Building on  over 16 years of cooperation,  SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin and Executive Director Eileen Kohl Kaufman will share the CEO position, serving in alternating quarters of the year. They will work closely with Richard Cook, CFO, Jane Hwang, Director of Corporate Programs & Training, Craig Moss, Executive Advisor, and Michelle Bhattacharyya, SAI's new Director of Operations. Both Ms. Tepper Marlin and Ms. Kaufman will participate actively as SAI develops and implements its new 5-year strategic plan.

"The long standing collaboration between Alice and Eileen over almost all of the entire history of SAI, is now being formalized now in rotating leadership" said SAI Board of Directors member Dana Chasin, Economic Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Jon TesterLike the SAI Pillars in Practice Program. "No doubt this arrangement will strengthen the organization as it grows, bringing to bear their distinctive skills, perspectives, and connections."

Ms. Tepper Marlin and Ms. Kaufman have worked closely together since SAI started in 1997, helping to build this global organization that brings a social entrepreneurial approach to improving workplace conditions in global supply chains. SAI's and Ms. Tepper Marlin's leadership have been recognized by institutions including Ashoka, Scientific American, and the Right Livelihood Award as a pioneer in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Their work at SAI builds on the pioneering research work of the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP)- SAI's predecessor.

CEP is best known for the consumer guidebook "Shopping for a Better World". Ms. Tepper Marlin founded the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP) in 1969. Ms. Kaufman was one of CEP's earliest distinguished researchers, an author of its influential "Paper Profits" (MIT Press).  Prior to founding CEP, Me. Tepper Marlin worked as one of the first women securities analysts on Wall Street (at Burnham & Co.) and Ms. Kaufman as the Director of Strategic Planning at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.  Ms Tepper Marlin currently teaches at NYU's Stern School of Business.

For more information, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - Jong@sa-intl.org.

In the June 2012 newsletter, SAI highlighted the expansion of Tchibo's WE Programme with GIZ in India that promotes dialogue between workers and managers for social quality. This new chapter builds on 5 years of experience from the WE Programme's initial chapters in China, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand. The Indian training track launched in February 2012 with a 'Training of trainers' (ToTs) in New Delhi. Four participants from the ToTs event were selected to implement the first stage of the WE Programme in India. SAI is pleased to introduce and welcome Deepti Mittal (Coach), Raghunatha Kothamangalam, Mamta Sardana and Monica Ramesh to the team.  

Since last year, the 'WE' trainer team has been working with ten supplier factories in India for the implementation of the WE Programme. Four worker-management dialogue trainings have been conducted in each factory by the team. Most were customized to accommodate factories' needs and requests. "Challenging issues like monitoring child labour, health and safety provisions, reducing absenteeism, working hours and quality rejects were covered in these trainings," said Deepti Mittal, Coach of the WE India training team. "Two workshops have been conducted to bring all ten factory representatives from different levels of seniority to the table to reflect on their achievements, experiences, brainstorm on common issues and outline the road ahead under WE Programme."

Deepti Mittal, Founder of Direction towards Responsible Development (DRD), is a supply chain specialist with over 9 years of experience in remediation programs, conducting worker-manager trainings, audits, assessments and evaluations for various industrial and agricultural set-ups. Ms. Mittal has also worked extensively for factory remediation and improvement programs for the apparel industry in India and overseas. She has also worked across various sectors for U.S. and European companies: agriculture; apparel; plantations; metal; sports; footwear; leather; handicrafts; home furnishings; jewelry; natural stones; hard goods; and accessories.

Ms. Mittal has conducted over 500 evaluations and audits, and has conducted numerous grassroots-level workshops and trainings on issues such as discrimination, minimum wages, gender sensitization and injustice for unorganized workers. She earned a post graduate degree from the Indian Institute of Human Rights.

Ms. Sardana has a Bachelors of Technology (Textiles) degree from The Technological institute of Textiles & Sciences, Bhiwani. She has completed various courses, including ISO9001, both the basic and advanced SA8000 auditor training course, and SAI's RAGS Project 3-day workshop.

Monica Ramesh is the Lead Professional, Corporate Social Accountability Division, at the Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK). She has been working extensively with the manufacturing sector engaged in global supply chains with a special focus on apparel sector since 1998. Previously, Ms. Ramesh worked as a lead trainer for Global Alliance, a program initiated by Nike and Gap in India. She has also worked with the ILO to initiate the Factory Improvement program in India.

Ms. Ramesh holds a post graduate degree in Social Work. Her core competency is training and capacity building of the SME sector on developing management systems related to social compliance standards and decent work.

Raghunatha (Raghu) Kothamangalam is the General Manager of Operations at Four-D Consulting, based in Bangalore, India. Mr. Kothamangalam works with a cross section of industries, from agriculture, apparel, chemicals, textile, food, paper, pharmaceuticals and power plants. He regularly conducts CSR trainings for companies and grassroots organizations. Mr. Kothamangalam also carries out Social and Environmental due diligence for international development agencies, and drives the management systems approach while carrying out social compliance audits for international brands. He has been developing and delivering customized training modules for various organizations in the areas of business excellence. He is a lead SA8000 Auditor and is well versed in quality, environment, occupational health and safety, and food safety management systems.

Mr. Kothamangalam has a Masters in Agricultural Economics from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, and is an auditor, trainer and facilitator of the management systems approach by profession.

To learn more about the WE Programme visit http://we-socialquality.com. For more information, contact SAI India Program Director Rishi Sher Singh at RSingh@sa-intl.org.

Mona Gupta, at a RAGS Training in India focused on gender equity in garment sector workplaces

Joleen Ong: Can you describe your role in the RAGS Project, and how you became acquainted with it?
 

With Sutradhara, we work on other issue areas that are relevant to India, such as gender and development, market access & micro enterprise development, child labor, home workers, human rights, poverty and sustainable development.

JO: From your experience, what are some of the biggest challenges for workers that you've witnessed in the Indian RMG sector, and how might the RAG Project help to improve some of these conditions?

MG: Challenges range from issues such as wages, health and safety, contract workers, migrant workers, to home-based workers. The RAGS Project seeks to address some of these realities and I believe we can help bring about a change.
 

JO: Over 500 factory managers have participated in the RAGS Project trainings in India - can you describe the impact of this project as seen from your own eyes?
 

MG: Although there has been a growth of awareness in India over the last decade, I think that Indian society has been rather conservative in addressing several areas, including women's rights and equality, understanding workplace harassment and gender discrimination. This is what the RAGS Project seeks to address and to help facilitate understanding with garment factory managers.
 

As an observer of the RAGS Project, I saw how the core concepts of the project on gender discrimination were initially met with hesitation and surprise by participants. These issues had never been addressed in their own homes or workplaces. Some participants realized that certain actions that were considered 'normal' in the workplace could actually be seen as offensive to women and lead to harassment. This awareness was appreciated.  

MG: The topic itself - gender discrimination - is a challenge as this is a sensitive issue. It requires sensitivity from the trainer, maturity and experience.

MG: The most touching moment took place at a training last year. A factory manager that participated in the trainings said that he better understood gender-related rights and workplace harassment resolutions, and talked passionately about how he can guide his daughter to work with dignity.

 I continue to work on initiatives that pertain to sustainable development, compliance and market access for the textile & garment sector, as well as for Indian Textiles & Crafts.

SAI Intern: Ewa Bialoglowska