Susan Letendre, Principal

Seven Story Market

Susan Letendre is an environmental educator residing on a small bit of lake in Southern Rhode Island. She began her career on biodynamic farms in the US and Austria. The farm in Austria, The Transnational Research Center, was a UNESCO-funded project to disseminate sustainable agricultural knowledge to “third world” (now termed “developing”) nations. These were the very nations whose agriculture and lands were languishing as a result of the industrialized world’s export of the “green revolution,” complete with chemical treatments and tractors.

Susan’s career progressed through managing non-profit organizations, advocacy, and consulting across the US and Canada in strength-based, community based systems of care for those with extreme physical or psychological needs. This work led her to develop educational workshops in values-based planning and consensus building, two skill sets that have served the environmental movement well. As an environmental educator for the Southern Rhode Island Conservation District, her work has focused on sustainable food systems and understanding the effects of globalization on the poor people of the world.

Seven Story Market is a response to the need to increase public knowledge and dialogue about the critical issues at the intersection of social justice and ecology. As principal of Seven Story Market, Susan negotiates fair, just, and ecologically sound trade with artisans and cooperatives throughout North and Central America.