MILAN – The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) announced yesterday that Garfield Kerr and Cosimo Libardo, two members of the 2023-2024 Board of Directors, have been selected by the current SCA Board of Directors to take on roles as SCA Board Officers in the coming year. Each year, the Board of Directors elects a Second Vice President, who serves an additional term of three years to ensure presidential succession.
Garfield Kerr, Founder and CEO of Mokha 1450, has been selected by the board to serve in the role of 2nd Vice President. An active member of the SCA Board since 2020, Garfield brings over 13 years of experience in the specialty coffee industry and previous experience on Wall Street as a corporate attorney. In January, Garfield will succeed current 2nd Vice President Pamela Chng who will be moving into the Vice President role.
“The SCA continues to do fundamentally important work as the preeminent organization in the coffee sector and as such I am quite humbled to be considered by my fellow board members for the leadership position of Second Vice President to aid in that effort.” says Garfield. “I endeavor to wholeheartedly apply my best efforts to help further the SCA’s purpose of fostering global coffee communities through supporting vital work that make coffee a more sustainable, equitable, inclusive, as well as thriving activity for the whole value chain.”
As per the association’s bylaws, Cosimo Libardo Co-Founder of Nomad Coffee Consulting has been selected to serve in the role of Treasurer starting January 1, 2023. Cosimo has been an active member of the SCA Board since 2020 and was also involved on the board of the heritage Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE). Cosimo brings years of experience in specialty coffee, strategy, international business, sales and marketing, manufacturing, distribution and governance. In January, Cosimo will succeed current Treasurer Burak Alici who continues to serve on the SCA Board until the end of his term in December 2022.
Cosimo states, “I am honored for the confidence and support received from fellow Board Directors. I feel fortunate to be appointed to this position after a clear path has been paved by the great leadership of my predecessors, who have had to face some of the most uncertain times in recent history. I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to them and the organization’s leaders for taking SCA to a much better place. I will strive to continue their efforts.”
SCA Board President Juan Luis Barrios says, “As President of the Board, I am very happy to have Garfield and Cosimo now be part of the leadership of the Board. They each bring unique experience and perspectives that helps the Association continue to grow and reach our goals. I have no doubt that they have all the tools necessary to help guide the future of the SCA, no matter what challenges we may face.”
In 2023, per the bylaws of the SCA, current 2nd Vice President Pamela Chng moves into the role of Vice President, and current Vice President Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos moves into the role of President of the Board.
Learn more about Garfield and Cosimo by reading their biographies at the bottom of this post. With the election of Garfield as 2nd Vice President and Cosimo as Treasurer, the SCA Board of Directors Officers group in 2023 will be as follows:
- Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos of Coffee Island, President
- Pamela Chng of Bettr Group, Vice President
- Garfield Kerr of Mokha 1450, Second Vice President
- Cosimo Libardo of Nomad Coffee Consulting, Treasurer
The election cycle for the 2023-2024 Board of Directors is currently underway. Nominations for the 2023-2024 SCA Board of Directors closed June 24, 2022, interviews with nominees took place in July and August, and the proposed slate will be announced on August 31. The election will open to all eligible SCA members on November 1 and run until November 31. For more information about the SCA Board of Directors and the elections, please visit sca.coffee/board.
Garfield Kerr, CEO, Mokha 1450
Garfield currently serves at the helm of Mokha 1450 in Dubai, a specialty coffee boutique firm with a strong Corporate Social Responsibility ethos that sources coffee primarily from women owned cooperatives. Garfield has worked in the specialty coffee industry for over 13 years, and previously worked on Wall Street as a corporate attorney before transitioning into the Private Equity field.
Cosimo Libardo, Co-Founder, Nomad Coffee Consulting
Cosimo is an experienced c-level executive with over 24 years’ career in the global coffee industry across Europe, America, Asia and Oceania: from medium to multi-national businesses.
He co-founded Nomad Coffee Consulting, and has extensive experience in strategy, international business, sales & marketing, manufacturing, distribution, governance. Cosimo has also been a licensed Q Arabica Grader and Q Processing generalist in addition to several other coffee certifications.
Since 2011, he has been involved in coffee related – nonprofit associations where he volunteered covering various leadership roles: SCAE Membership Chair and then SCAE President in 2014, leading to completion the chapter system reform, and launching the Barista Guild of Europe. Cosimo has also been a part of SCA’s events and the finance committee.
