Are you the next Chair of THIRST?

THIRST is recruiting a new Chair of Trustees

Application deadline extended to 10th October 2026.

Lead the world’s only NGO focused exclusively on tea workers’ and tea farmers’ rights, and help transform the tea industry to make it fair for all.

Over the past eight years, THIRST has built up a strong reputation among tea industry stakeholders for its work on human rights in the tea sector through knowledge creation and sharing, convening dialogue, co-creating solutions and advocating for change.

Highlights include the publication of our human rights impact assessment of the global tea sector, our briefing paper on the risk factors for gender-based violence in the tea sector, our Tea Community Visioning Workshops in Kenya and Darjeeling and our collaborations with companies such as Ahmad Tea, Teekampagne, and Typhoo – as well as highly valued staples like our webinars, our monthly global news round-up and our ever expanding Knowledge Hub.

Thanks to a generous grant, we have recently expanded our administration, communication, accounts and fundraising capacity and are about to launch a major new fundraising strategy that will provide the basis for ramping up the scale, ambition and impact of our work.

Future plans include mapping tea trade unions, reporting on progress to end gender based violence in the tea sector (in partnership with Women Working Worldwide), establishing a Darjeeling Tea Multistakeholder Roundtable and examining the implications of the climate crisis on women in the sector.

THIRST has a strong Board of Trustees, bringing expertise from the tea sector, trade unions, tea companies, charity governance, finance, human rights and law.

Jane Nyambura’s term as Chair has come to an end but she remains as a valued member of the Board, continuing to contribute her extensive knowledge of – and networks within – the Kenyan tea sector. We are now seeking a new Chair to bring new skills and experience and lead the team and steer THIRST through this next exciting phase.

We are seeking a strategic leader who shares our vision of a tea industry that is fair for all and is aligned with our principles of openness, inclusiveness, and collaboration, focused on practical and long-lasting solutions. If you fit that description, we look forward to hearing from you.

The deadline for applications has been extended to 10th October 2026