The 2019-2020 Specialty Coffee Association Board of Directors have been announced. After a month-long voting cycle, the newest six members were announced by the SCA last Friday, December 7th; their terms begin January 1st, 2019.
Over the past year or so, the SCA has drawn criticism over the Board of Directors’ lack of diverse representation, but with this most recent election, the voters put a mandate on diversity. Starting in 2019, the Board will be majority female and will better reflect not just the countries in which coffee is consumed, but also where it originates. Including not one but two successful petition candidates, the newly elected members represent a wide swath of coffee cultures including: Turkey, Singapore, Mexico, South Korea, and Kenya (two members).
The new members are:
Asli Yaman of KiMMA Coffee Roasters
Pamela Chng of Bettr Barista
Vava Angwenyi of Vava Coffee
Vera Espindola Rafael of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food in Mexico (SAGARPA)
Mbula Musau of Utake Coffee Limited
Choi Seongil of Choi Coffee Company
According the announcement, they will be replacing the follow members currently sitting on the Board:
Paul Stack of Marco Beverage Systems, who most recently served as President
Mary Tellie of Electric City Coffee Roasting, who most recently served as Treasurer
Andrew Linnemann of Starbucks
Chad Trewick of Reciprocafé
Frank Neuhausen of BWT water+more
Chahan Yeretzian of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
Todd Mackey of Olam Specialty Coffee. Sarah Leslie of Leslie Coffee Co. will take the Barista Guild ex-officio seat.
Konrad Oleksak of Kofi Brand will step down on February 1, 2019. Emilio Lopez Diaz of Cuatro M Single Origin Coffees will take the Coffee Roasters Guild ex-officio seat.
Along with the addition of the new members, already existing Board members will be taking on news roles. Klatch’s Heather Perry will take over as president, Julius Meinl’s Christina Meinl will become vice president, S&D Coffee’s Tracy Ging becomes the 2nd vice president, and Wave Investments’ Nils Erichsen moves to treasurer.
For more information on the 2019-2020 Board of Directors, visit the SCA’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via the SCA
