Sam Carpenter serves as Executive Director of Global Gifts, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization with two stores in Indianapolis, Indiana, and one store located in Bloomington, Indiana. Global Gifts annually hosts the Helping Hands Festival, an Indianapolis event designed to broaden artisan and public participation in Fair Trade. Sam serves on the board of the Fair Trade Resource Network and served as its chair in 2009. Sam was recognized with the Indianapolis Business Journal?s 2010 "40 Under 40" award for his work with Global Gifts and Fair Trade. Sam wrote his master?s thesis on the subject of Fair Trade in fulfillment of a M.A. degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.