The Better Cotton team includes more than 200 individuals from diverse cultures, countries and backgrounds. We’re passionate about what we do and dedicated to achieving the Better Cotton mission: to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. From humble beginnings, we’ve grown rapidly to become the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme, and we’re expanding all the time.

We currently work in 12 countries: we have offices in China, India, Mozambique, Pakistan, Switzerland and the UK, as well as staff based in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Türkiye and the United States.

Our team works closely with the broader Better Cotton network, which includes thousands of members, partners and stakeholders as well as millions of cotton farmers and farming communities.

Better Cotton Executive Group

Alan McClay
Chief Executive Officer

I provide strategic oversight to the organisation to ensure that our work aligns with the direction that the Better Cotton Council provides and gets us closer to our long-term goals.

Lena Staafgard
Chief Operating Officer

I lead Better Cotton’s operations and ensure our day-to-day work delivers the change and impact we want to see across the broad spectrum of activities we undertake.

Alia Malik
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

I lead Better Cotton’s work at the farm level. I ensure our farm programmes and partnerships, fundraising and development, and our new impact workstream are all driving and supporting change in sustainable practices at the farm level.

Eva Benavidez Clayton
SENIOR Director of Demand and Engagement

I oversee the organisation’s member engagement and operations, claims, and traceability efforts. For nearly the past decade, I have been focused on addressing key sustainability questions within the textile and apparel space.

Graham Sutherland
Senior Director of Finance and Services

I head up Better Cotton’s Finance, IT and Data, Legal Affairs and Procurement teams, ensuring that the organisation uses its resources and assets in the most effective way possible to achieve a world where all cotton farming is sustainable.

Iveta Ouvry
Senior Director of Programmes

I support Better Cotton’s work at the country and farm level through programmes that help cotton farming communities to adopt more sustainable agriculture practices and see positive change in their livelihoods or gender dynamics. In addition, I support multifunction country operations.

Jannis Bellinghausen
Senior Director of Systems Integrity

In my role, I work on advancing sustainability standards, implementing third-party certification, ensuring alignment with ISEAL compliance and EU regulations, and enhancing impact measurement systems.

Iain Gardiner
Senior Director of Impact and Development

I lead the Fundraising and Impact Teams to provide technical direction for impact and bankable proposals for investment. This is supported by significant experience across operational research and programme delivery for public and private investment.

Join us

If you’re interested in working with us, please get in touch via our contact form, or check out our current vacancies.