You Want Speakers?

  We’ve Got Speakers— and They’re Free!

 Why a Speakers’ Bureau?

 In 2006, SWIFT opened Four Corners of the World, a Fair Trade store which markets fairly produced and traded products.  Besides marketing fairly traded goods, a second objective of the store is to provide education to the public regarding Fair Trade and sustainable policies and practices as an alternative global economy.  To accomplish the goal of educating the public, the following speakers are available to groups and institutions at no charge.  If interested in retaining a speaker on Fair Trade, immigration, and/or sustainability, complete the Four Corners Speaker Request Form at http://ww.fairtrademilwaukee.org/fair-trade-education-committee/speaker-request-form/ or call Four Corners: (414) 443-9606.

  The Speakers

 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 a variety of groups on Modern Slavery/Human Trafficking; Global Economics, Sweatshops, Fair Trade & You; Making a Difference One Green Habit at a Time; and Living Your Faith in the Modern World/Catholic social teaching.

 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.”  She is especially qualified to speak on NWEI topics and the chocolate trade.

 Elizabeth Howayeck is the Associate Director of International Mission for World Mission Ministries of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  Through her many experiences working with diverse communities all over Latin America, she has learned firsthand the value of fair trade and how social justice issues abroad are connected to our lives at home. While living in Chicago, Elizabeth served as a board member of Chicago Fair Trade and successfully turned her parish into a fair trade parish.  Now in Milwaukee, she is working to educate both youth and adults on how their faith life and Catholic Social Teaching connect them to fair trade.  In her ministry with the Archdiocese, Elizabeth will also be coordinating immersion experiences to other countries focusing on solidarity and social justice.  Workshop topics include turning your parish into a fair trade parish, making the connection between Catholic Social Teaching and fair trade, and learning about the relationship between migration and trade.

 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.

 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 the 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.

 Suzanne, Moynihan, SSND, currently facilitates numerous presentations, days of reflection and retreats for adult groups, school staffs, religious assemblies of all denominations and             elementary children on the implications of our Sacred Story as articulated by Thomas Berry.  She has served as the initial director of the Global Education Office for the Milwaukee Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and recently, as the initial Education Coordinator for SUNSEED Eco-Education Center and has been a multi-age educator throughout her professional career.

 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.

 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 Gig Harbor, WA., 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, since 2007.

 Ask us about our on-site sale option.

 

 

  

 Judy and Mike Howden at an on-site sale at Menomonee Falls High School