Improving the livelihoods of coffee farming families

Juan Esteban Orduz has worked in the coffee industry for the last 13 years alongside the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC).

He is the current President of the Colombian Coffee Federation, Inc. the subsidiary for North America of the FNC. As such, his experience includes international cooperation with foreign governments, donors, foundations and multilateral entities such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Mr. Orduz has also acquired vast knowledge in international trade - the FNC is an exporter and the U.S. is the biggest coffee consuming market.

As a Board member of the Global Coffee Platform, Mr. Orduz will make the most of his experience and networks in global coffee policy and trade.

Dr Joseph K. Kimemia a coffee specialist who holds a PhD in Crop Science. He has worked at Coffee Research Foundation for over the last 28 years (10 of which he was the CEO/Director of Research) till May 2015 when he was transferred to the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation  (KALRO) headquarters to be in charge of Planning, performance Management and Quality Control. However he is still very active in coffee and is involved in several activities both locally and internationally.  

Kimemia also worked as a Farming Systems Agronomist in the ASAL of Kenya for six years and Agronomist for High Altitude maize program in Kenya for two years. He has worked as an agronomist in coffee research mainly in intercropping systems, shade in coffee, organic coffee production, introduction in new coffee areas and adaptation for climate change. 

Dr. Kimemia has also been involved in certification programs in coffee. Results from his work have led to recommendations that farmers are currently using. While being the CEO he was instrumental in the development and release of the disease resistant Arabica Coffee variety Batian.  He has published extensively and given motivational speeches to coffee in the farmers in the region. He is a member of the Core Team of the Technical Committee of Global Coffee Platform where he has contributed in the review for the 4C Code. He is also active in the Technical committee of World Coffee Research (WCR). He is currently the Chairman African Fine Coffee Association (AFCA) Kenya Chapter and a member of the AFCA Board. 

Alexandre Vieira Costa Monteiro has been a 4C Association Council Member since 2013. He has over 27 years of experience working for Cooxupé, the largest coffee cooperative in the world and the largest coffee green exporter in Brazil, where he is Agronomist, Social & Environmental Manager.

Over the last 15 years, Mr. Monteiro has been responsible of coordinating sustainability programs such as the 4C Entry-level Standard, Nespresso, C.A.F.E. Practices, Nescafe Plan, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ. He has coordinated a total of 150 agronomists to support 10.000 producers in the implementation of continuous improvements throughout the fields.

As a Board member of the Global Coffee Platform, Mr. Monteiro will represent coffee producers worldwide, and support them in the implementation of sustainable practices.

Silvia Janine Servidor de Pizzol has been a representative of coffee growers in the National Advisory Board and Brazilian Working Group of GCP’s Brazilian National Platform. She was also part of the Sustainable Coffee Program (SCP) and  contributed  to  the  construction  of  the  National  Sustainability  Curriculum (CSC).  As  part  of  the Brazilian Program, Sivial was engaged in the definition of the18 Fundamental Items and the 35 Brazilian Sustainability Indicators of  the  CSC.  She is also  a  member  of  the GCP’s Working  Group  on  Common Indicators and the Global Expert Committee on Coffee Sustainability.

Trishul Mandana was appointed Managing Director of Volcafe, the Coffee Division of ED&F Man in 2015. He has more than 25 years experience in the coffee industry having previously served as Managing Director of Louis Dreyfus' Coffee division.

My (coffee) background:

• Over 25 years of experience across the Coffee Sector - Origin to Destination
• Global experience across Milds, Brazils and Robustas – with extensive senior management and board experience 
• Managing Director of Louis Dreyfus Coffee – 2008 – 2015 
• Managing Director Volcafe /Divn of EDF Man (2015 to current)  

My previous involvement, experience or role with the Global Coffee Platform, its predecessor or the Sustainable Coffee Program and its Steering Committee, or in sustainability topics or other initiatives in the coffee sector so far:

•  As a former Board Member of the European Coffee Federation (ECF) and former member of the Board of SCTA, I am familiar with processes and procedures that such governance platforms need and I have served in sub committees/ task forces within the ECF and SCTA. 
• Other experience includes being the Vice Chair of the Green Coffee Committee in the UK,  Former Chairman of the LIFFE CAG (Coffee Advisory Group) and am currently a member of both the ICE Arabica and ICE -EU (Robusta) committee 
• Was part of the 12 member Senior Executive committee and Executive group at Louis Dreyfus. Currently serve on the Commodities Committee and Commodities Risk Committee at EDF Man.

Juan Antonio has managed coffee sourcing operations with Kraft Foods in Latin America, Asia and then worked in the supply chain organization in Europe for 4 years. 

For the past 9 years he has worked for Olam International leading the Central America & Andean Region, including coffee operations in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia and Peru. He is also a member of both the Management Committee and the Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Executive Committee of Olam International.

As a Board member of the Global Coffee Platform, Mr. Rivas will support the development of a more resilient coffee supply chain for the industry, developing specific activities to tackle climate change and promote research and innovation connecting coffee farmers via improved technology systems and promoting investments in new disease resistant varieties.

Marcelo Burity is Head of Green Coffee Development for Nestlé, covering sustainability, quality and research topics.

Marcelo is a Brazilian/British national who started working in Nestlé since 1992, always in functions related to coffee and cocoa procurement, ultimately in the role of Nestlé’s global coffee procurement lead until mid-2015, when he took on his current position leading the NESCAFÉ Plan on a Global level, as well as coordinating the activities related to green coffee quality and research & development. 

Throughout his career Marcelo has worked in Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico and UK, where is currently based. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.

Shannon Higgins is the Director of Corporate Sustainability & Business Development for Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee.  In this new role, Shannon leads the company's strategy and programming in corporate social responsibility and sustainability working across all areas of the business from manufacturing to sales.  Shannon has more than 10 years of experience in the coffee industry in various sales and business development roles. She is passionate about employee and community issues and is deeply involved in initiatives that are improving the quality of life for communities in coffee-growing countries.  

Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee is a Canadian-based, family-owned business that was started by Shannon’s great-grandfather in 1912.  Today it is one of the largest coffee roasters in North America.

Herbert Lust is the Vice President and Managing Director in Europe for Conservation International since September 2015.  

Conservation International is a nonprofit organization built upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration to empower societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, global biodiversity, and the well-being of humanity. In this position, Herbert leads policy engagement, corporate relations and fundraising for the organization in Europe. 

Prior to this role, Herbert Lust was the Director of Strategy Integration for Boeing’s Global Corporate Citizenship programmes, where he was responsible for managing a portfolio of projects in environment, sustainable biofuels, and supply chain management in the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa and the Americas. He also designed Boeing's overarching CSR, Citizenship and Community Affairs Strategies. He was a member of Boeing's environmental strategy council and sustainable biofuels steering team. He designed and led public affairs campaigns with EU institutions and national governments.

As Executive Director, Han de Groot leads the Rainforest Alliance’s global strategy. With a strong vision and passion for sustainability, he has overseen the growth of UTZ to become the world’s largest certification program for coffee and cocoa and now leads the merged Rainforest Alliance.

Han has dedicated his career to sustainable development. After studying economics at the University of Wageningen, he worked for more than 12 years at Oxfam Novib, eventually leading the organization’s work in Eastern and Southern Africa. In 1998 Han joined the Dutch government. From 2005 to 2010, he held various positions at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, including Deputy Director for Nature. He also started an interdepartmental program for biodiversity and was briefly seconded to the European Commission.

John Schluter has over 15 years of experience in coffee purchasing, processing, and exporting in Eastern Africa, as well as 23 years of experience in trade based activities in Europe.

Since 2006, he is the founder and Chief Executive of the NGO, Café Africa. He has also been the Chair of the 4C Association’s Technical Committee from early 2013 and a member of the 4C Council from late 2013. He is also a member of the Internal Strategy Task Force and Strategy Working Group (2014/2015). Before this, he was Board member of MCTA (Nairobi), CTF (London), and SCTA (Geneva).

As a Board member of the Global Coffee Platform, Mr. Schluter will bring his experience working with several African producing countries to build the GCP relationship with the producing world.

Jenny is the Program Director Coffee, which focuses on improving farmer livelihoods through innovative investment programs together with strategic supply chain partners. She also previously managed the Sustainable Coffee Program, a public-private facility that aimed to bring global, sustainable, coffee production practices to scale, from its inception in 2012 until its integration with the Global Coffee Platform in 2016.  Her other previous work experience includes Senior Manager Learning & Innovation at IDH, working in the private sector, and for NGOs.

Jenny holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons I) in Operations Research from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Carlos Brando is a civil engineer and was a Fellow in Urban and Regional Studies at MIT whose PhD Program he attended. He is the Director of P&A Marketing which has led him to consult for the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), the World Bank and many other companies and institutions. Carlos has coordinated coffee projects in over 50 countries on 5 continents including all main coffee growing areas of Brazil. Additionally, Carlos sat on the boards of UTZ and Ipanema Coffees, and is also a current member of the Coffee Quality Institute’s Board of Trustees and the Vice-Chairman of the board of the Santos Coffee Museum, that he helped to found, and the São Paulo Museum of Immigration. In 2017, Carlos received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), while in 2016 a Campinas Agronomy Institute (IAC) Award as Agribusiness Personality of the Year.

Annette Pensel brings more than 10 years of experience in the international coffee sector and in the field of development cooperation, including corporate sustainability, public-private partnerships, voluntary standards development and capacity building.

As the Director Sustainability Innovations of the former 4C Association (and the GCP Interim Executive Director since July 2016), Annette was central to the many successful partnerships formed throughout its history, most notably the development of Vision2020, which connected the public and private sectors and creates a common vision for the public and private sectors to work towards in producing countries; and the co-creation of the GCP together with the former Sustainable Coffee Program (SCP).

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Thomas is responsible for managing the Global Coffee Platform's (GCP) finance systems and processes, including accounting, planning and controlling. He is also responsible for membership administration.

Thomas holds several certificates in accounting, was professionally active in the financial communications business in the past, and holds a university degree in the field of Communications Theory from the University of Cologne (Germany). Thomas speaks German and English and is based in Bonn, Germany.

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Rogier is a development professional specialized in sustainable agriculture and forestry with over 20 years of experience in rural development and natural resources management programmes. He is an experienced manager of development programmes both in-country and at global level. He worked mostly for the UN and different civil society organizations in Asia and South-America. One of his specializations is in the value chain development for coffee, cocoa and rice commodities with a focus on farmer empowerment and private sector involvement. He strongly believes it is necessary to build strategic partnerships to achieve sustainability goals and increase impact.

As Human Resources Officer, Angela is responsible for all Human Resources matters, ranging from recruitment and contract management, staff development, HR administration. 

She holds several certificates in HR and holds a university degree in Economics, Political Science and Latin American studies from the University of Cologne (Germany). Angela speaks German, English and Spanish and is based in Bonn, Germany.

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Andreas comes to the Global Coffee Platform as an experienced computer engineer and IT-Systems administrator specializing in IT-Support, IT-Process Management and Compliance.

He built up his IT knowledge working in various industries for IT-Security, telecommunication and software development companies.

Over the last 4 years Andreas has worked with a payment service provider in a position as Systems Administrator and Operations Manager.

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Caroline is responsible for liaising with existing and potential members of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP). Caroline worked with the food, beverage and pharmacy industry in sales and marketing. Her work experience is global, having supported businesses in the developing world in their start-up phase as well as Fair Trade products.

Caroline graduated in Business at the Free University Berlin. She speaks German, English and Persian, and is based in Bonn.

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George is responsible for managing and strengthening the M&E function in the Global Coffee Platform (GCP). This includes overall development and management of the M&E program, defining intended change, organisational learning from the program, reporting and stakeholder liaison. Prior to joining our company, George was the Regional Certification Manager at Technoserve’s East Africa Coffee Initiative and before that he served as the acting General Manager of Africert Limited.

George holds an MSc in Environment and Resource Management from the Institute of Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universitiet, Amsterdam, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from the University of Nairobi (Kenya).

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Andrés is responsible for supporting the implementation of the Communications Strategy, as well as creating content for the GCP website, newsletter and social media channels.

He has worked in both private and public sector and has taken part in projects of independent journalism, new media/technologies and gender equality issues. Andrés is a graduated Social Communicator-Journalist from the Externado University in Colombia. He speaks Spanish, English and German.

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John is responsible for a wide variety of administrative tasks that support the operation of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP) – including the payment and processing of invoices and Membership applications.

Previously, John was working as a Foreign Accounts Officer with Germany-based companies, Stern Verlag and VUB Printmedia.

John has an honors degree in Cultural Studies from Portsmouth Polytechnic (England) and is based in the Bonn Secretariat.

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Josh is responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies to engage all coffee stakeholders and strengthen the international positioning of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP). Josh has successfuly shaped the communications for various advocacy, community-based, start-up, and development organizations in Europe, Central America, South-East Asia and Australia.

Josh graduated in Communications and Political Science at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia) and speaks English, German, and Spanish. He is based in Bonn, Germany.

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Lars is responsible for elaborating projects and the acquisition of external funding to put the Global Coffee Platform's (GCP) vision for greater sustainability into action. Prior to joining the 4C Association in 2007, Lars worked in international project management in India, Africa and Germany.

Lars has a degree in geography, development studies, and South Asian philology and has done extensive research on sustainable agriculture in India and Bangladesh.

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Pia supports the GCP's Executive Director and Executive Team. She also coordinates and supports key governance functions and processes (e.g. Board, Advisory Board). 

Pia has gained extensive office and project management experience through her previous jobs in the social, public and private sector, both in Germany and abroad (Australia, Tanzania). Among others, she worked as Operations Manager for an online portal for IT donations, coordinated the visitor program of a charity funded school in Tanzania and managed daily operations at the student administration office of an Australian university. 

She holds a Master's of Arts degree in North American Studies, Political Science and International Law from the University of Bonn and speaks German, English and (little) French.