Jessi Long

Jessi Long has been living and working in Guatemala since 2009. She founded JUSTA in 2010 and currently serves as Executive Director. Previously, Jessi worked in Washington DC for both Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch and Green America’s Fair Trade Program. Her entry into the world of fair trade began through participating in Oxfam America’s CHANGE internship, when she founded the Students for Fair Trade group at Washington University in St. Louis. Jessi majored in Latin American Studies and spent eight months studying at Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. She first traveled to Nicaragua at the age of 13, volunteering with the Center for Development of Central America, working in community and cooperative development during three subsequent trips. In addition to these passions, Jessi is also an E-RYT200 and RYT500 certified yoga teacher. She teaches in Guatemala, Mexico, and Costa Rica and also shares the benefits of yoga with the artisan cooperatives she works with.