Leader of Coffee Value Chain, Catholic Relief Services

Raul currently serves as the leader of Coffee Value Chain in different CRS programs, establishing systems for production, processing, and commercialization of coffees produced with a Blue Harvest approach using soil conservation techniques and maintenance of water reserve areas. His education includes a degree in Industrial Engineering, a Masters in Financial Administration, Processing Professional Certificate, and SCA Basic Sensory Skills Certificate.

Specialist Technician, PROCAGICA

Norma is an agronomist, has worked in coffee growing since her research work at the University of El Salvador UES, evaluating the dynamics of coffee growing in the face of factors such as climate and coffee prices in the conservation area Barra de Santiago-Bosque El Imposible in the western region of El Salvador supported by IUCN. I have worked for 8 years with the Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Foundation in the Trifinio region, which is located between the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, providing productive and business advice to small coffee farmers' organizations, promoting the participation of women and Young people, currently working as a specialist technician in the Central American Program for Integral Management of Coffee Rust (PROCAGICA).

Leader of El Salvador Chapter (AMCES), International Women in Coffee Alliance

I am Maria Botto, born to a family dedicated to agriculture where coffee was the main business. I learned to love and enjoy nature and the countryside at an early age. In 2002, I made the decision to preserve our family legacy, our beautiful mountain with pines and oaks, and our passion as a coffee family. My passion for coffee increased as I became an active member of the International Women in Coffee Alliance (IWCA), ultimately as Leader of the El Salvador Chapter.

External Consultant, Belco

Marjorie is from El Salvador and loves teaching and learning about coffee! She is a coffee specialist with global experience on the production and processing side. She currently works as an external consultant for a French importing company and is in charge of the quality control of coffees at origin. In this capacity, she visits coffee farms all over Africa and Latin America.

Environmental Management Unit, Salvadoran Coffee Council

Sara Cortez is currently working with the Environmental Management Unit at the Salvadoran Coffee Council (Consejo Salvadoreño del Café).

Quality Control and Relations Manager, J. Hill y Cia

My name is Gabriela Flores and I work for J.Hill y Cia, a coffee importer. I hold a degree in Marketing and International Business, and am a licensed Q Grader. I have participated on a national and international jury for the Cup of Excellence. I have also participated as a national judge for competitions of baristas and brewers. I work in quality control, and manage relationships with local producers and international buyers.

CoFounder, Vega Coffee

Noushin Ketabi is a Co-Founder of Vega Coffee, the first online marketplace for farmer roasted coffee. She leads Vega’s operations, product development, and branding. Noushin is a certified coffee roaster and licensed Q Grader—a professionally trained cupper accredited by the Coffee Quality Institute to grade Arabica coffee. Prior to Vega, Noushin served as a Senior Regulatory Analyst for the California Public Utilities Commission, and completed a Fulbright in Nicaragua on its renewable energy policy framework in 2011.

Finca San Antonio Amatepec

Karla is a young specialty coffee producer at Finca San Antonio Amatepec in El Salvador. She uses research to merge her passions for coffee, feminism, and transparency in the coffee industry. She is a Board Member of the Denomination of Origin (DO) Bálsamo Quezaltepec and a member of the El Salvador chapter for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA). Through the DO she helps protect her mountain range’s coffee, as well as promotes its unique attributes. Karla has experience writing for publications like: Perfect Daily Grind, and also as an editor. Storytelling is a topic she enjoys and that has helped her farm differentiate and develop relationships with clients.

Cupping Lab Lead, Unitrade Coffee

For the past 12 years, Betty has worked for Unitrade Coffee in charge of their cupping lab. She is a certified Q grader and has participated in national and international cupping panels for the Cup of Excellence program on several occasions. She is also in charge of the roaster where coffees from a variety of Guatemalan producers are roasted and then served at &Café’s coffee shops in the region. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Food Engineering.

Executive Secretary of the Regional Cooperative, PROMECAFE

Rene Leon-Gomez Rodas is currently the Executive Secretary of the Regional Cooperative Program for Technological Development and Modernization of Coffee Growing (PROMECAFE), which promotes the coordination and technical exchange between 10 coffee-producing countries in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. The program has the support of recognized institutions, such as: IICA, CATIE and WCR who participate as technical partners of PROMECAFE.

CoFounder, Chica Bean

Josue Martinez is the cofounder of Chica Bean, with his wife Alene Seiler. He is also the son of the first producer and member of Chica Bean who, after a difficult financial situation and recently overcoming cancer, considered leaving coffee production. That conversation happened during the 2013-2014 harvest, when the cofounders decided to come up with a solution. Through Chica Bean, they are focused on improving the quality of coffee over years of harvest and pushing for both local and international sales of roasted coffee.

Coffee Professional and Journalist, Café Imports

Ever Meister is a coffee professional and a journalist whose focus is on education and ethical marketing. She has been in the coffee industry for nearly 20 years and currently works for the coffee importing company Cafe Imports. She has written about coffee for many magazines and newspapers in the United States and is the author of a book about the history of coffee in New York City.

Vice President, Bliss Products International Corp.

Karla currently serves as the Vice President of Bliss Products International Corporation; being the number 1 company in the purchase of Specialty Coffee in El Salvador; and occupying important positions in other producing countries including Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. She has professional experience and expertise of more than 20 years in this agro-industry, including marketing, sales, negotiation, hedging, futures and options, technical and fundamental market analysis, logistics, cupping, and more.

Specialty Coffee Exporter, San Victor Coffee

Alejandro works for San Victor Coffee a specialty coffee exporter in Fraijanes, Guatemala. He previously held roles at ANACAFE in Sustainability and Market Access and Interamerican Coffee as a trader. He received his degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University in the United States.

Capricornio Coffees

Luiz Roberto Saldanha is the owner of Fazenda Califórnia, co-founder and partner at Capricornio Coffees and Latitudes Grand Cru Coffees. A respected coffee professional in Brazil, he is an agronomical engineer, has an MBA in Production Management, specialized in Coffee Culture. As a cupper, he is a Q-Grader, member of the Training Program for Assistant Instructors at the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and was a member of the Brazilian National Jury of the Cup of Excellence Competition (COE) and was part of the COE International Jury. With deep knowledge and experience in post-harvest processes, he is certified Q-Processing Level 1 – Generalist, Q-Processing Level 2 – Professional and Q-Processing Level 3 - Expert also by CQI and is currently a Q Processing Instructor of the entity.

Founder, Gento Coffee

Ashley is a 3rd generation coffee producer from Guatemala with a degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Coffee Science and Economics. She is a licensed Q Grader and Q Processor leading Anacafe's sustainability committee supporting different projects and sustainability initiatives. Founder of Gento Coffee, a social enterprise focused on promoting value added activities at origin to increase farmer profitability, her work encourages sustainable business models and advance transparency in the coffee value chain.

CoFounder, Chica Bean

During her Peace Corps service in Guatemala, Alene met Josue Martinez, a local agronomist whose family owns a coffee farm in the eastern region of the country. Together they have worked to build a life in Guatemala, bringing two children into the world (Gilbert and Marian), working full time jobs and now developing a coffee business, Chica Bean, that empowers women involved in producing specialty coffee. Alene saw an opportunity with Chica Bean to tailor a business effort to women.

Meredith has long been an advocate for transparency and sustainability in specialty coffee. As the Sustainability Manager for Counter Culture Coffee where she specifically focused on coffee sourcing. With a background in environmental policy and law, Meredith coordinates coffee sustainability efforts and facilitates learning and knowledge transfers around the world.

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Impact Associate, Root Capital

Aelish previously worked with Grounds for Empowerment as the Program Associate, focusing on workshop development and on storytelling. She currently works as an Impact Associate for Root Capital, a credit institution that works with coffee businesses as well as other agricultural products. Specifically, she work with the Social and Environmental Due Diligence and the Women in Agriculture teams.

Director of Specialty Coffee Projects, Algrano

Luiza Furquim is Brazilian and the Director of Specialty Coffee Projects at Algrano, a Swiss-based technology start-up that facilitates trade and direct relationships between coffee producers and roasters. A former journalist and coffee roaster in the UK, Luiza has always been driven to find the most persuasive ways to tell the stories of coffee growers to customers. She is very excited to share some of her experiences in the storytelling session and help the students find more originality and uniqueness in their stories.

Azahar Coffee

Iliana Delgado Chegwin is originally from Barranquilla but belongs to a coffee-growing family in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. She has a Bachelor’s in International Business with a specialization in coffee and has worked in every stage of the coffee supply chain, from seed to cup, with her family’s company. In 2016, Iliana began working for the Colombian Coffee Grower’s Federation’s (FNC) specialty coffee department and since 2018, she has been working as a Relationship Manager for Azahar Coffee Company. Iliana believes that—among all the challenges affecting the specialty coffee industry—pricing is the most crucial issue and a problem that must be solved. She continues to work alongside her father, growing, milling and exporting organic coffee.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Katy has been in the coffee industry for over a decade and has worked in various areas in the supply chain, including projects in Peru and Colombia. In her current role at Stumptown, Katy works with the green coffee team to source coffees from around the world with a focus on long term, direct trade relationships and transparent supply chains. Prior to her role at Stumptown, she worked for the importer Sustainable Harvest in green coffee sales and quality control. Katy is a licensed Q-grader and has participated as an international judge in several coffee competitions.

International Women’s Coffee Alliance

With more than 14 years within the coffee sector in marketing and trade, Blanca started as Marketing Coordinator for the National Coffee Association of Guatemala – Anacafe-. As a volunteer, she supported IWCA Global projects in Central America and as a Coffee Consultant to the International Trade Center in East Africa supporting “She Trades” projects and creating awareness of the coffee sector around the world. Blanca is fluent in English, French, German and Spanish. Currently she is working as Chapter Relations Manager for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance supporting and coordinating groups in 27 Chapters in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and USA.

Cedro Alto Coffee

Karl is a consultant, researcher and organizer of postcolonial rural development and agricultural value chains. He is dedicated to trying to understand and undo extractive economic power structures that have oppressed people and degraded ecosystems since colonial times. He is keen on regenerative agriculture, the solidarity economy, tropical cash crops, and circular economies. He was once a management consultant and mercenary for global capitalism, focused on international trade and competitive strategy. In 2013, he decided to repurpose this weapon to empower marginalized smallholder coffee farmers in Colombia to participate actively in the international trade, founding the farmers' collective Cedro Alto.

Counter Culture Coffee

Alex Stoffregen is the newest member of the buying team at Counter Culture Coffee, where he helps to grow partnerships with producers in El Salvador, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Guatemala. Over the last decade Alex has worked with coffee shops and roasteries around the midwest, striving to push potential for coffee quality and pursue more farmer focused purchasing models. As a person who loves to travel, meet people and taste new things, coffee buying is a perfect fit. When Alex isn’t in the cupping lab you can find him pursuing deliciousness in the kitchen, in a glass, or in the woods.

Bean Voyage

Sunghee is the co-founder and CEO of Bean Voyage, and a freelance writer. Through her day-job at Bean Voyage, a feminist non-profit, she collaborates with smallholder women coffee producers and youth and is often found traveling between LATAM and Asia. When she is not traveling, she enjoys writing about coffee and the incredible people behind it. Her interest in the specialty coffee industry has initially stemmed from her passion to understand the intersectionality of income and gender inequality and her zeal to learn how coffee can play a role has kept her in the industry since then.