equal Exchange’s co-founders.
Equal Exchange was founded in 1986 with the goal of creating an unprecedented, progressive enterprise that balanced the interests of farmers, customers, shareholders and workers. Since then this unique 100-member worker cooperative has helped pioneer a new socially responsible model for trade with small farmers in impoverished countries, the system now known as Fair Trade. This system of alternative trade provides farmers with direct access to export markets; stable prices for their crops; long term and direct trade partnerships; and support for the growth and development of their co-operatives.
With no models to follow, Equal Exchange’s founders decided to forego the privilege that normally accrues to entrepreneurs, and structured their company as a worker-owned cooperative, where every employee would be an equal owner, with one voting share. The Co-operative has been profitable for 19 of the last 20 years. It currently has annual revenues of $35 million.
During his 25 years at Equal Exchange, Rink has played almost every major role, including Sales Director, Board Chair and Co-Executive Director & President. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in History from SUNY-Binghamton in 1979, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his family.
