Recently, Four Corners of the World hosted a sale table at the Interfaith Conference Luncheon.  Below are pictures from the event:

 

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You want speakers? We’ve got speakers—and they’re free!

 Four Corners of the World has an Education Committee which is ready to provide your school, church or other group with a speaker and videos on Fair Trade and many related issues such as sweatshops,the global economy, migration and sustainability. Request a speaker online »

SWIFT (Southeastern Wisconsin Initiative for Fair Trade) Speakers’ Bureau

Tim Dewane is the Director of Global Justice and Peace for the School Sisters of Notre Dame – Milwaukee Province.  He has also served on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Voices for Justice Advisory Board and as the Director of START SMART MILWAUKEE!—a public/private partnership for kids.  He has experience speaking to groups on a variety of justice issues including global trade, sweatshops, human trafficking, Catholic social teaching, corporate responsibility, and shareholder activism.

Liz Dixon is a retired high-school English teacher who now works as a field supervisor for UW-Milwaukee’s Curriculum and Instruction Department.  She also tutors students at Marquette University.  She was introduced to Fair Trade by her students whom she involved in researching the stories behind products marketed in the U.S.  In 2005, she was Wisconsin’s secondary section choice for the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Teacher of Excellence Award.  She is currently serving as chair of the SWIFT Education Committee.

Lynn Handler is a retired library media specialist and high school social studies teacher.  She has made numerous presentations at state and national English and library media conferences.  She has received several awards for her work as an educator, most notably the Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship Award and the Wisconsin Educational Media Association Library Media Specialist of the Year Award.  Lynn has traveled to India several times where she has learned first hand about global injustice and the power of one.  For ten years she taught a high-school “Ecology and Human Values Class” and is currently a Northwest Earth Institute program coordinator.  She describes herself as “just a middle-class American struggling to reduce her ecological footprint.”

Mike Howden is a retired social worker, who has been involved in justice advocacy for many years.  He is the President of the Board of Southeastern Wisconsin Initiative for Fair Trade which operates the Four Corners of the World Fair Trade Store.  He is well versed on local and national anti-sweatshop, sustainability and Fair Trade activities.   

Rosemary Huddleston, OP, is the International Mission Coordinator for World Mission Ministries of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  When she lived and worked in Bolivia for thirteen years, she learned first-hand of the importance of working for justice.  Currently she is a board member of SWIFT and participates in the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign.  In her ministry with the Archdiocese, she coordinates immersion experiences in other countries and where possible includes exposure to sweatshop realities and meetings with workers.  She facilitates workshops on a variety of topics including globalization, solidarity, and fair trade.

Bruce Johnson is the facilities manager for the Wauwatosa School District.  He currently serves as a director (secretary) on the board of the Mt. Meru Coffee Project (MMCP).  The MMCP is an economic and social justice project based on partnership between the Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) and the Meru Diocese in Tanzania (ELCT).  He is also involved in efforts to establish a partnership between St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Wauwatosa (ELCA) and the Synod of El Salvador.  He is a graduate in economics from UW-Milwaukee.

Sister Barbara Pfarr, SSND, has worked with immigrants and their advocates in Milwaukee, south Florida and Chicago for 30 years.  She currently directs the Civil Rights of Immigrants Initiative of WISDOM, a state-wide network of faith-based community organizations dedicated to social change. She recently spent time on the U.S. Mexico border, talking with workers, public officials and humanitarian organizations and is part of Gamaliel’s National Civil Rights of Immigrants Initiative.  In her presentation, she confronts the myths that fuel the anti-immigrant  fervor in our communities, gives a basic understanding of the current immigration system, shares experiences of local immigrants, and gives suggestions of how communities can become more welcoming of immigrants.

Debra Schneider is a social advocate and educator with experience in business management and consulting.  She serves on the Leadership Council and Education Committee of Catholics for Peace and Justice, works with the SE WI Common Ground jobs initiative, ACTS (Allied Churches Teaching Self-Empowerment), and with youth education and immersion experiences.  She provides presentations and workshops on issues related to Catholic Social Teaching, social ethics, and sustainable living.  She holds a BBA from UW Whitewater, a Masters in theology from Marquette, a certificate in permaculture design, and is a proponent of The Natural Step.

Rob Shelledy is the Coordinator for Social Justice Ministry for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  He is also the Diocesan Director for Catholic Relief Services and the local contact for the CRS’ Fair Trade Program (www.crsfairtrade.org).  Rob has a BA in Political Science from Marquette University, a law degree from Northwestern University, and a PhD in Political Science from Wisconsin.  He has given numerous presentations on various aspects of Catholic Social Teaching including global solidarity and fair trade, immigration, respect for human life, and the responsibilities of Catholics in political life. 

Ralph Stewart is the director of East Side Child & Youth Ministry (ESCYM).  ESCYM is the collaborative Religious Education program for four parishes on the East side of Milwaukee.  He is an adjunct staff member for the center for Ministry Development in Naugatuck, CT., where he directs a service program for teens (called Young Neighbors in Action) at different cities around the country in the summer months.  In addition, Ralph is involved in global outreach.  He has a relationship with the Norwich Mission House in Port au Prince, Haiti, where he has been taking groups for immersion experiences each year since 1996.  He has been doing mission work at an orphanage in Santa Apolonia, Guatemala, for the past two years.