Presenting the Slate of Candidates in the 2020 Coffee Roasters Guild Election
By CRG CHAIR JEN APODACA
Dear members of the Coffee Roasters Guild around the globe,
Today, it is my pleasure to present the slate of candidates in the 2020 CRG Leadership Council elections. The CRG Election Committee, chaired by Past Chair Sonja Björk Grant, has put forward the following professionals after an extensive interview process:
Baylee Engberg, Head Roaster at Trailhead Coffee Roasters
Elena Lokteva, Colombia Buyer at Ally Coffee
Emi-Beth Aku Quantson, CEO/Founder of Kawa Moka Coffee Company
Jorge Sotomayor, Co-owner at Café Estelar and palReal
Freda Yuan, Head of Coffee at Origin Coffee Roasters
The CRG Leadership Council consists of 12 volunteer members who serve a 2-year term, supported by the SCA staff. There are 5 open seats in the 2020 election, and members elected to serve on the council this cycle will serve a term from February 2021 to January 2023. Scroll down to learn more about each candidate.
Thank you to our 2020 Election Committee for the hours of work interviewing all of the nominees that we received. It was a lot of hard work and we appreciate their dedication to the Guild.
Cameron Heath
Sonja Grant
Régine Léonie Guion-Firmin
David Myers
Lulu Wang
This year five people will be leaving the Leadership Council when their terms end on January 31, 2020. We want to thank them for the time they have dedicated to serving the Guild on the council:
Brent Patton
Sonja Grant
Chris Hallien
Darius Vezelis
Lulu Wang
What happens next in the 2020 CRG Election?
Per the CRG Bylaws, members who were not selected for the slate by the CRG Election Committee may petition to be added to the ballot. Members who seek to be added to the ballot as petition candidates require 25 signatures from fellow CRG members to be considered.
Only CRG members with a current valid SCA membership are eligible to participate in this process. Both Individual Roaster Members and Company Individual Members (individuals whose membership is connected to their company membership) designated as Individual Roaster may participate in this election.
CRG members who would like to collect signatures must do so using this form. The petition period closes on November 16, 2020.
The final ballot will be announced on November 23, at which point voting will open. CRG members will receive a link via email from elections@sca.coffee with the subject line “Vote Now in the 2020 CRG Elections” on November 23. The results of the election will be announced on December 14.
The 2020 CRG Election timeline is as follows:
Nominations Close: September 18, 2020
Slate Announced: November 5, 2020
Petition Period Opens: November 5, 2020
Petition Period Closes: November 16, 2020
Voting Opens: November 23, 2020
Voting Closes: December 7, 2020
Results Announced: December 14, 2020
Am I eligible to vote in the 2020 CRG election?
This CRG election is your opportunity to make your voice heard by voting for the volunteer committee who will be leading the CRG globally. Only CRG members with a current valid SCA membership are eligible to vote. Both Individual Roaster Members and Company Individual Members (individuals whose membership is connected to their company membership) designated as Individual Roaster may participate in this election.
Not sure if you're eligible to vote? Check your membership status in the SCA Member Portal here or get in touch with our Member Services Team by filling out this form.
Thank you,
Jen Apodaca
Chair of the Coffee Roasters Guild
Founder and Roaster at Mother Tongue Coffee
Meet the Slate of Candidates, In Their Own Words
Baylee Engberg
Head Roaster at Trailhead Coffee Roasters
My name is Baylee and I am the Head Roaster at Trailhead Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon. I began my career in specialty coffee as a barista in the Greater Seattle Area thirteen years ago, but five years ago I found my passion-- roasting. Nowadays, I am the Director of Marketing and Engagement for #shestheroaster and am proudly involved with GlitterCat Barista as a Mentor and 2020 Roaster. From micro roasters to macro roasters; I've roasted on machines with a five hundred pound capacity all the way down to machines with a five hundred gram capacity-- it's what I love to do. I am pleased to continue serving this industry and would be honored to further my involvement with Coffee Roasters Guild.
Elena Lokteva
Colombia Buyer at Ally Coffee
Loving coffee and people in coffee for more than 15 years so far . Sick about science in coffee and help share it openly. Started 5 years ago as a green buyer & green relationship manager up till now representing & building producing -partner relationships for Ally Coffee in Colombia.
Before coffee ... Graduated Master in International Business Administration and marketing from University of People’s Friendship ( Moscow) , two years in credit banking, travel agency leadership council and journalist at RT business. Farm to table restaurant producer- partner program initiative manager.
Emi-Beth Aku Quantson
CEO/Founder of Kawa Moka Coffee Company
Emi-Beth graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Cum Laude) in Business Administration from Ashesi University. While at Ashesi she started a campus coffee shop that became a popular hangout for students. After graduation Emi-Beth ran the cafe successfully for two years, while working full time with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and obtaining her Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) qualification.
In six years at PwC, Emi-Beth rose rapidly up the corporate ladder in Ghana and Kenya. In 2013 she volunteered at Re:Co Seattle and thereafter decided to take a leap into coffee as a career. She founded Kawa Moka, a social enterprise coffee company which is innovatively working with Ghanaian coffee growers, largely rural women in Leklebi in the Volta Region, to produce high quality Arabusta green coffee beans. Kawa Moka also adds value to Ghana Arabusta coffee by roasting, packaging and brewing for wholesale, retail and export. Her work gives smallholder farmers in Ghana access to a global market and improves their livelihoods.
Emi-Beth has been recognized as a young leader. She is a LEAD Scholar of the Specialty Coffee Association, and past Curator for the Ho Hub of the Global Shapers Community, a youth initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Jorge Sotomayor
Co-owner at Café Estelar and palReal
I began roasting coffee for the Victoria Cooperative in 2007. In 2011 I started the first project in the process of founding a collective with Fabrizio Sención named Café Sublime that later evolved to the roastery Café Estelar in 2012. Two years later I co-founded palReal, a successful restaurant and coffee shop in Guadalajara.
Since 2013 I have been the official roster of the international coffee auction called Cup of Excellence in Mexico and in 2019 I won the Mexican Roasting Competition. That same year, I was also invited to Taiwan to compete against various roasting champions from Asia in TICSA and was positioned as runner-up.
Freda Yuan
Head of Coffee at Origin Coffee Roasters
Freda Yuan is a professional coffee taster and buyer. She is currently devoting her career as the Head of Coffee in Origin Coffee Roasters in the UK. Her talent and accolades are evident in her winning the SCA UK Cup Tasters in 2017, 2018 & 2020, as well as gaining 3rd place in the World Cup Tasters 2017. Alongside this, she is a licensed Q-grader and COE international judge. Beyond coffee certification, Freda also holds an MBA.
Throughout her coffee career, she has worked in all sectors of the coffee supply chain, including being a barista, coffee event management, roasting, quality control, green sourcing, and coffee farming. During this journey, she found her true passion in the sensory elements of coffee, which started after her struggle, and recovery from bulimia.
