Better Cotton Council welcomes new appointments

Better Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, has announced the appointment of two new co-chairs and five new members to its Council.

• Better Cotton Council welcomes new co-chairs from international not-for-profit Solidaridad and US cotton trader Louis Dreyfus Company.

• Representatives from Marks & Spencer, J.Crew Group, leading Pakistani spinner Nishat Chunian and Mozambican farmer body FONPA among latest recruits to the Better Cotton Council.

• Council members represent the entire cotton industry and help inform Better Cotton’s strategic direction.

Alan McClay, CEO at Better Cotton, said, “I’m excited to welcome our new co-chairs and members to the Better Cotton Council. Their experience, insights and perspectives will be invaluable as the council continues to evolve to best serve Better Cotton, its affiliated farmers and diverse network of members and partners. I look forward to the discussions we have to come.”

The new co-chairs are Bill Ballenden, a newly elected member and the Head of Sustainability and Innovation at Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) Cotton, and Tamar Hoek, Senior Policy Director for Sustainable Fashion at Solidaridad. Together, they will execute the duty of chair, acting both as internal and external ambassadors for Better Cotton and ensuring policy decisions are presented to the council and appropriately considered.

In a joint statement, Ballenden and Hoek said, “We are delighted to be working together as a team in order to support Better Cotton and work with the Better Cotton Council, as sustainability and traceability in the cotton value chain become increasingly important. The fact that we have a different role within the chain but share the same 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.”

Better Cotton has also welcomed representatives from Marks & Spencer, J.Crew Group, leading Pakistani spinner Nishat Chunian and Mozambican farmer body FONPA, to its council, who join with a retroactive start date of 1 June 2024.

In addition to Bill Ballenden, other newly elected members of the Better Cotton Council include: Doug Forster, Chief Sourcing Officer at J.Crew Group, has been instrumental in streamlining the company’s supplier guide and has extensive experience driving sustainability initiatives at numerous apparel firms. “At J.Crew Group, our sourcing of Better Cotton is key to our goal to have 100% of our cotton sourced sustainably by 2025. Cotton is our largest volume material, representing nearly 70% of our fiber footprint, and we are committed to sourcing cotton that benefits both people and planet.”

Elodie Gilart, Senior Sustainability Manager at Marks & Spencer, currently leads the company’s raw materials and circularity strategy for clothing and home products. “Cotton is the main material in our portfolio. Better Cotton has therefore been a key partner for us since we joined as a pioneer member back in 2009. Since then, we have achieved our cotton conversion target for all garments in 2019 and see this partnership as essential to progressing to the next level of our strategy, focusing on traceability and the acceleration of impact at the farm level.”

Nadia Bilal, Managing Director of Spinning at Nishat Chunian, supports strategic raw material planning, market trend analysis and project management at the company, which is among the top ranked employers in Pakistan’s textile sector for women’s empowerment. “Nishat Chunian Limited has been a trusted partner of Better Cotton from its beginning. 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. I am passionate about regenerative agricultural practices and making technology more accessible for cotton growers and ginners in Asia. Going forward, I will support Better Cotton for all sustainability initiatives, promoting innovation, inclusivity and the circular economy to drive sustainability within the global cotton industry and help make our planet a better place.”

Vicente Sando, Executive Coordinator at FONPA, Mozambique’s National Forum of Cotton Farmers, has a wealth of experience in agricultural development and advocacy. “FONPA as an organisation representing mainly small farmers. Our contribution as a member of the Better Cotton Council is to work towards an inclusive, transparent, collaborative, and sustainable value chain that supports a decent work for cotton farmers.”

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.

With these newly elected members come the departure of three members from the Council. Gerson Fajardo of Walmart; Pierre Chebab of Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC); and Kevin Quinlan, Independent, have completed their tenures and now left the council.

The Better Cotton Council, which is the subject of a biennial nomination and election process, comprises a select group of members which sit at the centre of the organisation and are responsible for its strategic direction. Council members represent retailers, brands, manufacturers, suppliers, producers, and civil society across the cotton industry.

Together, council members shape the approach that ultimately enables Better Cotton to fulfil its mission: to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.