Lunch with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Another report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland
I'm pelting around in the snow from hotel to hotel to join meetings on Corporate Social Responsibility, Poverty and Girls Education, Women's Issues, Hunger in Africa, CO2, Social Return on Investment (SROI) etc., using the gathering as a big university campus and a chance to network with kindred spirits.
One chance meeting was at a presentation that I led, "Does an economy need morals?" - at the last moment, two empty chairs opposite me at the lunch table were taken by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who were keen to find out more about how People Tree works with small scale producers and the challenges we face. Although she modestly describes herself as a "student of fair trade", Angelina (a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR) really understands human rights and social justice.
When I sat down after delivering my passionate speech, Angelina shot me the most gorgeous smile across the table, and we all discussed together for an hour and half about how, to promote Fair Trade, there needs to be more awareness-raising about the problems with conventional trade. Needless to say I got so carried away I barely touched my lunch.
Clearly we need large corporations to re-evaluate urgently their social and environmental impact on the world. Large corporations need to meet their legal obligations immediately - and one way to make this happen is buying and campaigning for Fair Trade.
Highlight of the day: Dancing at the closing party of the WEF to great jazz with musicians from New Orleans.
At Davos Soirée, with two other social entrepreneurs James Fruchterman, Chairman of Benetech and Martin Fisher, Founder & CEO of KickStart