2017-05-09FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, May 9, 2017 – NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are pleased to announce their partnership to bring a custom fair trade conference tote bag to the NAFSA 2017 Annual Conference & Expo in Los Angeles this month. Produced by Township®, a network of six autonomous cooperatives supporting women entrepreneurs in Cape Town, South Africa since 1997, the new bag is eco-friendly, reusable, and durable. Township is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.

“IELTS is proud to partner with NAFSA to support fair trade through the sponsorship of this year’s conference tote bag,” stated Ariel Foster, Executive Director for IELTS USA.

The NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo typically hosts around 10,000 attendees, and according to Foster, “connects more professionals with a common mission of international education and engagement” than any other international meeting. By sponsoring the tote bag and supporting the women entrepreneurs who created it, NAFSA and IELTS aim to highlight women’s empowerment and hope the importance of these issues to the international education field extends throughout the conference and beyond.

Sample Tweet: .@NAFSA and @IELTS use #NAFSA2017 conference tote bag to support fair trade and global women empowerment

About NAFSA: With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org/press. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org and @ConnectOurWorld on Twitter.