Personal Snapshot

Safia Minney, a British citizen of Indian-Mauritian and Swiss origin, moved to Japan at age 25 with her husband James. Safia found Tokyo to be a high-tech city with low environmental awareness. She decided that her first task would be to compile a directory of organic and vegetarian food shops and recycling facilities. This “task” spawned Global Village, an NGO Safia founded in Japan in 1991. In 1995 she incorporated The Fair Trade Company (FTCo) as a for-profit organization in Japan to take over the trading activities of Global Village. James has been involved with management, finance and systems development since the company's establishment.

Before dedicating her career to fair trade, Safia gathered significant experience in the advertising and media industry in the UK. During this time, she advised NGOs and publishers of trade and general interest magazines on marketing and public relations. She was frustrated to see so much creative talent in advertising wasted on “promoting rubbish” and committed to using her skills to promote environmental and social justice.