Fairtrade Foundation’s Harriet Lamb wins Cosmo Award

Harriet Lamb

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation was last night named Ultimate Eco Queen at the Ultimate Women of the Year Awards by Cosmopolitan magazine. The ceremony took place at Banqueting House, Whitehall in London and was attended by an array of top celebrities, including Sugababes and Kim Cattrall.

Along with a diverse group of different nominees, the award recognizes Harriet’s contributions to Fairtrade. Commenting on the accolade, Harriet Lamb said: "I am thrilled to accept this award on behalf of the millions of women in developing countries and the many Cosmo readers and women in this country who helped put Fairtrade on shop shelves.

"Earlier this year I met a mother in Malawi who grows tea sold to Britain. She is paid so little for her crop on the conventional market that she has to choose between eating a main meal every day or keeping her own children inschool. These human stories motivate me to ensure that Fairtrade continues to grow so that we can work with millions more producers in developing countries."

Other award categories included Ultimate Friends, Ultimate Survivor, Ultimate Against All Odds Star, Ultimate Woman’s Woman, Ultimate Heroine, Ultimate Editor’s Choice, Ultimate Save The Planet Pioneer, Ultimate Man. There were also separate celebrity categories.

Harriet Lamb has been Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2001. She has guided the Foundation through a period of staggering growth, which has seen estimated sales of Fairtrade products in the UK increase from £30m in her first year to more than £493m in 2007.