About

April ThompsonApril Thompson is a writer, entrepreneur and consultant specializing in business, travel and global, environmental and community issues.

For more than a decade, April has worked with a variety of clients, to include businesses, publications, nonprofits, and individuals.

Contact for a project quote

Resume (PDF)

Education

2005 - 2007 American University, Washington, DC.

Dual MBA and MA in International Development, with a concentration in socially responsible business. Graduated in two and a half years with a 3.9 GPA. Recipient of scholarships from the American Association of University Women, Datatel and AU's School of International Service.

1993 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. B. A. in Psychology.

Graduated in three years with 3.8 GPA. Inducted into Golden Key and Psi Chi national honor societies.

International/Fair Trade Business

Winter '06-Present, Kotoli Products, Founder.

Started own line of fair trade shea butter and dried fruit products imported from Guinea, handling everything from packaging to marketing, sales and distribution.

Summer '07 The Culture Shop, Washington, DC, Marketing Intern.

Organized special events at this fair trade retail outlet, developed community partnership activities, represented the store at festivals, and designed and conducted a telephone survey of store patrons to help craft the store's sales and marketing strategy.

Winter '06 Modern Architects for Rural India, Andhra Pradesh, India, media volunteer.

Wrote and designed a 40-page profile and brochure of this grassroots organization's work in education, natural resources, agriculture, health, economic development and good governance.

Summer '06 TechnoServe, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, consultant.

Conducted pilot research on the impact of fair trade on Tanzania's tea-producing communities for master's thesis, while consulting with this business development NGO on the feasibility of future fair trade certification for tea farmer cooperatives.

Spring '04 - Winter '05 Mano River Women's Peace Network, Conakry, Guinea, communications and capacity-building consultant.

Developed a bi-lingual website and newsletter, co-produced a documentary, supervised and evaluated eight field offices, identified and designed new projects, and secured five grants for this grassroots women's organization, the 2003 recipient of the UN Human Rights prize.

Winter '04, Spring '05 Winrock International, Labé, Guinea, media consultant.

Researched, wrote, designed, photographed and edited a 60-page bilingual magazine, redesigned the project's newsletter, translated documents (French - English), and trained local staff in journalism and graphic design for this USAID-funded natural resources management project, the largest in Winrock's portfolio worldwide. Organized and achived 7 years of project documentation to prepare for the end of the project.

2003 UN World Food Programme, Conakry, Guinea, national communications officer.

Wrote, edited and designed bi-lingual publications, managed interns and local employees, organized diplomatic missions and special events, collaborated with journalists, and managed sales of visibility items. Also initiated a pilot solar cooking project in rural school canteens.

2001- 2 Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center, San Francisco, Calif.*, AmeriCorps volunteer.

Facilitated a teen writers group, managed a youth-designed website, developed an environmental action club, and mentored youth.

2000 Global Exchange, volunteer.

Helped organize a campaign encouraging fair trade markets benefiting cocoa farmers in developing countries; researched energy issues for a solar energy initiative.

Writing, Editing & Public Relations

1996-Present Freelance writer and editor.

  • My work on travel, environment, and community issues has appeared in hundreds of books and magazines, including Via, Alaska Airlines, Traveler's Tales, Hope, Natural Home, The Sun, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and The Christian Science Monitor.
  • I have also consulted for such organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to develop web content, media advisories and other informational tools.

1995-6 American Society on Aging, associate editor.

Wrote and edited articles covering all aspects of aging, including science, spirituality and business, for this organization's national newspaper.

1994-5 Affordable Housing Finance, assistant editor.

Wrote and edited articles, and assisted with production and marketing of this magazine for low-income housing developers. Wrote and pitched press releases, resulting in articles in dozens of prominent media outlets, for the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition.

1993 Saybrook Institute, research assistant to Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.

Co-authored articles on parapsychology, presented research at national conferences, and edited journal articles and student dissertations.

Interests & Activities

  • Sports: Marathon runner (qualified for and finished the 111th Boston Marathon); amateur boxer (compete at local/regional level) and avid cyclist.
  • Volunteering with youth: Mentor a homeless teenager via Community of Hope; read to pre-schooler via DC Reads; and teach boxing at recreation centers in Southeast DC.
  • Other interests include dance (former performer with the Julie Drucker Company) and photography (2005 winner of Photoshare Development photo contest sponsored by Johns Hopkins University).

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: French (advanced); Portuguese (beginner); basic vocabulary in Arabic & Spanish

*Unless otherwise noted, all locales are in San Francisco.