About Us

Board of Directors

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Andreas Wilkes

Andreas has worked on community-based rangeland management and livestock development in China, Mongolia and Central Asia for more than 15 years. He has managed rangeland management programmes for NGOs Chinese and international NGOs and research institutes. He has also advised governments in the region through the Asian Development Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, as well as the bilateral development agencies of Switzerland, Germany and the UK. He leads the development of the Rangeland Stewardship Code of Practice and is now developing a joint code of practice on animal welfare in collaboration with ICCAW. Andreas has training in anthropology and economics and holds a PhD in environmental anthropology.

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Giovanni Schneider

Giovanni Schneider is a shareholder and chairman  of the Schneider Group which was founded by his  grandfather in 1922. The company sources, processes and sells fully traceable and sustainable wool and precious natural fibres (including cashmere) to spinners and weavers around the world. The Schneider Group operates 4 wool combing mills and 2 dehiring plants, one of which is located in Ulaan Bataar.

Giovanni is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Wool Trade Organization and serves in the Governance Board of Textile exchange as part of his committed in supporting the industry in becoming more sustainable everyday. 

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Karen Perry

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Paul Littlefair – BA HonFCOT FRSB

Before joining the RSPCA in 1998, Paul graduated in Chinese and studied and worked in both China and Japan. Since 2012 he has been Head of RSPCA International, leading collaboration in many areas: the development of anti-cruelty legislation; law enforcement training; animal welfare education; laboratory animal welfare and ethics; and farm animal welfare assurance schemes. He has supported the integration of animal welfare standards into the CSR policies of a number of multinational companies and industry bodies, and since 2015 has worked with SFA on codes of practice for both Mongolia and China. Paul is an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

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Tana Dai

Tana Joined Erdos in 1993 since her graduation and has been working in both Erdos Non –brand division and Brand Division and now she is president of Erdos Cashmere Group as well as GM OF Erdos Brand Division . Years of experience of working in Cashmere field has made her a professional in cashmere production and sales and Erdos’ sustainability development in cashmere section has been guided  by Tana. We do believe Tana would be great addition to SFA board with great understanding of Chinese cashmere sector.

UK Team

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Cara Loomis

Research Analyst – Consultant

Cara works as a consultant Research Analyst, drawing from her background in social science and combined interests in cashmere production and extensively managed pastoral landscapes. Over the past 15 years, she has worked for Save the Children in pastoral communities of East Africa and has researched cashmere production and trade in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for projected supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Cara has also been fortunate to be part of a European Commission funded research project working with livestock keepers in Western China and a Leverhulme Trust funded project on rangeland governance in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. More recently, she has pursued an academic career addressing the economic and cultural concerns facing pastoralists in Turkmenistan and graduated with a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge in 2022.

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Elin Stevenson

Member Engagement & Supply Chain Officer

Elin brings extensive experience in trade and consumer customer services and account management, most recently in a certified organic and ethical clothing company. Taking over from Alison Hubbard, Elin will be responsible for handling membership enquires, managing member accounts and overseeing our Salesforce system. She’ll be the main point of contact for chain of custody queries and managing transaction certificates, and has been working hard to streamline our TC approval process and improve the efficiency of CoC for the upcoming season. Elin is excited to work with members and chain of custody participants to support them in their journey with the SFA.

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Sarah Krueger

Communications Manager

Sarah joined the SFA in November 2020 to lead the organisation’s marketing and communications. She has extensive experience working with manufacturing and supply chain clients on sustainability campaigns including in the food & drink packaging, automotive, and snack manufacturing spaces. Sarah finished her Master’s degree in East Asian Studies and Communications while living in China, and had the opportunity to travel to Mongolia during that time. In her role, she works to improve stakeholder, media and internal communications as well as organise the SFA’s meetings and conferences.

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Mona Karraoui

External Consultant: Operations

Mona has recently joined SFA as Operations Consultant. She brings over 15 years’ global experience in strategy development, voluntary sustainability standards and sustainability programmes in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. For eight years she consulted to the GEO Foundation and AWS: Alliance for Water Stewardship on their governance, standards, assurance, and credibility systems. Mona has led the development and revision of four standards, developed a professional credentialing system and auditor training systems, and was an active member of the ISEAL Membership Committee; the technical committee for ISEAL members’ compliance and the ISEAL grievance system.

Previously Mona led the MENA team for Tetra Pak’s Food for Development Office, developing multi-stakeholder dairy value chain and social feeding programmes across 20 countries including Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, and Palestine. She has a first degree in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics, and Postgrad. in Sustainable Business from the CPSL, University of Cambridge.

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Una Jones

CEO

Born in Mongolia, and now living in the UK, Una worked as a market analyst in a diverse set of industries before founding the Sustainable Fibre Alliance in 2015. Her motivation for starting the SFA was to stop the destruction of her homeland and improve the livelihoods of Mongolian herders, ensuring that herding remains a viable option for future generations. Una’s passion is identifying opportunities to enhance and widen the SFA’s positive impact across cashmere-producing regions and along the extended cashmere supply chain.

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Zara Morris-Trainor

Head of Research & Policy

Zara joined the SFA in June 2019 following the completion of her Phd where she studied the social and ecological impacts of rising cashmere production on Mongolian wildlife and pastoral livelihoods. Initially brought on to lead in the development of the SFA’s 2030 Strategy, she was promoted to Operations Manager in February 2020 and became the new Head of Research & Policy in 2022. She brings a diverse range of experience in academic research and project management to the team, having worked at NGOs and multi-stakeholder initiatives in New Zealand, Malawi, Borneo and the UK. Her aim is to help bridge the gaps between academia, practitioners and the private sector in order to tackle global sustainability challenges.

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Lesley Colvin

Standards & Compliance Manager

Lesley joined The SFA in 2018. She worked in assessment and quality assurance of training and qualifications for several years and is a qualified Assessor and External Verifier, as well as an experienced Product Manager. Her skills are in training and qualification development, delivery, quality assurance and management, along with communication, negotiation, IT and administration. Lesley’s role is to manage the SFA Cashmere Standard and to ensure that our policies and processes comply with international guidelines. She is also responsible for ensuring that herders and processors are compliant with the SFA’s codes of practice.

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Bataa Tserenbat

Public Relations Manager

Bataa joined the SFA in 2018. A Mongolian national, born and raised in the Mongolian countryside, Bataa has a deep knowledge and understanding of nomadic culture. He did his MSc in Business and Economic Forecasting at Kingston University in the UK. Bataa’s role is to assist SFA projects by bringing people and ideas together and to provide the necessary support to the SFA Team and members in the UK. Anything related to Mongolia, Bataa can make it happen.

Mongolian Team

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Tsatsralt Buyandalai

Livestock Consultant

Tsatsralt Buyandalai holds a doctorate in agricultural economics. She has worked as a leader, consultant and coordinator in foreign and domestic projects and programs in the field of animal breeding, animal health and husbandry. Currently, she is cooperating with SFA to organize various trainings for cooperatives, to improve livestock breeds, and to increase the profitability of livestock raw materials. In addition, the EBRD Bank, Gobi LLC, and SFA are working as coordinators of the “ World Brand from Herder’s Village” special project, which manages animal health and artificial insemination of goats in target soums.

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Bat-Enkh Dugarsuren

Standards & Compliance Officer

Bat-Enkh Dugarsuren holds a bachelor’s degree in spinning technology from the Mongolian  University of Science and Technology, a MBA from the Inner Mongolia University of Industry, and a master’s degree in public administration from the National Academy of Governance. Bat-enkh has been working in SFA as Standards and Compliance Officer since 2020 in charge of Chain of Custody and The Clean Fibre Processing Code of Practice.

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Kherlentuul Nayanaa

Chain of Custody Field Officer

Nayanaa Kherlentuul holds his Master’s degree at the University of Agriculture on “Determining the appropriate time to plant perennial forage plants’”. Since 2018, he has been working as the Field Officer of the Tracking System at the SFA office in Mongolia. Kherlentuul has worked on many foreign projects and programs, including Green Gold and Oyu Tolgoi, in the areas of pasture and hay improvement and mining rehabilitation. He has 14 years of experience as researcher and consultant, actively involved in research and collaboration with many government and project organizations.

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Nyamjargal Davaanyam

Administration and Finance Officer

Nyamjargal Davaanyam is an Administration and Finance Officer at Sustainable Fibre Alliance. She holds a BSc in Economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. She is responsible for stakeholder engagement, administrative and event management such as organizing international virtual conference and other events. 

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Azjargal Jargalsaikhan

Project Manager for Young Herder Training

Azjargal Jargalsaikhan holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ecology from the National University of Mongolia. She has more than 10 years experience in community-based natural. Resource management to protect wildlife and their habitats. Currently, Azjargal Jargalsaikhan is working to support the education of young herders and to give priority to herders’ succession.

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Sainculuu Amarsanaa

Marketing & Communications Manager

A current PhD student and lecturer at Mongolia’s University of Life Sciences, Sainaa has an academic and practical background in natural resources and ecological restoration. Drawing from work experience in Iceland, Austria, China and Mongolia, Sainaa brings a strong skill set in stakeholder engagement and communicating science effectively to a broad audience.

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Batkhishig Baival

Country Director

Co-founder of the SFA, Batkhishig was appointed as Country Director of SFA Mongolia in 2015. Her expertise is in coupled human-environmental systems, with a particular focus on rural herding communities in Mongolia. She has qualifications in rangeland science, community-based resource management and adaptive capacity building. Prior to joining the SFA she worked for the United Nations Development Programme, managed several large-scale conservation and development projects and consulted for various bilateral and international donor organisations and corporations. She completed her Masters in Biotechnology at the University of Manchester in 1998, followed by a PhD in Rangeland Ecosystem Science at Colorado State, USA.

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Altanzul Tsevlee

Standards & Compliance Manager

Altanzul is the Standards and Compliance Manager for SFA Mongolia. She advises producer organizations and other stakeholders on compliance with the SFA’s Codes of Practice and helps create effective action plans in response to audit discoveries and compliance violations. She also contributes to the capacity building of assessors and trainers. Previously, Altanzul worked on foreign donor projects, specializing in pastureland degradation, project implementation and ecological research in collaboration with UNDP and ADB. She graduated from the Mongolian State University of Agriculture and holds a PhD in rangeland science.

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Odgarav Jighsuren

Standard Compliance Officer

Odgarav has been working for the SFA since its operations started in 2015. Her role has involved managing the compliance assessments of herders and researchers in the Animal Welfare and Rangeland Management Codes of Practice, as well as organising training and preparing manuals. Odgarav also managed the working group which focused on the compliance assessment for the Clean Fibre Processing Code of Practice.  Before joining the SFA, Odgarav worked in various roles with NGOs and the Mongolian Environmental Ministry having achieved a Master’s degree in meteorology and hydrology.

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Baasanjargal Zorigtbaatar

Database Officer

Baasanjargal (‘Baska’) is the Database Officer for SFA Mongolia. She is responsible for mapping out annual training programmes, selecting appropriate training methods, conducting training assessments and identifying skills and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. She designs and prepares educational aids and materials and gathers post-training feedback to improve the SFA’s training approach. She holds a BSc in Agriculture Management from the Mongolian State University of Agriculture and completed her Masters of Science degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the Kangwon National University in South Korea.

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Vandandorj Sumya

Results & Impact Officer

Vandandorj Sumiya is an ecologist, with bachelor and master’s degree from the National University of Mongolia, and started his research career from the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, Mongolia. He continued his study at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia for his second master’s degree on the effects of grazing and climate change on ecosystem services in Australian drylands. After his return to Mongolia, he joined Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, where he coordinated a wetland research and conservation project in Khurkh and Khuiten River Valleys Nature Reserve in north-eastern Mongolia for about 5 years. Currently he is the Manager for the Monitoring, Evaluations and Learning (MEL) at Sustainable Fibre Alliance.

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Munkhnaran Bazarsad

Finance Officer

Munkhnaran is responsible for communications with partner organisations, assisting in the preparation of budgets, managing records and receipts, reconciling daily, monthly and yearly transactions, preparing monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports, updating internal systems with financial data, processing invoices, and acting as a key point of contact for other departments on financial and accounting matters. She graduated from Mandakh Burtgel Institute with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.