MILAN – Members of the Specialty Coffee Association have cast their ballots in the elections to fill five seats on the Board of Directors in the 2022-2023 cycle. In accordance with the SCA Bylaws, the five elected coffee professionals will join the board on January 1st, 2022 at which point the terms of six existing members of the advisory body will come to an end and a new president, vice president, and 2nd vice president will be appointed.
The five coffee professionals selected by SCA members to join the Board of Directors in 2022-2023 are:
- Cosimo Libardo, Strategic Advisor at Nomad Coffee Consulting
- Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, Owner of JNP Coffee
- Sarina Prabasi, Co-Founder of Buunni Coffee
- Andrew Tolley, Director of Tolley Coffee & Tea
- Giovanni Fucili, Sales Manager at Simonelli Group
SCA also welcomes the Chairs of the guilds to the 2022 ex-officio seats:
- Bailey Arnold, Coffee Channel Marketing Development Manager for Oatly and Chair of the BG, will fill the BG ex-officio seat on the SCA Board
- Filip Bartelak, Green Coffee Buyer and Roastmaster for Coffee Grange and Chair of the CRG, will fill the CRG ex-officio seat on the SCA Board
- Richard Muhl, Technical Services Manager for Five Senses and Chair for the CTG, will fill the CTG ex-officio seat on the SCA Board
The Barista Guild and the Coffee Roasters Guild hold two seats on the Board of Directors reserved for the Chairs of the two guilds, per the SCA Bylaws. The Coffee Technicians Guild, created after the current bylaws were approved by SCA members, holds an observer position in meetings.
“On behalf of our staff and volunteer leadership, we send a warm congratulations to each of our new board members” said in the statement Yannis Apostolopoulos, CEO of SCA.
“We send special thanks to David Piza, Vice President of Global Sales, Westrock Coffee & Tea for running in this election. We value the time David put into his service as a Board Director as well as the nomination, interview, and election process and we look forward to our continued work with him in his existing capacity as a community leader.
As we welcome five new members to the Board of Directors, we see a few additional changes to its composition. Per the association’s bylaws, the following existing members of the board will take on new roles on January 1st, 2022:
- Juan Luis Barrios, of Finca La Merced will become President
- Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos, CEO, Coffee Island will become Vice President
- Pamela Chng, Founder, Bettr Group will become 2nd Vice President
Last but not least, we send a warm thank you to the six dedicated members of the board whose terms end on December 31, 2021. These coffee professionals have provided invaluable leadership to the association and have dedicated countless volunteer hours to make the work of the SCA a success:
- Colleen Anunu, Co-managing Director/Head of Production Development, Gimme! Coffee
- Doreen Zankowski, Partner, Duane Morris LLP and Co-Owner/Operator of Kope Kabana
- David Piza, Vice President of Global Sales, Westrock Coffee & Tea
- Jessie May Peters, European Sales and Marketing at Raw Material
- Jen Apodaca, Owner of Mother Tongue Coffee
- Hylan Joseph, Sales & Technical Services Director, Espresso Partners/Pacific Espresso
A very special mention goes to our outgoing president, Colleen Anunu, as under their leadership the board and the executive team had meaningful discussions about the future of SCA and have navigated a difficult year with the pandemic. It has been a tremendous honor to work with Colleen over their years on the Board.
We look forward to working with them and their continued involvement with the coffee community,” concluded Apostolopoulos.
