Katharina Schaus has already 30 years of experience as an auditor, certification manager, certification consultant, sustainability manager and knowledge mediator in the textile and apparel industry.

She is co-initiator and on-boarding facilitator of GOTS.

In mid-2023, Katharina Schaus was appointed as a member of the accreditation committee of IOAS (the recommended accreditation organization of GOTS) and she is member of Textile Exchange.

She is an accompanying expert in the field of standards and certification for various industry associations, brands, retailers, manufacturers/producers, universities as well as certification bodies.

She completed advanced trainings: “GOTS Auditor Training Course” at Social Accountability International (SAI); Internal auditor - Assessment of quality management systems (DIN EN ISO 19011), NORDUM Akademie; Corporate Social Responsibility Manager (CSR-Manager), Umweltinstitut Offenbach.

Professional milestones, references, and experience:

Since 2001 it fits- Organic Textile Partner (as founder)
o    Consultancy with sustainable textiles, certification systems, label and standard expertise.
o    Projects on supply chain management, chemical management, sustainable strategies, standard / policy development and implementation, accreditation and certification preparation.
o    Publication, Co-authorship: green knowledge, Certification as a success factor (Zertifizierung als Erfolgsfaktor), The Fiber Year, etc.
o    Host and organizer of numerous Organic Textile Forums, publisher of the Organic Textile Journal.

From 1995-2018 IMO Swiss AG and Ecocert Group (as freelancer)
o    Establishment of the textile department at the certification body IMO Swiss AG:
      Development and implementation of an international inspection and certification system for organic textile production (certification programs: IVN, Coop Natura Line, GOTS).
o    Inspections, evaluations, certifications of spinning mills, weaving mills, dyeing factories, finishers, garment manufacturers, traders against standards such as GOTS, OCS, IVN-Best, IVN Leather, Fair for Life;
      40 audits per year on average in approx. 25 countries, 2 certification bodies / procedures.
o    Organization of the international congress INTERCOT:
      1996 D-Bingen, 2002 D-Düsseldorf, 2005 USA-Chicago - Milestones of the GOTS development.