Better Cotton Announces New Council Co-Chairs And Members
Better Cotton has announced the appointment of two new co-chairs and five new members to its Council. Alan McClay, CEO at Better Cotton, expressed enthusiasm for the new appointments, stating, “Their experience, insights and perspectives will be invaluable as the council continues to evolve to best serve Better Cotton, its affiliated farmers and its diverse network of members and partners. I look forward to the discussions we have to come.”
The new co-chairs are Bill Ballenden, Head of Sustainability and Innovation at Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) Cotton, and Tamar Hoek, Senior Policy Director for Sustainable Fashion at Solidaridad. They will act as internal and external ambassadors for Better Cotton, ensuring policy decisions are effectively presented to and considered by the council.
In a joint statement, Ballenden and Hoek said, “We are delighted to be working together as a team to support Better Cotton and collaborate with the Better Cotton Council. As sustainability and traceability in the cotton value chain become increasingly important, our shared passion for cotton and sustainability will allow us to efficiently serve the membership, the Council, and the entire cotton value chain from farm to fabric.”
New Council Members
Better Cotton has welcomed representatives from Marks & Spencer, J.Crew, leading Pakistani spinner Nishat Chunian, and Mozambican farmer body FONPA to its council, with a retroactive start date of June 1, 2024.
Doug Forster, Chief Sourcing Officer at J.Crew Group, brings extensive experience in driving sustainability initiatives. “At J.Crew Group, our sourcing of Better Cotton is key to our goal of having 100% of our cotton sourced sustainably by 2025,” Forster noted.
Elodie Gilart, Senior Sustainability Manager at Marks & Spencer, leads the company’s raw materials and circularity strategy. She emphasized the importance of the partnership with Better Cotton, stating, “Since we joined as a pioneer member in 2009, we have achieved our cotton conversion target for all garments in 2019 and see this partnership as essential to progressing our strategy.”
Nadia Bilal, Managing Director of Spinning at Nishat Chunian, supports strategic raw material planning and market trend analysis. “In my new role as a council member, I look forward to engaging with all stakeholders for capacity building in upstream supply chains to make them more robust and transparent,” Bilal stated.
Vicente Sando, Executive Coordinator at FONPA, Mozambique’s National Forum of Cotton Farmers, has a wealth of experience in agricultural development and advocacy. He aims to work towards an inclusive, transparent, collaborative and sustainable value chain that supports decent work for cotton farmers.
Re-elected Members and Departures
Better Cotton has also announced the re-election of Rajan Bhopal, International Project Manager (Supply Chain) at PAN UK, and Shahid Zia, Executive Director at the Lok Sanjh Foundation, to its council.
Departing the Council are Gerson Fajardo of Walmart; Pierre Chebab of Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC); and Kevin Quinlan, Independent, who have completed their tenures.
