Shane, Rachel & Jesse
The Clarity Project was founded in 2009 by three young, socially aware entrepreneurs from the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz Mountains: Shane Rogers, Rachel Lichte, and Jesse Finfrock.
Shane has a passion for designing innovative products and processes to improve people’s quality of life. Following graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and broad world travel, he began designing medical devices. His experience managing complex supply chains as a systems engineer, together with his do-no-harm ethic and problem-solving spirit, helped him recognize the vast potential of sourcing diamonds more efficiently and fairly. When he's not looking at stones or partnering with new non-profits, Shane will be outdoors exploring California’s beautiful beaches in the summer and snowy mountains in the winter.
Rachel believes firmly in the power that consumers have to change how companies behave. While earning degrees in anthropology, film and digital media at UC Santa Cruz, she worked doing marketing, graphic design, and program development for the sustainable seafood program FishWise. Soon after graduating, her interest in rural community development led her to India to work for an indigenous advocacy organization. For the past three years, Rachel has led research, managed clients, and developed brand strategy for mission-driven companies, Fortune 500 CSR programs, and global philanthropies at brand innovation firm BBMG. When she's not developing marketing strategies or sketching ring designs, she enjoys yoga, backpacking, baking new recipes, and riding her bike.
Jesse brings a media background and an intimate understanding of Fair Trade principles and systems. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz and working on anthropology projects in Western Australia and Eastern Europe, he began a career in sustainability in the tea fields of southern India. He subsequently joined the certification department of TransFair USA, later becoming a researcher at EarthJustice, KQED public radio, and Mother Jones, and an editor at The Daily Journal. Jesse also fact-checked the recently published book Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution. When he's not discussing standards with potential suppliers or writing articles on industry developments, you might find Jesse at the local old-timey session or somewhere outdoors in the backcountry.
Featured Designer
John Doty
John is a native San Franciscan and a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Following a rewarding career in the investment real estate industry, John has successfully transitioned into the career of his true life’s passion: creating innovative, cutting-edge products that deliver value, intuitive continuity, and delight to the user. John recently earned a degree in Industrial Design from San Jose State University. When not obsessing over his designs, John enjoys photography, cycling, and building or fixing things in his workshop.