Meet the Team

Welcome to The Blog! This is your one stop shop to all things related to the innovative Fair Trade and Microfinance Class at Fordham University College of Business Administration. We sell all our fair trade products through the name: Students for Fair Trade.

We often have sales at our Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx, but if you are interested in making a purchase sooner please contact cwgedge@gmail.com.

The 2009-2010 Team

Bryan Matis, 2012

Bryan Matis is a sophomore Finance major in the College of Business Administration. He is the President of the Students for Fair Trade (SFT) club at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. Bryan was a member of the 2008-2009 team and now attends weekly team meetings to help coordinate the efforts of the club. His goals for the year include ensuring the long-term continuity of the business and mobilizing SFT club members to assist in the day-to-day functions of the program. Bryan is also a member of United Student Government at Rose Hill, serving as Executive Director of Student Health & Safety.

Kathleen Biemer,  2011

I’m a junior in CBA from Portland, Oregon and my major is Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.  I am excited to be a part of this class and project because it is a venue to learn about a different side of business than we often see in other classes. I believe that Fair Trade and Microcredit are very current issues that will, hopefully, have a greater and greater place in our lives as business people. As a member of our team I am responsible for the coordination of selling events, including reserving a space and helping with set up.

Erika Pineda, 2010

I am about to end my career as a Psychology major, rugby player, credit overachiever, and Walsh library lover at Fordham University. The date of termination is some time in May and the accompanying emotion is – well, excitement with a few ounces of fear dipped in some loan-payment frustrations and a side of what some people call insanity/what I recognize to be a healthy amount of determination to change the world. I am half-Filipino and half-Honduran, I spent half of my life in and around the United States and the other half I spent in the Philippines. I know privilege, but I’ve seen poverty and once you’ve seen that… up close and personal, there’s no turning back. If I was to compare my plight with poverty with the seven stages of grief, Fair Trade would occupy step number six – “reconstruction and working through.” After the shock and denial, the pain and guilt, the anger and bargaining, the depression and reflection, and the upward turn, I’ve decided to actively fight in creating a world without poverty. I help with marketing for Students for Fair Trade – I take photographs, conceptualize posters, man the fashion blog, and dream about our fair trade methodology spreading like a virus throughout every university in the world.

Vipin Chamakkala, 2010

Hi! My name is Vipin Chamakkala.  I’m a senior a Fordham studying Finance and Entrepreneurship.  I work as a research analyst at Bank of America Securities – Merrill Lynch within the Bond Index Group.  I became interested in Fair Trade after working with Green products… It’s a responsible way to promote sustainability in developing countries.  We need to do our part to help the bottom billion!  I’m the blog manager for team; I make sure that we’re always up and running and I help get our presence known on the Internet.  I hope we accomplish big things this year with the project!

Bridget McCabe, 2010

I’m Bridget McCabe and I am senior at Fordham University. I am a Communication and Media Studies major with minors in Business Administration and Economics. I am Secretary of the club Fordham for Students for Fair Trade. For the class, I am responsible for managing the Twitter account, @FordhamSFT as well as completing tasks as needed.  I currently have a Marketing/Communications internship with Siemens Healthcare in which I am also responsible for Twitter, @SiemensHospIT. I spent my junior studying abroad in Beijing, China. I believe Fair Trade makes a difference in people’s lives and provides them with a sustainable means in income and I’m proud to be a part of this project.

Sean O’Connor, 2012

Hello, my name is Sean O’Connor and I’m a sophomore in the College of Business Administration. My role in the project is working to expand the project to other schools, trying to secure high profile speakers, and I’m on the executive board of Students for Fair Trade. In addition, I’m president of the Sophomore class, a varsity member of Fordham Debate Society, and a member of the Ram’s Select Investment club. Running this business has been a phenomenal experience and I am excited for the possibility of expanding this program to all undergraduate business schools.

Amy Rosenberg, 2010

I am from Wilmington, Delaware and I am a sophomore in the College of Business Administration. I am planning to major in Marketing. As a member of our team, I am responsible for marketing our events to the Fordham community. I am interested in Fair Trade because of its potential to lift artisians in third world countries out of poverty by providing opportunities to sell their products to foreign markets. My hopes for this year are that our business will become more recognized on campus and that our expanded product line will enable us to surpass last year’s profits.

Brendan Colby, 2010

Hey, my name is Brendan Colby and I’m a sophomore in CBA majoring in finance. Besides SFFT, I’m involved with Fordham Finance Society and Beta Alpha Psi. I like the Yankee’s and I’m a HUGE Entourage fan. Within the team I work on getting selling events outside of our Rose Hill campus. I also help out on any other project that needs an extra set of hands. I am hoping to travel to Africa someday. I was interested in fair trade because I enjoy helping others.

Sonny Tharmabalan, 2012

My name is Sonny Tharmabalan and I am a senior majoring in Finance and minoring in Economics. In the past, I have interned at Citigroup and am currently interning at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Union Bank of Switzerland. My role in the Fair Trade and Microfinance class is to coordinate volunteers’ activities and supervise their
performance. I like fair trade because its aims are to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability.