True democratic coop - Sales Representative Equal Exchange Employee Review

Communication is great Great work culture Benefits are great

You have to work hard to grow in the company which isn't terrible

EE builds authentic fair trade supply chains through direct relationships with farming cooperatives around the globe. This fair trade model has real integrity, and you get to work with a lot of great, passionate people. Although the compensation is lower, the benefits are REALLY good, and there are a lot of opportunities for personal education if you work in an office position.

Although this is technically a worker-owned cooperative, it does not often feel like it with the hierarchical structure. Because of the structure, power is consolidated and not easily challenged, although there are people working to change this. Current leadership has consistently deprioritized democratic advancement, and there are some serious structural issues that perpetuate racism and classism. Again, there are a lot of good people working to challenge these issues, and hopefully in not too long leadership will turn over to make those changes possible.