Trade is more than the movement of goods and services. It is the exchange of human effort, the story of livelihoods, and the promise of shared prosperity. Yet too often this promise has been undermined by systems that privilege profit over people and efficiency over equity. Reshaping trade so it becomes fairer, sustainable, and rooted in the dignity of those who grow, craft, and build is not just an economic ambition. It is a moral responsibility that carries the power to transform communities and protect the planet.
Alice Oyaro, through her leadership as global CEO at Transform Trade, is turning this conviction into action. By placing producers and communities at the heart of every decision, she is showing what it means to create impact in fair trade and development. Transform Trade stands apart by ensuring that change is co-created, power is shared, and that human dignity is upheld – transforming trade so everybody benefits.
Guiding Principles in Times of Transition
Alice believes in leading with both head and heart. She describes herself as people-centred, committed to doing hard things in a human way. A quality often attributed to her is what she calls compassionate accountability, which means building genuine connections while also delivering results.
For Alice, leadership is also about getting the right people in the right roles and enabling them to thrive. She explains that people flourish when they feel trusted, so she works with her teams to create a shared strategic framework that clarifies purpose, goals, and boundaries. Within that framework, she offers freedom paired with agreed milestones, enabling colleagues to move forward with confidence while knowing she stands with them, ready to offer the right support at the right time, whether helping to overcome hurdles or celebrating achievements.
Collaboration is another hallmark of her leadership. Alice has adopted a one-team approach, bringing together colleagues across Africa, Asia, and Europe, ensuring that diverse perspectives and lived experiences shape decision-making. She also extends this collaborative spirit externally, strengthening partnerships to increase influence and impact.
Values play a central role in her leadership. In pivotal moments, she asks herself, “What do I stand for and what do we stand for?” Integrity is non-negotiable, and she places a high value on courage of conviction, which means standing firm in her beliefs regardless of external pressures. Trusting her instincts has been especially critical in fast-changing and high-stakes contexts.
Clear communication underpins her approach. Alice has worked closely with her global leadership and communications teams to ensure transparency. Even when full details cannot yet be shared, she ensures people are kept informed and reassured. Finally, she sees it as her responsibility to keep hope alive. In uncertain times, she models steadiness and optimism, believing that leadership requires showing people they can navigate challenges together.
Lessons in Leadership from All Walks of Life
Alice has worked in civil society, government, and the private sector, and she sees one common thread across them all: leadership is always about people. She anchors her leadership in values, particularly the commitment to human dignity, and she believes in balancing results and relationships, nurturing mutual respect, and building trust.
Her time in civil society deepened her commitment to equity and human rights. She became attuned to power dynamics and the importance of participatory approaches, inclusion, and locally led development. She remains intentional about noticing whose voices are missing and ensuring they are brought into decision-making.
Transitioning into government from an activist background required adjustment. Alice learned that diplomacy, evidence, and trust open more doors than volume. Far from losing her voice, she discovered it was respected for being grounded in conviction, solid analysis, and a track record of genuine relationships and results. In government, she also sharpened her skills in representation, stakeholder engagement, and risk management.
In the private sector, she gained discipline in efficiency, growth, and negotiation. She also observed the tension between profit and compassion, which fuels her current mission at Transform Trade to champion people-centred approaches. Her private sector experience has proven invaluable in engaging with businesses, especially MSMEs.
Today, Alice navigates a deeply interconnected world with a unique perspective. She draws lessons from each sector to broker partnerships and articulate opposing views with both firmness and kindness. She believes civil society must guard against “paralysis by analysis” – the tendency to delay action in pursuit of perfect information or endless rounds of consultation. Sometimes, it is better to start with what is known and adapt along the way. The private sector, she argues, must embrace not only the business case but also the human case for equity and inclusion. And governments, while partnering with others, must never lose sight of their role as the primary duty-bearers, responsible for protecting the rights and well-being of their citizens. No matter the context, she leads with both head and heart, anchored in human dignity and core values.
Defining Dignified Development
For Alice, dignity is at the core of humanity and the foundation of development. To her, it begins with respect: truly seeing, hearing, and valuing people for who they are, while recognising their agency to shape their own future. Development must not be imposed but rather co-created by asking people what matters to them, what solutions they see, and what strengths they already hold.
She reflects on the harmful legacy of development framed through a colonial lens, where the Global North was portrayed as the bringer of progress to the Global South. She welcomes the shift toward decolonising development and emphasises that dignity must never be compromised.
At Transform Trade, Alice is acutely aware that trade can uphold or erode dignity. Inequitable trade keeps small producers at the bottom, while power concentrates wealth at the top. Workers may suffer exploitation and unsafe conditions, and the environment can be degraded. Her mission is to transform trade into a system that is fair, sustainable, and regenerative. For her, dignified development means farmers earning a fair price, garment workers enjoying safe conditions and living wages, and small producers having influence in national and global policy spaces.
Alice embeds dignity into every layer of Transform Trade’s work. The organisation champions equity, diversity, and inclusion while adopting partner-led and participatory approaches such as participatory grant making and participatory photography. The focus is always on amplifying voices, building on strengths, and ensuring ownership lies with those most affected.
Internally, she ensures that equity and inclusion are lived values. Transform Trade has a diversified board and global leadership team, ensuring decisions reflect wide expertise and lived experience. Staff know that how the organisation works is as important as what it achieves.
Ultimately, Alice sees dignified development not as a project but as a way of being. It is about building systems, relationships, and outcomes that honour the innate dignity of every human being.
Trade That Serves People and Planet
Alice explains that the very name Transform Trade reflects two truths: trade has the potential to positively impact lives, including those of small producers, but for that potential to be realised, it must be transformed. She highlights several persistent barriers that stand in the way of sustainable, people-centred development through trade.
One such barrier is trade policies that prioritise corporate profit over people. A striking example is UPOV 91, which restricts farmers from saving, reusing, and sharing seeds, practices they have engaged in for generations, so that a handful of corporations dominating the global seed market can maximise profits.
Another barrier lies in unfair tax systems, which often include excessively low taxes on transnational corporations and the ultra-rich, while regressive taxes like VAT place heavier burdens on those with the least.
Alice also points to weak labour and environmental protections. In many countries across the Global South, labour laws remain inadequate and poorly enforced. Environmental safety laws are even weaker, leaving communities and ecosystems exposed to exploitation.
The pursuit of profit maximisation, enshrined in many corporate laws, compounds these challenges. As long as profit is prioritised above life, efforts to create a fairer trade system face headwinds. For Alice, this thinking must be fundamentally reimagined, moving away from “profit at any cost” toward models that balance economic viability with human and environmental well-being.
Beyond policy, Alice recognises a deeper challenge in the way development has often been done. Too much has followed a top-down model where those with power dictate solutions to those with less power. Even with good intentions, this approach undermines agency, ownership, and resilience, leaving progress fragile when external actors withdraw.
Transform Trade, under Alice’s leadership, takes a different approach. Producers are asked what problems they face and how they would like to solve them. This shift reveals two truths: producers are rich with ideas and expertise, and when they lead decision-making, their businesses grow in both income and influence. The result is long-term resilience and stronger communities.
The organisation also amplifies marginalised voices, including small producers, women, and youth, so they can influence policies that affect them. It builds transparency into partnerships, uses evidence to prove that people-centred approaches work, and champions replicable models. For instance, in the UK, Transform Trade continues to advocate for a “Fashion Watchdog,” similar to the Grocery Code Adjudicator, to oversee compliance in the high-risk garment sector.
Alice emphasises that tackling systemic barriers requires collective advocacy. This means forging deeper partnerships not only within the trade sector but also across movements. There is a need to join forces with tax justice advocates, labour unions, environmental justice groups, social movements, research institutions, academia, and the media. By uniting these voices, she believes the power to push for trade policies that serve both people and the planet can be realised.
The Hallmarks of Fair Trade
Alice describes systems change as long, complex, and often slow. For her, success begins with the communities themselves defining what success looks like. When producers receive a fair share of the wealth they generate, it unlocks broader dimensions of wellbeing: access to nutritious food, safe housing, clean water and sanitation, quality healthcare and education, and meaningful participation in decision-making.
Because systemic change is often non-linear and not immediately visible, progress is measured not only by ultimate outcomes but also by process markers and interim milestones. Transform Trade anchors its vision in six hallmarks of people-centred trade: sustainable resource use, transparent supply chains, shared ownership, shared rewards, equal dignity and opportunity for women, and respect for human rights.
These hallmarks act both as aspirations and as frameworks for tracking incremental change. Transform Trade maps shifts in rules and policies, changes in norms, flows of resources, and the building of coalitions as signals of progress. It also tracks shifts in public narratives, recognising that discourse often changes before policy does.
For Alice, success also means governments in the Global South exercising greater agency. This includes championing trade policies that enable inclusive development and rejecting those that disproportionately benefit transnational corporations or the Global North.
She stresses that systems change is generational. For her, the work is about building conditions today that make tomorrow’s transformation inevitable.
Building Trust and Mutual Accountability
Alice’s passion for partnership development was shaped during her leadership of the Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) from 2011 to 2016. The five-year partnership initiative brought together the Australian Government, ten Australian NGOs, and their African partners across 11 countries. Its purpose was to improve the lives of marginalised communities in food security, maternal and child health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene, while modelling what genuine partnership could look like.
From the beginning, the scheme committed to being a different kind of funder. Traditional power imbalances were addressed, good donor practices were adopted, and mutual accountability was embedded. NGOs and DFAT reported to each other, including on how Australian government policies had shifted through civil society engagement.
Co-creation was at the heart of the programme, with Australian and African partners engaged from the concept stage. Grants were provided to enable NGOs to involve communities meaningfully in design. A shared partnership agreement was developed, outlining not only what would be achieved but also how collaboration would take place. Relationship evaluation was built into the monitoring framework, meaning the health of the partnership was tracked alongside programme outcomes.
Flexibility and trust were prioritised, with reduced reporting requirements, budget reallocations to respond to context changes, and direct engagement between NGO representatives and decision-makers. A steering committee was established, fostering open debate and joint decision-making. Expertise and learning flowed across the network, and an African institution, the African Capacity Building Foundation, was contracted to provide technical and administrative support.
The results exceeded expectations. Over 2.3 million people were reached, surpassing targets and delivering measurable improvements in health, well-being, and livelihoods. Local governments adopted AACES approaches in their own systems, with some extending influence to national and regional policies. The programme consistently achieved top performance ratings, and Alice’s leadership was recognised with the Australia Day Achievement Medallion in 2016.
Yet, beyond statistics, the cultural legacy was perhaps the most profound. Relationships shifted from needs-based dependency to mutual appreciation of strengths. This was true between donors and NGOs, across NGOs at different levels, and between citizens and duty bearers. Partners learned from one another, leaned on each other, and achieved more collectively than they could have alone.
For Alice, AACES confirmed a core belief: when trust is built, power is shared, and accountability is mutual, the results can exceed even the most ambitious expectations.
Cultivating Equity in Trade Dialogues
Alice explains that balancing power dynamics begins with clarity about values and principles. She emphasises that respect, inclusion, and meaningful participation must be more than words on paper. For her, the most important mental shift is moving away from treating communities as beneficiaries. She insists on working with them as partners.
At Transform Trade, Alice leads her team in creating genuine spaces for dialogue that recognise people’s expertise and agency. When diverse stakeholders such as small producer groups, government agencies, or large corporations come together, the team designs processes that enable everyone to engage with dignity. For marginalised groups, this often means rebuilding confidence by affirming contributions, highlighting strengths, and ensuring opportunities to participate in ways that suit them, whether through language, communication style, or setting.
The team also prioritizes voice equity, making sure meetings allow time for all perspectives, not just the most powerful or well-resourced. Their approach is strengths-based, encouraging each partner to contribute their unique capabilities. Mutual accountability is embedded from the start, with progress reviewed against agreed standards that apply equally to all.
Sometimes this work involves quiet facilitation, such as helping a farmer leader feel confident alongside a government minister or supporting a women’s cooperative to present priorities to a trade delegation. At other times, it requires challenging dominant players to create more room for others at the table.
For Alice, balancing power dynamics is about cultivating a culture where all parties engage as equals and where decisions are shaped by those most affected. She admits that this is complex and context-specific, and not always perfect. That is why she insists on building in regular reflection, listening to feedback, learning from mistakes, and adjusting continuously. It is this ongoing commitment to improvement that helps move collaboration closer to equity.
The Shifting Currents of Development
Reflecting on the last two decades, Alice observes that the development sector has changed in important ways, though progress remains uneven. She notes a shift from doing for people to doing with people and, now, in the best examples, to enabling communities to lead while donors and intermediaries step back. This trend toward locally led development is increasingly visible in both policy debates and donor commitments.
Other important changes she highlights include a stronger emphasis on human rights-based approaches and systems thinking, which look beyond project-level fixes to broader incentives, institutions, and power. She has also observed new partnership models, where collaboration among civil society, business, and government is becoming more mainstream, alongside co-design and shared accountability.
Capacity development has also evolved, with peer-to-peer learning, accompaniment, and adaptive approaches replacing one-off training and top-down technical assistance. In addition, Alice points to greater private sector engagement, from corporate responsibility initiatives to ESG and impact investing. While this has brought new resources, it also raises questions about who benefits.
She explains that financial pressures have led NGOs to experiment with social enterprises, blended finance, and impact investment. These innovations are pragmatic responses to tighter aid environments, yet Alice cautions that care must be taken to avoid undermining public goods and equity.
For her, the shifts are not neat or linear. Many remain partial or contested, and some create new tensions. Localisation and participation, for instance, can burden communities with unpaid work unless state responsibilities are strengthened in parallel. Similarly, market-led mechanisms may reinforce inequality if poorly designed. Alice concludes that while the evolution is encouraging, much more remains to be done to ensure that development truly serves the most marginalised.
Common Threads of Successful Development
When asked about her work across diverse sectors, Alice identifies clear common threads in successful development programs. She insists that the most effective initiatives are driven by the people most affected. This requires trusting communities, recognising their knowledge, and engaging them from the design stage so that ownership lasts well beyond project timelines.
She stresses the importance of gender equality and social inclusion, with particular attention to intersectionality, ensuring that women and marginalised groups are not only included but have real voice and influence.
Alice points out that partnerships are another constant. Collaboration across communities, governments, civil society, and business provides the breadth of resources, expertise, and legitimacy needed for long-term impact. She also values flexibility, explaining that political, social, economic, environmental, and technological contexts change constantly, and programs must adapt accordingly.
For her, successful programs take a systems approach, looking beyond immediate solutions to address interconnected factors. She gives the example of supporting MSMEs in the Global South, where training matters, but so do enabling conditions like policy reform and market access.
Alice also underscores the role of strong monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems. These are not only tools for accountability but also for generating insights, making course corrections, and improving practices.
Above all, she believes that investing in trust and positive relationships is fundamental, because people work with people. Whether with funders, government officials, civil society, businesses, or communities, strong relationships build stronger partnerships.
Alice concludes that while tools and contexts differ, the essence of success does not change. Initiatives that prioritise dignity, inclusion, trust, and genuine collaboration consistently deliver lasting impact.
Vision of Inclusive Leadership in Action
Alice believes inclusive leadership begins with intention. For her, it is about ensuring representation is meaningful and that every team member, including those with less privilege, has the support needed to thrive. She views open communication as a cornerstone of this approach. To achieve this, she ensures equal access to information for all staff. This has included rethinking the format of global staff meetings so they are more engaging, incorporating language accessibility and interactive breakout groups. She also hosts CEO “drop-in” sessions and shares regular updates from different regions so colleagues can better understand one another’s contexts and challenges. Alice explains that this helps to build empathy across the organisation.
She also places great value on building genuine relationships. Knowing her team members, what matters to them, and what enables them to thrive is central to her leadership. Whenever possible, Alice invests in face-to-face meetups, planning and budgeting for travel to different regions. She explains that shared meals, informal conversations, and time spent in the same space deepen trust in ways that video calls cannot replicate. For her, human connection combined with empathy creates the conditions where everyone feels safe to contribute.
Capacity development is another priority. She has focused on strengthening the leadership team’s ability to model inclusive leadership and integrate Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into daily practice. Alice also creates opportunities for colleagues to work together across geographies and sectors so that trust and understanding extend beyond immediate teams. As an example, portfolio teams at Transform Trade are intentionally structured to include members from different regions and levels, ensuring diverse voices shape decisions.
Alice sees listening as a discipline. She pays attention both to what is said and to what remains unsaid, often following up privately to create space for reflection. Leading by example is essential for her. When concerns are raised, she acts on them, reports back on progress, and is willing to have difficult conversations when necessary. She also celebrates achievements across the organisation, making a point to acknowledge roles that are less visible so that every contribution is recognised.
For Alice, inclusive leadership is deeply connected to emotional intelligence. It requires self-awareness to understand how one is perceived, especially in high-pressure moments, and the social awareness to sense what is happening in a room, including when someone is holding back. She explains that combining these forms of awareness allows her to respond in ways that keep people engaged and respected, even during difficult conversations. In her experience, this is what enables her to bridge cultural differences, build trust, and ensure all voices are heard.
Building a Culture of Purpose and Adaptability
Alice describes the culture she cultivates as a balance between focus and flexibility. She believes it is essential to hold fast to purpose while giving people the trust, tools, and freedom to adapt creatively in pursuit of that purpose. At Transform Trade, the culture is anchored in a clear commitment to producer-centred trade justice. For Alice, this shared commitment provides stability in the unpredictable field of trade and development.
She believes strongly in agreeing as a team on a framework and then giving colleagues the space to deliver in their contexts, supported by milestones to check progress. Alice also emphasises the importance of communicating the “why” behind decisions. By consistently reminding the team of the bigger picture and the agreed approach, she ensures direction remains clear even when external circumstances shift. Reflection sessions are a key practice she is working to strengthen, particularly through improvements to the organisation’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning system. She sees this as vital for creating space for honest conversations about what is working, what is changing, and what requires adaptation.
For Alice, adaptability is not about chasing every new idea. She reminds her team that not all good things work well together. She encourages deliberate choices about where the organisation can have the greatest impact and believes in supporting other initiatives in solidarity without overextending resources. This, she explains, is what it means to be purpose-driven and adaptable at the same time.
Alice views her role as holding the conviction and clarity that keep the organisation steady. Once a collective decision has been made, she ensures the team remains committed to that path, even when the context becomes turbulent. At the same time, she keeps the organisation agile enough to pivot when change truly serves the mission.
