About Us

The Sustainable Fibre Alliance is a global multi-stakeholder initiative with a mission to ensure the long-term viability of the cashmere sector.

We promote the SFA Cashmere Standard to encourage the adoption of responsible production practices that minimise environmental impact, safeguard herder livelihoods and meet high animal welfare standards.

Covid- 19 Action Plan for Mongolia
The economic impacts of Covid-19 on herding families are considerable and concerning. Given herders high reliance on cashmere fibre, the dramatic fall in cashmere price is expected to have direct negative impacts on herders’ economic security and well-being, along with indirect impacts on animal welfare. This plan outlines our proposal for a collaborative response to these impacts that will also help prepare the Mongolian cashmere sector for future shocks. Click here to find out more.

We promote the SFA Cashmere Standard to encourage the adoption of responsible practices that benefit people, livestock and the environment. Our standard allows companies to demonstrate their commitment to transforming the cashmere sector and make credible claims about the sustainability of their cashmere products.

Our approach is

The Nutag Framework

In Mongolian, nutag describes the concept of ‘homeplace’. It encompasses the herders’ nomadic culture, ancestral history and wealth of traditional knowledge, along with cultural norms of rangeland governance and use. In short, everything about pastoral life is described through the lens of nutag.

We believe that for cashmere production to be truly sustainable, we must look at the whole system. This includes environmental impact, herder well-being and animal welfare. This principle of holistic sustainability is at the heart of nutag and the heart of our approach. Our Nutag Framework incorporates local, traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge and best practice, in order to promote resilience for herders and the environment.

“Seeing the dramatic change of the landscape I knew as a child in Mongolia spurred me on to set up the SFA, I wanted to bring cashmere companies together to create a sustainable future for the environment and those living off the land.”

Una Jones, SFA founder and CEO

The SFA was co-founded with country director, Dr Batkhishig Baival, who over 20 years developed the ‘Nutag framework’. The framework is based on resource management and traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge and forms the foundation for the SFA’s work with herders and its Codes of Practice.

Johnstons of Elgin and Burberry are the pioneering SFA Members that have been with us from day one.

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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Charles Hubbard

Charles Hubbard is the Chair of the SFA Board and has over 10 years experience at senior manager level in the skills development sector of the UK fashion and textiles industry. His expertise in standard development, accreditation systems and quality assurance supports the SFA at a strategic and operational level in the UK and Mongolia. Charles became a Trustee in 2015 and became SFA Chair in 2017, working with the SFA Board and staff to promote methods of producing sustainable cashmere fibre for use by international fashion brands. Currently, he is leading the SFA response to the coronavirus pandemic. He is a participant on UN sub-committee overseeing their response to the effects of Covid-19 in Mongolia.

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Eleni Thrasyvoulou

Eleni is a Responsibility Programme Manager at Burberry, one of the most recognised global luxury brands. Eleni joined Burberry in 2020 and is responsible for Burberry’s natural raw material programmes, animal welfare, water stewardship and biodiversity. In 2017, Burberry launched a new five-year responsibility strategy for both its corporate and philanthropic activities. The new strategy is designed to drive positive change and build a more sustainable future with goals for 2022 that sit across Burberry’s entire footprint. Prior to joining Burberry Eleni worked at a professional services firm as Manager of UKs Sustainability and Climate Change practice, focusing on environmental impact measurement and valuation.

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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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Simon Cotton

Simon is Chief Executive of Johnstons of Elgin, founded in 1797 and the first company to import and mechanically process cashmere back in the 1850’s. Johnstons of Elgin is a largest fully vertical manufacturer in the UK, buying clean cashmere fibre and processing this all the way to finished garments and accessories at their mills in Scotland. Simon is a board member of the UK Fashion Textile Association and a Chair of Scottish Textile Industry Leadership Group. He is a powerful voice on sustainability and progressive change in fashion textiles industry and a visiting professor at Robert Gordon University.

UK Team

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Alison Hubbard

Membership Officer

Alison has done various freelance work for the SFA since 2015, and in 2020 joined the team as the Membership Officer. She comes from a background of standards development and apprenticeship certification verification with the Sector Skills Councils for Retail, Fashion and Textiles, Hospitality, Travel and Tourism, and Funeral Services. Her skills are in IT, administration, customer service, and problem solving. Alison’s role is to act as a first point of contact for queries from current or potential members of the SFA, introducing them to the SFA’s goals and ethos, and guiding them through the membership application process if appropriate.

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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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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

Operations Manager

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. 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.

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Fiona Jones

Chain of Custody & Content Producer

Starting her career as a business analyst, working in London and Dusseldorf, Fiona then had a career change, and went into television, making award winning documentaries.  She now works with the SFA teams in the UK and Mongolia in both a strategic and creative capacity. Her role involves the production of engaging content for a diverse audience, including videos of herder life, articles and communications materials. She expanded her role to work on the SFA’s Chain of Custody programme in 2021. Fiona brings an enthusiastic and pragmatic approach to ideas and productions, and has a knack for explaining complex issues by putting people at the heart.

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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Uyanga Enkhbat

Operations Manager

Uyanga oversees procedures and develops strategies to optimize daily operations within  Mongolia. Her main responsibility is to support the local SFA members by improving performance, securing compliance and proving effective communications between the local and its global network and projects. Prior joining SFA, she held various senior positions at the Mongolian Mining Corporation and Cerrahgil Group. She is a professional internal auditor with 16 years of experience working across Administration, Finance, Mining and Corporate Risk Management. Uyanga holds a master of science degree in financial management from Birkbeck College, University of London and a certified lead external auditor for ISO9001:2015     

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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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Tamiraa Lkhagvasuren

Finance Manager

Tamiraa Lkhagvasuren is the Finance Manager for SFA Mongolia, bringing over 14 years of experience in project financial management to the team. He is responsible for the preparation of monthly and quarterly financial statements, and assists in data profiling and facilitating the development of our database systems. Tamriaa’s previous experience includes roles in community development and social research projects funded by the UNDP, Mercy Corps, and Colorado State University.

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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.