Our team
The basis of our Theory of Change rests on our motivated, engaged and skilled team, who are instrumental in implementing the activities needed to bring about desired change. Our organisation comprises 37 colleagues (18 female, 19 male) and 93 volunteers working collaboratively towards our mission. Our colleagues and volunteers form a supportive network, enabling us to achieve our organisational aims.
Staff retention and engagement remains central to Shared Interest’s continued growth and success, with 40% of our team having served more than 10 years with the organisation. The language skills of our colleagues and volunteers enable us to build relationships, gather content and communicate effectively with stakeholders worldwide. In addition to English, our team regularly work in French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Case Study: Lending Manager for Central and North America
Karolina Jimenez (pictured) joined the team in 2019 as Customer Representative for Central America. In 2024, Karolina was promoted internally to Lending Manager for Central and North America.
She is now responsible for managing our lending portfolio in Central and North America, comprising 34 customers (28 producers and 6 buyers) in coffee, clothing, honey, handcrafts and sesame.
These customers are spread across Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and USA. She manages this portfolio supported by a Customer Representative.
“I am privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to the fulfilment of Shared Interest's mission.
Being able to support the growth of our customers inspires and motivates me to reach out to more producers and buyers aligned with our values.
They are the definition of resilience and commitment to small producers and the promotion of fairer trade.”
Karolina’s role involves attracting new and management of current customer accounts. Building strong trusting relationships is key to the role and these are managed by telephone and online, as well as face-to-face visits. Karolina and her team have visited 10 customers this year, attended one event, and welcomed two new customers.
“Visiting our customers is essential. Each visit is an opportunity to better understand their challenges and explore how we can help them while continually improving our services. It is also an opportunity to celebrate their successes, while strengthening our partnership.”
Click here to read our full Social Accounts document.
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