PAM RAY

Pam Ray is a native of North Carolina. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Clothing and Textiles. Her work experience includes a career of over 30 years in the apparel industry as a designer, manager of product development and currently as an international sourcing representative of textile products from Pakistan.

From 1997 to 2000, Pam and her family lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Jakarta, Indonesia. While living in Asia, she worked as a compliance and quality consultant of textile manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Upon her return to the US, she assumed her current position as an independent representative/consultant for textile manufacturers from Pakistan.

Her husband, Ron is retired from the tobacco industry. Their older son, Josh is a health economist in Basel, Switzerland, while their younger son, Alex is completing an education degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at home, Pam enjoys walking her dog, Pilates/yoga classes and baking. She appreciates international travel and likes to experience traditional customs, traveling to over 25 different countries.
After returning to the US, Pam decided to become a contributing member of her local community which principally involved becoming a member of the Rotary Club of Kernersville since 2005, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors and is the Sergeant at Arms. She has been active in the club’s “Study Buddy” program which tutors elementary school students. Through Pam’s efforts the Kernersville Club has joined forces with the Rotary Club of Faisalabad, Pakistan with the goal of improving female education in Pakistan. The current project is a Foundation Matching grant for a school of female students that are visually impaired. Pam is a Paul Harris Fellow.

During the visit to Taiwan, Pam hopes to visit textile companies to learn how Taiwanese companies manage the increasing trend of globalization and its impact on the outsourcing of textile and apparel manufacturing locally. Additionally Pam is concerned about population growth and sustainable development in her local area and would like to gain an understanding of how the changes have been coordinated in Taiwan to preserve natural resources. She is also interested in the cultivation and processing of Bamboo as a renewable resource.