NEW YORK — Coffee Kids, founded in 1988, is relaunching programming in 2016 to support the creativity, energy, and entrepreneurship of the next generation of coffee farmers. In 2015 Coffee Kids temporarily suspended programming to reflect on its role in the specialty coffee industry.
Dedicated to its original mission of community-based development, the organization will continue to contribute to the sustainability of the coffee sector by joining a more financially stable organization that is philosophically aligned with Coffee Kids — Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America.
“We are very excited and honored to take up Coffee Kids as a program within our foundation,” said Jens Sorgenfrei, the managing director of Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung. He and his colleagues are looking forward to engaging young farmers in collaborative development.
“Building on its strong legacy of community-based development and the wide support in the industry, Coffee Kids will renew its activities with a focus on youth entrepreneurship,” he explained.
“By facilitating training and mentoring to young coffee farmers and their families, Coffee Kids will foster the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that will empower their communities.”
Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America operates under a deep belief in sustainable development. The Foundation works to improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers in 14 countries, with an increasing focus on youth development, gender equity, and food security.
“Coffee Kids was the first international development organization to focus on coffee communities,” said Dean Cycon, one of the co-founders of Coffee Kids. “Our innovative people-centered approach set a gold standard in coffee community-based work that has inspired many others. As the designer of the original development program, I am so excited to see it continue!”
Coffee Kids will continue to rely on the generous support of its donor community for program funding, and this funding can now go even further in reaching farming communities.
The synergy between Coffee Kids and Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America will ensure the impact of Coffee Kids programs far into the future. Together, as a global coffee community, we will continue to protect the future of coffee.
About Coffee Kids
Coffee Kids is an independently run program of Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America. Coffee Kids collaborates with the next generation of coffee farmers to realize their full potential as part of the global coffee community.
By providing training, mentoring, and financial support to young coffee farmers, Coffee Kids partners with communities to foster the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit needed to protect the future of coffee farming.
About Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America
Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in New York, NY, with an aim to collaborate with smallholder coffee- and cocoa-farming families to improve their livelihoods.
It is an affiliate of Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung, a nonprofit foundation based in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 2005 by Michael R. Neumann and the Neumann family, a family with three generations as entrepreneurs and business people in the coffee sector. For further information, please visit www.hrnstiftung.org.
