Theresa Fay-Bustillos
Theresa Fay-Bustillos is the Principal and Founder of IdealPhilanthropy LLC. She is a recognized philanthropic and business executive as well as a civil and human rights lawyer. Theresa is the former Vice President, Worldwide Community & Corporate Citizenship for Levi Strauss and Co. and the Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation. Over her eight years there, she and her team worked in 35 countries in the areas of financial services, asset-building, HIV/AIDS prevention and environmental sustainability. While at Levi’s, Theresa was also the chief legal officer for the foundation addressing issues of governance, self-dealing, endowment management and the USA Patriot Act. She also led the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts globally. The Levi Strauss Foundation was overseen by a board comprised of Levi Strauss family members and corporate executives. Thus, Theresa also gained valuable experience in working closely with a family respected for its philanthropy.
Among her accomplishments, Theresa led efforts to raise workplace standards and environmental sustainability in the apparel industry. She created the program that trained workers and managers on human rights protections Theresa and the team reached over 150,000 apparel workers in 16 countries in 2007, enabling them to save money to purchase or improve homes, start a small business or obtain an education. and provided access to legal aid in nine key countries (e.g., in China, over a ten year period, one million migrant workers from over 200 factories in 22 cities had access to training and legal aid bureaus set up throughout the Country). She led the process to develop the first-ever global fair trade apparel standard. She and the team initiated a unique planning process that resulted in the transformation of a corporate asset into a community asset when the proceeds of the sale of a historic company factory were used to create a new model of financial services and asset-building for immigrant families in San Francisco. She expanded the reach of employee volunteer programs globally resulting in nearly 4,000 employees in 33 countries volunteering more than 20,000 hours on 117 projects in 2007. She integrated corporate social responsibility into the business by leading the development of a CSR framework with the executive leadership team and corporate board and embedding priorities and long-term outcomes into the strategic business planning process and human resource practices.
Previously, she served as Vice President for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). For ten years, Theresa directed litigation and public policy in the areas of education, labor and employment, immigration and participatory democracy. She has written legislation and testified before congress on many occasions. She was also an adjunct law school professor, administrative law judge, and a trial attorney at several government agencies. Among her current projects, Theresa provides strategic counsel on issues of stakeholder engagement, disclosure and transparency, and human rights for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group.
Theresa received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. She serves on several boards including the Council on Foundations, California Women’s Foundation, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, and Fair Trade USA. She was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in San Francisco by the San Francisco Business Times and has participated at gatherings of world leaders including the Clinton Global Initiative Retreat at White Oak and Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm convening.
