We are seriously shaking our pink tushies this morning at PPnG. That means ‘incredibly happy’ for those of you new to the blog. Wink, wink… Why you might ask? Easy answer. We are huge fans of fair trade guru Ten Thousand Villages. So much so that we produced an eco-video short on their store here in Portland.

We are thrilled to welcome Karen LeAnn McKay, (pictured here in Indonesia) manager of Ten Thousand Villages Portland, Oregon as our newest blog contributor.

Ten Thousand Villages is an independent, non-profit store selling fair trade crafts from developing countries. A native Oregonian, Karen has lived in Central Africa, France, Seattle and the east coast of the United States. She has consulted throughout Africa in natural resources management, non-profit management and small enterprise development. She is passionate about fair trade, her love of beautiful things and interacting with people about aesthetics and meaning.

Stay tuned for Karen’s first PPnG blog post direct from Indonesia where she is working on fair trade projects.