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If you’ve taken a class through The Workshop or popped by our Pro Shop in Chelsea anytime recently, chances are you’ve seen Sean Ben-Zvi slinging latte swans or coaching a group of students on how to cast the perfect pour. Since she started back in April, Sean has guided countless home brewers, budding baristas, and wholesale clients through the ins and outs of the art and science of coffee as our training manager for wholesale and public education. Sean has big things brewing for our public education program, and sat down with us ahead of launching a slate of new classes through The Workshop to chat what’s to come. Sean Ben-Zvi, perfecting her signature latte art swan. Hi Sean! We're so happy to have you here. You joined the Joe team a few months back—can you tell us about how long you've been here and what drew you to work at Joe? I've been at Joe since the beginning of April and I've had an absolute blast so far! Joe Coffee is such a deep-rooted structure in New York City and I wanted to be a part of its legacy. Since joining I'm elated to have learned more on how much importance this company puts on producer relationships and supporting farmers. Here at Joe, you're the training manager for wholesale and public education. What do you enjoy most about your role, and working at Joe specifically? What I enjoy most about being in education is the impact it can have on the individual as well as the culture as a whole. I feel because of the quality and popularity of Joe cafes, the company catches consumers' attention to indulge in more coffee knowledge; essentially working at Joe allows me to have a much wider reach of impact within the coffee drinking community. The Workshop is Joe's public education program—where we dive into everything from home brewing to roasting, coffee cupping and of course, latte art! What do you think makes The Workshop unique, or different from other public education offerings out there? I feel The Workshop fills a nice little hole between absolute beginner Googling coffee facts, and the SCA [Specialty Coffee Association] courses offered in the city. The Workshop is approachable, affordable, and very fun. It is the testing site of exploring whether you want to dive deeper into the science of coffee, or you simply want some tools to make better coffee at home—all while giving you a strong foundation to keep building upon (whether that is with more advanced courses or daily home practice). Those who haven't had the chance to meet you yet might not know that you're also a latte art competitor. How does your background—latte art champ and beyond—influence your work at Joe? I have a background in performing arts which is instrumental in my success in education. I have also worked in many different cafe environments, giving me a deeper perspective of cafe operations which helps me answer ultra-specific questions. I've competed and won in latte art competitions, including a big national competition, so it's always fun to pull out a swan at the end of class. And of course, I wouldn't be anywhere without my "fake it 'til you make it" mantra :) Your role also involves training our wholesale clients! What do you find interesting or exciting about this aspect? I absolutely adore working with wholesale clients. As I mentioned before, my biggest goal with education is impact. Supporting our wholesale clients is a crucial way to be able to impact the level of coffee served in the city, as well as to be able to give people skills that they can develop and make a career out of. As a young barista I always had to fight for every scrap of information since education is not usually prioritized in cafe environments. I'm grateful I get to give young baristas what I always wanted when I was in their shoes. You have a lot planned for the future of The Workshop! Without giving too much away, what are you excited most for around what's to come? Picking what I'm most excited for feels like picking a favorite child—impossible! What I can say is we're working toward offering more focused and specific classes in addition to our current core classes. A way to continue developing with us for as long as someone would like, knowing that the coffee industry is forever growing and there's always more to learn! We're adding new class offerings to The Workshop! Check for more Fall dates soon.

It's been 18.5 years since our founders, brother-and-sister-duo Jonathan Rubinstein and Gabby Rubinstein, first opened the doors on our inaugural Joe Coffee at Waverly Place. Jonathan and Gabby in the "early days" of Joe Coffee. Nearly two decades, two dozen or so cafes, and a whole lot of milestones later, the pair sat down with our Director of Coffee & Roasting, Amaris Gutierrez-Ray, to reflect back on just how far we've come, and to take a look at the year (and next two decades!) ahead.⁠ Interview with the Founders: Jonathan Rubinstein and Gabby Rubinstein from Joe Coffee Company on Vimeo.

While our annual holiday coffee, Rockefeller, is always rooted in what this season means to us, this year in particular we wanted to focus—both in cup as well as spirit—on compassion, intention, and giving. To make this coffee a standout, we teamed up with Go Fund Bean to double down on supporting our greater network of essential hourly coffee workers. Go Fund Bean is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting, uplifting, and defending baristas nationwide. Established in the early days of the COVID-19 to support folks put out of work by the pandemic, the organization has grown to so much more over the last year—mentorship, free mental health care, disaster relief grants, and more.  For each bag of Rockefeller sold, we'll donate $1 to Go Fund Bean. Ahead of the holidays, we sat down with the team at Go Fund Bean to learn more about the critical work they do for the industry, how they remain motivated to keep pushing forward, and what they see for the future of the organization and baristas everywhere. Pictured above: Adam JacksonBey, Founder of Go Fund Bean. Q: Who and what is Go Fund Bean and what does it do? A: Go Fund Bean is an organization that supports, uplifts, and defends the hourly coffee worker. We do that through a variety of ways including through direct aid, like our Grants program and Disaster Relief program; through supporting hourly coffee worker's mental health with our Stay Grounded Initiative, our talk therapy program, and Get Psyched, a collaboration with Umeshiso to help provide and through professional development; and with our Bean Development classes and Bean for Bean, our mentorship program.   Q: What prompted the formation of Go Fund Bean? How has the organization evolved since its formation? A: We started on March 17th, 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic, when out of work baristas were sharing [virtual] tip jars to help them make ends meet in the face of massive layoffs. We were promoting their tip jars, trying to get attention to them beyond their communities. About a month into that, we were contacted by a couple of companies that wanted to donate to Go Fund Bean and have us disburse the money to the baristas ourselves. We incorporated as a nonprofit so that we could be best positioned to do this. How we've evolved over the past year and a half has a simple answer: we've grown. We've stayed true to our guiding principles—supporting, uplifting, and defending hourly coffee workers. We've taken a hard look at what that really means and used that answer to grow what we can do as an organization, starting with giving out grants to hourly coffee workers impacted by COVID and adding more programs as we went along. We have a very holistic view of what it means to support, uplift, and defend.   Q: What would you say have been the biggest challenges across the lifetime of the organization? It strikes us that you've had to put active collaboration into practice, which is a little bit of a difficult thing to do sometimes. How have you collectively navigated through ups and downs? A: The biggest challenge we've had is that we've grown extremely quickly and it has been hard to try to scale that growth while maintaining the same level of care, but manageable. We're lucky to have a responsive, attentive, and active Board of Directors that is able to guide the future of the organization. They continue to provide support to help us set up structures, which allows us to grow quickly and efficiently. Active collaboration is a hard thing to do sometimes, but one thing that is special about this generation of coffee professionals and organizations is that we want to work together. Competition isn’t part of it. We've been lucky to support and be supported by other organizations within the industry: CCRE, Getchusomegear, and Glitter Cat, to name a few, that have helped us grow and allowed us to bounce ideas off each other and work together in both formal and informal ways.   Q: What are some of the challenges and successes you see within the coffee industry today as a whole? (This may also get at the underlying question...how are you defining "the coffee industry" for your organization's purposes?) A: The biggest challenge we see in the industry is the same it’s always been: a lack of support for workers at both ends of the supply chain. Both the producers and the hourly coffee workers are integral to coffee worldwide, and our industry could not exist without them, yet they’re the lowest paid members of our value chain. We feel as though they should be supported in every way possible, and the best way to do that is through collaboration and collective action on both ends of the supply chain.   Q: Is there anything related to Go Fund Bean that speaks most to your heart, that you're most passionate about, or see yourselves as being most uniquely capable to accomplish? A: We love our mission because it’s simple but powerful: support, uplift, defend. One thing that we are going to spend the next year or so working on doing better is defending the hourly coffee worker. Hourly coffee professionals face many challenges, and figuring out how to be reactive and supportive, through work such as our grant program, has been easy. Now we are focused on being more proactive to give hourly coffee workers structure and a framework to be better in this industry. We’re doing this through our Bean Development classes, Bean for Bean mentoring, and the mental healthcare Stay Grounded Initiative. We also have an upcoming Advisory Committee that will be made up of current hourly coffee workers.   Q: What's the future for the organization? A: Ideally, our goal is to no longer be needed! The programs that we have been doing, are doing, and will be doing in the future should already be in place for hourly coffee workers, whether that's through the government or their employers. Until that day comes however, Go Fund Bean will be focused on collaboration and growth. We want to collaborate with more organizations and companies in order to help more hourly coffee workers reach their full potential within this industry and as individuals.   If you are or someone you know is an hourly coffee worker in need of emergency financial assistance, training, or mentorship, or if you would like to make a contribution to support the work of Go Fund Bean, please visit their website here.

Community Voices Heard (CVH) was founded in 1994 and is the largest Black-led, member-driven, grassroots, principally women of color and low-income families organization in New York State. Back around this time last year, we first began working with CVH with the release of our Rockefeller holiday coffee, where $1 of each bag sold went to support their work building power to secure racial, social, and economic justice for all New Yorkers. This year, we're thrilled to share we'll be partnering up again on an upcoming coffee—more on that soon!—but in the meantime, we wanted to take this Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to sit down with CVH executive director Juanita O. Lewis for a look at the group's history, current projects like Follow Black Women, and their vision for an equitable future. Looking for more ways to support Community Voices Heard? Please consider making a donation here. Q: Can you walk us through the formation of Community Voices Heard? Where did it begin and how has it evolved since its formation? A: Community Voices Heard (CVH) was founded in 1994 in response to the Clinton-era changes to welfare. Many of these families were forced to participate in the Welfare to Work program in order to receive public assistance. There were very few grouops organizing those on public assistance to make policy changes to address systemic issues. From the early leaders who were fed up with the exploitative work requirements imposed on welfare recipients by federal and local government to those who have, and currently drive, a broader agenda to secure a just social safety net, family-sustaining jobs, and access to them as well as truly affordable housing, and thriving communities—throughout the organization’s evolution, encouraging participatory democracy of the most marginalized has remained critical to CVH’S mission. CVH has not only expanded its issue focus but its reach with chapters in New York City, Westchester County, Orange County, and Dutchess County.   Q: Where does CVH Power come in? So often we speak about the challenges but you all are an action-based group, can you share your successes with us? A: In 2012, members and allies of CVH decided that a seat at the table was not sufficient if its occupant did not wield enough power to enact the radical policy change necessary to center communities of color state-wide. Thus, CVH Power! was established as a political entity that would intentionally change the structure of New York’s political landscape. At CVH Power, we seek out, politically educate, train, and endorse candidates of color; we also support persons that ideologically align, support, and further our mission to advance low-income communities of color across New York State. In 2021, we ran our largest political program, where we endorsed 20 people total in NYC and Yonkers. We reached over 100,000 voters between face to face conversations, phone banking, and texting. 17 of the 20 candidates won their races. We are excited to build a co-governing agenda focused on racial, social, and economic justice with this cohort of officials.   Q: We're living in a time that's both quite complex and unique... but also reminiscent of a historical holding pattern when it comes to social justice. What are your thoughts on where we are right now and how we can break out of the pitfalls of the past? A: The impacts of Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Black Lives Matter uprisings have renewed an interest in organizing and lifting up the voices and experiences of those who are impacted by these issues. There is also more interest in scrutinizing structures to explore what reforms are needed to yield more equitable outcomes. It is more evident than ever that we need to continue building grassroots leadership that creates and leads a progressive agenda.   Q: Is there anything related to Community Voices Heard that you're most passionate about, see yourself as being the most uniquely capable to accomplish, or that you're most looking forward to working on in the near future? What initially drew you into the work at CVH? A: I came to CVH almost 13 years ago because of the member-led vision and mission. Members take on roles identifying campaigns, building strategy, and taking action. It is wonderful to see the transformation of members as they take on these roles. I am looking forward to holding our statewide member campaign sessions in person, continuing to build our Follow Black Women project, and leading trainings through our Ella Baker School for Organizing.   Q: Lastly, since we are a coffee company, and we are attempting to connect our immediate communities with our larger, global coffee community -- do you have anything to share about the power of women everywhere? A: In 1977, Barbara Smith and the Black feminist visionaries of the Combahee River Collective observed, “Until Black women are free, none of us are free.” The Black women of the Combahee River Collective remind us: it is racial justice that will bring us all democracy. American democracy, as it turns out, is on the side of freedom and racial justice only because Black people—and Black women, in particular—have organized to make it so, locally and nationally.

Jim Ngokwey is a Managing Partner at Mighty Peace Coffee, an importing company working exclusively with coffees and communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We met Jim, who is Congolese himself, in early 2019; but of course, COVID was soon on our doorstep. Nevertheless, knowing Jim has taught us a lot about the impact of, and, more importantly, the potential for, the coffee industry in the Congo. Through collaboration with Mighty Peace, we have developed a deeper understanding of coffee’s history as a Black history, in order to find our agency and place within it. Jim speaks very passionately about the core mission of Mighty Peace—to “support communities transitioning from war to peace in parts of DRC that have been victimized by the conflict.” He sees the potential for using the coffee industry intentionally to face the challenges that Congo inherited, and has chosen to take action through his work. We sat down with Jim ahead of the launch of our new Atlas Collection release, Congo Mapendo, to talk all things coffee, gender equity, and the impact of COVID-19 on coffee producing communities in Congo. Q: We were so pleased to taste a women-grown coffee when you first offered us the chance to try it. Could you share about the decisions and goals to separate out this coffee grown by female producers in Congo? Was it a choice the growers made themselves? There is so much to learn about gender equity expressed in different places, and it seems to us that there is already a lot of value placed on women in Congo, so we're trying to better understand that and learn from their strong example.A: Before diving into the answers, I'd like to share that gender equity is important to Mighty Peace Coffee; we're very proud to be led by women executives, Liza and Linda. We are working on initiatives to up-skill women in Congo to have more women understand the quality and business side of the industry and attain higher paid positions. We're intentional about this as a lot of research out there shows that women spend most of their income on their families, a lot more than men, and that when you work on social impact, economic empowerment and poverty eradication, we believe women must have multiple seats at the table.The decision to separate out Mapendo (men and women) and one exclusive from women producers, Mapendo Women, was spurred by an NGO operating in the DRC called Elan RDC. Elan RDC was financed by UKAID and its mission was to increase the income of at least 100,000 people across various industries in the DRC. Gender equality and social inclusion is one of its key pillars and that’s how the idea to separate into a women-only lot came about. The goal was to proactively identify women producers in the cooperative and seek their coffees specifically, help them improve quality, and increase their income. Additionally, Linda has an extensive network in DRC and she always had great relationships with these producers, had tried their coffee in the past and early in 2020, and we started discussing how Mighty Peace Coffee could work with them. It started with free workshops that Linda would conduct with the cooperative, and as they started implementing her feedback, we started discussing working together on lots that we would purchase in 2021. The impact and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive and Mapendo Women will be on our offering list every year moving forward. Q: When it comes to gender equity in Congo, or this group of women specifically—what's their vision for their future?A: They are working on various projects, many of which are around creating additional streams of revenue. Livestock and goat breeding in particular is a key project the women have worked on. Through this initiative they were able to raise and sell more than 1,000 goats, which is an important additional source of revenue for them and their families. A key priority for next year will be to evolve the goat project, to include chickens and pigs as well for further diversification and additional income streams. Other short- and long-term projects include the construction of a clinic for women, to provide quality healthcare services in closer proximity to where producers live, to reduce and sometimes eliminate travel time to access healthcare. Another major initiative for the rest of the year and 2022 is to increase investments in AVEC (Association Villageoise d’épargne et de Crédit), which translates to Village Association for Savings & Loans. It operates like a credit union and provides loans to the community. Q: The name Mapendo—love—is so powerful. Reading about the history of the women, some of them widows, was really meaningful to us. Was the name given to the coffee product first, or the community group first?A: The name Mapendo came from conversations with our team on the ground and the producers; we wanted a name to identify the lots that are being produced for Mighty Peace Coffee and would represent the meaning and message they want to put out to the world through their partnership with us. That has been our approach with all offerings; brainstorm the message and meaning they want their coffee to have in the world, and name their offerings that way. This collaborative approach to naming the coffee, instead of naming it after the washing station or territory, fosters further ownership and engagement in this partnership, and allows the community to play a role in the story and meaning their coffee conveys to the world. Q: We often talk about our shared challenges in this pandemic age. Could you share about the successes of the community of coffee growers that the Mapendo women are a part of? What do they feel proud of that they have accomplished over the past couple of growing seasons with the pandemic limitations?A: Progress on the construction of the clinic and additional funds for the AVEC credit union were some of the brightest spots. But overall, the pandemic has been extremely challenging. Many producers abandoned their fields especially as buyers cancelled orders early on; times were particularly hard during lockdowns. As there wasn’t much traffic and much movement, their side businesses came to a screeching halt and many who expected to earn additional revenue through goats were hurt as their finances tightened. They weren’t able to provide veterinary care to their animals and quite a few ended up losing their goats. Despite these extreme difficulties, there were examples of success in the pandemic; a producer named Charlotte Fikiri is one such example: she was able to take care of her goats and sell a few during the pandemic, and she used this additional income to purchase more land on which she’d produce and sell more coffee. There unfortunately weren’t many women as successful as Mrs. Fikiri, but as vaccines are starting to become available in Congo, we expect to have many more such stories next year.

This spring, we released our first single origin from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—a delicious washed Bourbon called Congo Umoja grown by a cooperative of smallholder farmers in Eastern Congo. In exploring this new origin for our menu, we've not only been able to learn more about the complex history of the region and the rich stories of its people, but to develop a new relationship with an inspiring supplier called Mighty Peace Coffee.Born out of the Congolese peace movement by an international team of business leaders, coffee experts, community organizers, and human rights defenders, Mighty Peace Coffee is a fully integrated social impact coffee company connecting roasters like us with the highest quality Congolese coffee. In a model they call the Peace Trade, Mighty Peace aims to share the stories of Congolese partners to inspire, educate, and end cycles of poverty and conflict.In South Kivu, where this coffee is grown, coffee is becoming a symbol of economic stability and prosperity after many years of of violent conflict. Mighty Peace firmly believes that coffee has a major role to play in the future of the region, with specialty coffee agriculture providing community-directed paths from poverty and violence to stability and growth. What follows below are stories directly from some of the farmers who grow Umoja, shared with us by Mighty Peace Coffee. “There is nothing you can’t do when you have a sustainable income.” - Mrs. Victorina Kanane In the 10 years farmers have been growing specialty coffee cooperatively, the sale of Umoja has helped to improve the living conditions of its members, providing schooling, housing, jobs and reducing coffee smuggling on Lake Kivu, while promoting gender equity. "We use several methods to bring out the best flavors...sometimes we cultivate coffee in the mountain which is different than the coffee we cultivate in the valley.” Mr. Lukuye Umoja farmers produce fully washed coffee, grown in volcanic soil at an altitude of 1,480-2,000 meters, between Lake Kivu and the Mitumba mountain range. The region has a rich tradition of growing specialty coffee, which is reflected in the complex flavors present in Umoja's complex and sweet profile. “Nowadays everybody here works and has fields to cultivate, it would be insane to kill or rape your neighbor when we’re pursuing the same purpose.” - Ms. Furaya Zahinda Conflict has plagued the DRC for decades. Intense competition for control over mining areas led to the proliferation of armed rebel groups in the 90s. Armed groups committed acts of unspeakable violence to destroy the very fabric of a community. The effects of this ongoing war reach every corner of the Congo, and yet many communities are coming together as one to plant the path towards a brighter, safer future. "I use my earnings to pay my children’s school fees; four of them have finished high school and one is in the third year of nursing college." - Mr. Sengi Ndambusa Mighty Peace's values drive ethical practices that include environmental sustainability, USDA organic certification, the highest labor standards, and a commitment to shift attitudes and approaches to business in the DRC and around the world.To learn more about this coffee and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, check out our info sheet.

Over the past year, the world has started waking up to the fact that our societies are defined by their inequalities. For the first time in a long time, that fact united many of us across geography, class, and race. Here in the US we’re still working to carry forward the energy of racial justice activism that swept the nation in 2020, with the hope to create systems and encourage elected officials to work against inequality. The pandemic has widened and made more clear our view of inequity and this has informed a newly realized solidarity: our intentions and our lives have meaning, and we are tethered to each other through our humanity. Solidarity has become a theme and an ethical responsibility. Waves of activism have roiled communities across the globe as people have taken to the streets in protest of state violence, discrimination, economic inequity, political corruption, and much more. Protests were already occurring in Colombia but as they have resurged in the pandemic’s socio-political environment, it has been with a new, collective tenacity and as this ripples through global supply streams, we are taking the opportunity to examine our role and lend support. Colombian coffee is on our single origin menu year-round (La Familia Guarnizo), and it’s also in The Daily for a majority of each year. Our business depends on those coffees, which are made possible by many smallholder farmer families in Colombia—we are inextricably connected with the people of Colombia through our business. Some of our most important lessons on the true meaning of “partnership” have been with the Guarnizo family in Huila, Colombia. [caption id="attachment_44819" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Wilmar Guarnizo's farm, Huila, Colombia[/caption]At Joe, we have come to appreciate the value of working with trusted suppliers for sourcing green coffee. We rely on the trust those partners have built with producers through long term relationships and we use those relationships to educate ourselves and our staff, and to gain more context for the challenges facing producers in a given area. When it comes to understanding this situation in Colombia, as well as seeing how and where we can contribute to positive change, we found ourselves in conversation with our supply partner there, Caravela, and the close partners they facilitate our work with, the Guarnizo Family, to learn about what prompted these protests and what they expect to happen. Wilmar Guarnizo explained that where his farm is located, along with his siblings’ farms, the food and gas supply has been disrupted. Thankfully, many of the staple foods are grown locally in their community. Wilmar describes a general feeling of disenfranchisement, explaining that they feel disconnected from both the protest movement and the government, neither of which have historically served them well. Marisabel Vasquez, Marketing Manager for Caravela, notes that the situation looks different across the country. In the city where she’s from, Barranquilla, protests have been predominantly peaceful. In other parts of the country, such as in Cali, Bogota, Huila, and Bucaramanga, the protests have intensified, and have been rippling out to affect each city’s infrastructure. In Bogota, where Caravela’s main offices and in-country QC lab are located, staff coming in to work have to pay close attention to the planned protests because public transportation shuts down during those times because buses get damaged during them. And of course, the main impact is the effect on their coffee business, which has been quite extreme. Coffees are being brought down from the growing regions to local purchasing stations, but because of roadblocks, they can’t move the coffee out of the individual localities. Marisabel shares: “We continue with our warehouses open, but as we're not able to move the coffee to the dry mill, there will be a moment when we run out of space (this happened back in 2016 when there was a truck strike) but we are trying to avoid this from happening. Additionally, we have not been able to move coffee to port, as you mentioned, the Buenaventura port is closed. Last week we tried moving coffee to Cartagena and Santa Marta ports in the Northern Coast (where as I mentioned things are much calmer up here) but containers are dammed and being held up and nothing has shipped. Our team in Colombia continues to work despite the challenges, but we really hope that we all come to a peaceful agreement, and that we can come out of this to a much better Colombia.” We also checked in with one of our baristas, Oscar Gomez, who was in Colombia visiting his family and a business he recently started with his brother on a family coffee farm. He experienced protests and blockades while traveling across the city of Medellín, and was in the country for 6 weeks while the situation intensified. He shared with us that the government was limiting internet access in some places which was affecting people's ability to communicate with each other, and also that it was an intense atmosphere. He was thankful to be with family, and told us, "it’s a shame how people fight for power and put so many innocent lives at risk for their own pleasure." We supplemented that perspective with our own research to see where major news outlets stand, knowing that international reporting can often come with political biases or contradictory, misrepresentative facts. That’s precisely why we feel the work of Human Rights Watch is so important; their nonpartisan work puts people first. Human Rights Watch is transparent about their research and methods, and they don’t take money from governments. Doing that means they have a wide, global scope and reach -- they are more likely to positively influence the change that is needed to stop human rights abuses wherever they work. Starting June 16, we will donate $1 per sale of a retail bag of La Familia Guarnizo to Human Rights Watch in order to support the rights, respect, and humane treatment of protesters in Colombia, and to contribute to the visibility of their message. Overview & Historical Context Latin America is one of the most unequal regions in the world. The people of Latin America have a long history of political protest in response to inequality and the behaviors of their governing powers. Even so, there were more civil rights protests in 2019 across Central and South America than in any year in recent history. In Colombia in particular, there were protests toward the end of 2019 through early 2020 in response to high unemployment rates, high rates of poverty with a low minimum wage, little perceived upward mobility for young people (including a lack of state-funding for higher education), and police brutality. President Iván Duque stands for a new conservative, right-wing party (it was only established in 2014) that has come under harsh criticism since he was elected in 2018. These protests by the people began peacefully, but over time turned more violent: aggressive police intervention led to over a dozen citizen deaths and more than 500 injuries. The rise of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns paused the protests, but they started up again in late April 2021 in response to a law passed by the government to increase taxes (including a tax on consumable goods that had never been taxed before) to generate revenue for pandemic-related budget gaps. Throughout the pandemic, unemployment and poverty rates grew manifold and the government’s solution to improving social security only involved new and increased taxation. In a state of diminished resources, this didn’t land too well. Among fears of a worsening financial crisis that would spiral out of control, and from the poverty of economic desperation, the people of Colombia took to the streets to protest. After 4 days of peaceful protests, the president redacted the proposed tax bill, but by then, popular sentiment had shifted and all other inequalities and injustices came back into focus, especially with the perceived traction of having directly influenced the president’s economic policy. Now, the protests became an issue of being heard: the social issues, income inequality, poverty, and corruption they’d protested years before intensified because of the pandemic, and the government hadn’t made any changes. The people’s request to have citizen representatives present in negotiations with the president was not accepted, so the public felt they had no other option but to continue to take to the streets in order to be acknowledged. This led to greater societal unrest: local groups funneled their frustration into blockades in their streets, towns, and regions in order to get their government’s attention. They wanted to prove that they were needed for a national economy to function properly, so that their worth could be felt by everyone, including at the international level. The government’s response has been severe, and police presence everywhere was expanded. At present, there have been over 40 deaths (mostly citizens) and over 800 injuries. There have been allegations of censorship, allegations of disinformation, and harsh critical reactions by many international governments. Though facts may differ depending on who is reporting, the common thread is the ongoing presence of injustice. Coffee and other exports continue to be affected by significant delays due to roadblocks and port closures but the people of Colombia are asking to be heard, and they are doing whatever they can to amplify their message. We stand in solidarity with the people of Colombia and empathize with their cry to be seen, to be heard, to be respected by those in power. Resources Current Situation Most concise overview with context: An Update on Colombia’s Ongoing Crisis (Caravela) Protests In Colombia Have Halted Coffee Exports (Sprudge) SOS Colombia: How Coffee Lovers Can Support The Colombian Crisis (Sprudge) Colombia’s president withdraws tax reform after protests (Reuters) Colombians march in eighth day of protests, police deploy tear gas (Reuters) Colombia: Amnesty International denounces militarized response and police repression of demonstrations (Amnesty International) Why Colombia's protests are unlikely to fizzle out (BBC) Colombia protesters: We're not scared anymore (BBC) Amid Protests And Police Violence, Colombia’s President Condemns Blockades That Have Stopped Delivery Of Food And Medicine (Forbes) 2021 Colombian protests (Wikipedia) Bleak futures fuel widespread protests by young Colombians (AP) Protestas - Colombia, “From cacerolazos to a neighborhood assembly” (Protestas Webseries) Historical Context Death of Colombian Teenager Drives Protesters Back to Streets (NYT) The riots in Colombia hint at deep problems (The Economist) Colombia’s Crisis Is an Urban Youth Crisis. Old Solutions Won’t Work (Americas Quarterly) Colombia protests: Death of man tasered by police sparks deadly clashes (BBC) Colombia protests: Bogotá placed under curfew amid fresh protests (BBC) Protests across Latin America reflect a toxic cocktail of pandemic and recession (CNN) 2019: Protests and disruptive changes in Latin America (Open Democracy) Latin America, It’s Time to End Police Abuse (Human Rights Watch) Latin America’s Wave of Protests Was Historic—Then the Pandemic Arrived (Foreign Policy) The Rebellion Against the Elites in Latin America (NYT) U.N.D.P. says Latin America is wealthier but unequal (AP) 2019–2020 Colombian protests (Wikipedia) Inequality and social unrest in Latin America: The Tocqueville Paradox revisited (World Bank) The Normalization of Protest in Latin America (Vanderbilt University) Latin America’s True Disaster May Be 2021 (Americas Quarterly)

You know and love their delicious scones, cookies, turmeric elixir, and vegan bites, but do you know the women behind your favorite treats in our cafes? As we continue to celebrate Women's History Month, we're recognizing the many female founders whose small, local businesses provide the perfect pairings to our coffee, or in the case of one of these founders, brings us your favorite coffee-alternative!Here are their stories. Anjali Bhargava, Resilience Growing up surrounded by Indian culture, food, and philosophy, Anjali always trusted in the power of turmeric. It was her pursuit of wellness and her own health struggles which led her to start Resilience, in 2014. Today, you can find Anjali's sunny, immune-boosting elixir in our hot and iced turmeric lattes, or you can buy the elixir to get creative at home! What is your favorite part of what you do?I love that I make products that brighten people's days. Whether they are drinking it for their health or because they love the taste, it's usually a moment they relish. I think about that every time I take my own first sip of my daily cup of my elixir and it never fails to make me smile.Favorite way to drink Resilience?During allergy season I love it in hot water with a little honey. In the summer I love it in a glass of seltzer or lemonade!What advice do you have for women starting their own business?You're awesome and you have to trust your gut, but your success will be a team effort and the earlier you realize this, the more joy you will find in the journey. Find friends who are in the arena with you, they will understand you and keep you sane. Agatha Kulaga, Ovenly Agatha is the founder and CEO of Ovenly, an award-winning NYC bakery which happens to be one of our oldest wholesale partnerships! You may know Ovenly as the makers of the epic peanut butter cookie or the many delicious loaf cakes in our cafes. Along with her partner Erin Patinkin, Agatha has led Ovenly since 2010, seeing the brand as "an opportunity to change business for the better, while satisfying your sweet tooth." What is your favorite part of what you do? The most rewarding thing is being able to create joy for so many people on a daily basis through the work we do at Ovenly.What's your favorite thing to bake? I love to bake up cream scones because they are a blank (and delicious!) canvas for whatever sweet or savory flavor addition I'm in the mood for. A few of my favorite combinations are Cheddar Cherry Basil, Prune & Ginger, and Milk Chocolate & Salted Honey.Favorite Ovenly item? That would be like choosing a favorite child! If I could choose three, they would be our Pistachio Cardamom Bread, Blackout Cake, and Peanut Butter Cookie.What advice do you have for women who are interested in starting their own business?The businesses we build can be our strongest voice. As woman entrepreneurs, we have the opportunity to change the world while redefining the idea of success. The key is to do things before you’re ready, otherwise someone might just beat you to it! Danielle Sepsy, The Hungry Gnome Danielle Sepsy is the founder and Chef behind The Hungry Gnome, makers of the scones, muffins, and nutella-stuffed banana bread we introduced to our cafes last summer. Danielle's love of cooking began at the young age of 13 when she started a home business selling her scones to friends, neighbors, and local cafes and businesses. Today, Danielle is known as the "Scone Queen" by devoted fans, or "gnomies". Keep an eye out for her new seasonal Lemon Poppy Muffin, arriving in April! What is your favorite part of what you do? I love to create new recipes. Sometimes ideas come to me at midnight and I can’t sleep until I make it! I love to create baked goods and dishes that are new and innovative, but also really nostalgic, so when people take a bite it may bring them back to a really special moment in their life. Watching people eat and enjoy my food is the best feeling in the world, and it makes all the hard work worth it.What's your favorite thing to bake?My favorite item is the Chocolate Chip Scone partly because it is how the business started! I am also a serious chocaholic and so the melty semi-sweet chips combined with the buttery, crisp, yet moist dough is something I can never get sick of.What advice do you have for women who are interested in starting their own business?Learn from others first. Gain experience in the field your starting the business in so you can learn the ins and outs, no matter how “small” the job may be. If it’s a restaurant for example, learn how to do the finances, but also how to use (and fix) the dish machine, trust me it’ll all come in handy. Building relationships is also a key to success whether it be with vendors, potential customers, employees or perhaps a mentor. When I started my business I knew just to who call when it came to ordering supplies and ingredients to which employees I wanted to hire. Caitlin Makary, Dank Brooklyn Fueled by a passion for banana bread, Caitlin founded Dank Brooklyn in Bed Stuy in 2016. We love Dank not only because their mini vegan loaves are delicious, but because Caitlin has worked to build a company that truly supports its people and community. What is your favorite part of what you do?My favorite part of owning my business is working with other amazing owners / managers around the city and working with the groups we support. I love meeting new people, which is easy when we have clients all over the city! Being able to experience so much of NYC and combine my personal interests (bike riding, climbing, social justice) together with my job has been incredibly fulfilling.Favorite Dank item?The first and only item we offered when we started in 2016 was the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread; so that will always be a favorite. However the Lemon Matcha is probably my new favorite. I had no experience working in food prior to starting Dank (I used to be a clothing designer), so recipe testing still makes me a little nervous... we were supposed to launch this flavor in March 2020 and had to wait until November. I'm SO happy with how it turned out!What advice do you have for women starting their own business?Trust your instincts and your experience. The only way to try something new is to start from the bottom, which is hard if you are leaving an established career. Try to learn as much as you can from others, never be afraid to ask questions, and Google everything! I started this business with literally zero prior food experience; I had never even waitressed or bartended. I leaned hard on my design experience for our voice and branding, my experience working in an office to get our back systems set up and organized, and my friends/family who worked in food to give me feedback and advice, and my NYC community to show us love and support. 5 years later we've made it through a pandemic; and kept *all* of our staff paid their regular wages throughout. Never give up but don't be afraid to shift directions. I've worked harder on this business than anything else I've ever done, but it is my favorite job I've ever had. :) Karen Lauterstein, Sattva Vida Ever since we began carrying Karen's energy bites in 2017, they have become a mainstay on our counters, fueling many-a-New Yorker with their vegan, gluten-free goodness! After 20 years in corporate America, Karen channeled her passion for clean, home cooked food into Sattva Vida, which translates to "pure life" in Sanskrit. Sattva Vida's mission is to help busy people trade their processed, sugar-filled snacking habits to simple, fresh food. What is your favorite part of what you do?Hearing positive feedback from our customers about our Energy Bites! Especially, when they tell us our bites helped them stop eating processed sugars, or jump start a healthier lifestyle. I came from the corporate world, so I also love waking up every day (without an alarm clock!) and building my business in a tee shirt, jeans & a smile. It's exciting to carve a completely new path for myself and my company—learning, growing, and building every day.Favorite Sattva Vida energy bite?It's a toss up! I'm really feeling Off the Walnut these days. That flavor happens to be the first one I ever made.What advice do you have for women starting their own business?I keep two inspirational quotes above my desk, "Be brave, not perfect" and "You have to believe in yourself—that's the secret."* As for tactical advice, NYC has tons of free & incredible resources for new entrepreneurs—from mentors, to workshops, to full length courses with certificates. I've probably taken advantage of all of them, including: SCORE, Evergreene Exchange's SFPN (Small Food Producers Network,) Kauffman FastTrac (New Ventures Program,) the SBA etc.Specifically, SCORE has a team of 75 experienced mentors who you can meet with for free. They have various areas of expertise such as legal, marketing, retail, distribution, finance, etc., I've been meeting with my mentor, Elliot, regularly for years now. His guidance, support, mentorship and friendship has been invaluable. Go to SCORE, get a mentor or two. Take classes, network, and go to events & pitchfests. Research what your business will need early and often. Last but no least, have fun and enjoy what you do!*quotes, Reshma Saujani and Charlie Chaplin Kate Wheatcroft, Bien Cuit In 2011, Kate and her husband, James Beard Award finalist Chef Zachary Golper, opened Bien Cuit in New York's Boerum Hill. Since then, Bien Cuit has become a neighborhood staple and destination for some of the city's finest breads and pastries (like the croissants you'll find in our cafes). With her husband overseeing the culinary side of the business, Kate has helped expand the business over the last decade to encompass two bakeries, wholesale, and e-commerce. What is your favorite part of what you do?My favorite part is starting new projects. This year during the pandemic we really built out our e-commerce business for the first time and it has been really exciting!What inspired you to open Bien Cuit?My husband and business partner is a baker by trade and he had spent a decade working as a baker. I agreed to help him get started. I think I didn't realize exactly what I was signing up for, but have had a lot of fun!Favorite Bien Cuit item?Chocolate croissant—it is a classic and I'm a huge sucker for both chocolate and flaky pastry.What advice do you have for women starting their own business?Make sure to pace yourself. It is easy to think you should take every opportunity that comes your way, but being really discerning I've found is the key to success.

As we celebrate Women's History Month, we reflect on the many incredible women we work with throughout the supply stream—from strong leaders within our team to our wonderful partners whose work continually inspires us. One such partner we're proud to work with is Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, owner of JNP Coffee, an importing company focusing on promoting and trading African specialty coffee.We first met Jeanine at the New York Coffee Festival in October 2019 and her work in gender equity in Burundi resounded with us deeply. Soon after, we released a coffee from JNP Coffee to our Atlas Collection, a special line of coffees which aims to highlight each of our sourcing values. This coffee, from the Karehe Washing Station, was chosen to represent our sourcing value of ethics for the many ways it spoke to Jeanine's work to uplift and empower the communities where she works in Burundi. A year later, we're excited to welcome another coffee through JNP, Turihamwe IWCA, to our Atlas Collection later this month.In anticipation of this upcoming release and in celebration of Women's History Month, we present this interview with Jeanine. Hi Jeanine! Thank you so much for speaking with us. Can you introduce yourself?My name is Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, owner of JNP Coffee and founder of Burundi Friends International.After a 20-year career in international business, what led you back to Burundi, and ultimately into the coffee industry?Initially, what led me back to Burundi was a calling to give my people a helping hand. I was one of the fortunate ones who left the country to secure a higher education and was blessed with a great career. Burundi is one of the poorest countries on the planet. I knew I needed to do something. Through the non-profit, Burundi Friends International (BFI) that I founded in 2008 while living and working in California, we were able to empower women, youth and families to build self-sustaining communities. What started with teaching English Communications classes for youth that didn’t have the money to attend college has grown to serve more than 75,000 students across all provinces in Burundi. They have six container-libraries, dozens of smaller libraries (mostly in schools) and 1,000 English Clubs, plus full college scholarships for more than 40 students in Burundi.Like many, I stumbled into coffee by accident. On my trip to Burundi with the BFI board in 2010, I met the head of USAID who insisted that I consider the coffee industry. Later on, I ran into my cousin who was in coffee. He had just built a wet mill and asked me to help him. Then women farmers and members of IWCA Burundi, who had received goats through a BFI project, approached me to buy and market their coffee. Before too long, I found myself as a shareholder in several wet mills in Burundi. I took the opportunity to promote quality coffee with high premiums (a second payment to farmers), then collaborated with NGOs like PCI Global and BFI to bring financial literacy to farmers. Each step brought another element of sustainability to the model we established.Growing up in Burundi, was coffee always part of your life?Not at all. Tea is the culture. Coffee is a cash crop for farmers in Burundi. Most of them can’t actually afford a cup of coffee!What is JNP Coffee’s mission? Do you work exclusively with the IWCA (International Women's Coffee Alliance) chapter in Burundi?JNP Coffee’s mission is to use coffee to alleviate poverty in Burundi, to share Burundi’s exceptionally delicious coffee with the world, to educate and empower farmers, and to build sustainable communities through coffee. And no, we don’t work exclusively with the IWCA Burundi Chapter, although in 2018, JNP Coffee underwrote 100% of their production. Some of our current successful programs, like that of “Turihamwe Turashobora” coffees were with the farmers who were founding members of the IWCA Burundi Chapter.[caption id="attachment_46985" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] The women of Turihamwe take time to dance together in celebration of the joy and community that they feel.[/caption] What are some of the biggest challenges that women in coffee face in Burundi?Lack of access to land ownership, lack of education, and lack of opportunities in general.JNP Coffee is known for enabling gender-sensitive development strategies at origin. What does this mean?Through my mother, I learned quickly at an early age that if you empower a woman, you have a chance to improve the future of a family. When you empower a woman in a place like Burundi, you ensure that funds will go to feed the children and take care of the needs in the home. Women will share their knowledge with other women to improve the community’s quality of life. In our women’s savings and microlending program with BFI, the repayment rate is almost 100%. I can go on and on. Even in large US corporations, those with women in leadership perform better than their counterparts.How do you think supporting gender equity impacts the sustainability of the industry?I don’t see any other way. In places like Burundi, women are the ones working the land, taking care of the coffee trees among other crops. If we want to sustain the coffee industry, we need to emphasize quality, pay good money for it, and bring in other programs to allow farmers to diversify their crops and income, in addition to education. Also, in places like Burundi, contrary to countries like Brazil, the harvest is small and with the right support, the opportunity to produce mostly specialty grade-coffee every year is very attainable.JNP Coffee emphasizes the power and importance of partnership to support inclusive economic growth. Can you tell us a little bit about your work to promote financial literacy among women coffee growers?Education is critically important to economic development yet significantly lacking in Africa. In Burundi, less than 2% of the population has access to higher education. For most people, it’s not a lack of willingness or capability, but a lack of opportunity. I use every opportunity I have to bring education home, at origin. Through BFI, in collaboration with PCI Global, we have been able to bring a very impactful financial literacy program to women farmers, now expanded to youth in Burundi. The program provides a space where women can meet to learn about leadership, and a platform for saving and lending to each other. Some of the women farmers in the program pooled their resources and went on to start their own wet mill in 2019. They are now producing an exceptional coffee, like Turihamwe. To me, that is a good example of an inclusive economy, where women coffee farmers can build and own their own wet mill.How do you measure the impact of implementing equitable practices at origin? Is this something you’ve found challenging? We measure the impact of implementing equitable practices at origin through the example of the women of Turihamwe Turashobora group. By providing access to education, financial resources and leadership, women farmers could build and manage their own wet mill, and the cup quality also speaks for itself. It’s been very challenging in a place like Burundi, where women traditionally don’t have a voice. I struggle with it myself throughout the supply chain, but it does not stop me from persisting. It is a must in Burundi, where women are an untapped resource with tremendous potential.[caption id="attachment_37041" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Jeanine inspecting drying beds at the Karehe Washing Station[/caption] Can you tell us about your experience as a Black woman in specialty coffee? How does it compare to your experience as a Black woman working with producers in Burundi?I love being a Black woman in coffee. This is where I belong. I can represent my fellow women farmers in Burundi right here in the consuming country. However, this does not make it any easier doing business as a Black woman in America. I face the same discrimination as any other Black person in the US, but when I go home to Burundi, the farmers of Burundi are my people and I owe them everything to represent them well. That said, I still face the same gender prejudice and inequality as a businesswoman in Africa. However, I view it as an opportunity to be a role model for other women in Africa, America and the world.What can you tell us about our upcoming release, Turihamwe IWCA, and the women who produced this coffee?Turihamwe coffee is a perfect example of an important story. Women farmers who were IWCA members got together, saved their money as they learned to do in our financial literacy program, and then built and started their own wet mill operation in 2019. Now they are producing a coffee that is outperforming many others. That’s why in Kirundi, its name means “together.” Indeed, together, we can succeed and make a difference. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity. All photos courtesy of JNP Coffee