An advocate for Fair Trade for more than three decades, in 1997 Bill Barrett formed a Fairtrade coffee roasting worker cooperative, Planet Bean, which became a founding licensee of Fairtrade Canada. He has been in governance leadership positions in a variety of coops, NGOs, businesses and a labour union.

Bill has worked directly with producer coops around the world on different projects. He is also a photographer and an independent documentary filmmaker. He has been on the board of Fairtrade Canada from 2016 to 2022, and is currently a board member of Fairtrade International.