Chief Technical Officer, PUR
COFFEE EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
PUR designs, develops and manages regenerative agriculture, agroforestry and reforestation initiatives with agricultural communities on a global basis; and in particular with coffee producers in 13 countries. These projects engage local and national coffee cooperatives, coffee traders, government and brands; with the goal to drive production resilience as well as carbon, livelihoods, biodiversity, soil and water benefits.
As Chief Technical Officer at PUR, I am ultimately responsible for the integrity of the design of PUR’s projects and interventions, how they are contextualized with evolving policy and impact accounting frameworks; and how they continually challenge and advance the sustainability agenda of the industry.
I have been with PUR for just under 10 years, serving on the Management Team since 2016, and holding multiple positions – first as Director North America, Director of Innovation, Chief Commercial Officer, and now Chief Technical/Product Officer. Throughout this time, I have engaged directly with our key coffee clients – Nespresso, Nescafe and Starbucks – their suppliers and in the field with local communities across our portfolio of coffee projects. The projects are in Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Brazil and Vietnam; and have engaged and supported >50,000 coffee producers covering 42,000 ha of production.
Previous to PUR, I worked at the European Investment Bank (EIB), performing both due diligence and deal origination for nature based investments in carbon, biodiversity, and livelihoods – as well as engaging the European Commission on behalf of the Bank for these initiatives.
Professionally I have been regarded as a leader in supply chain linked carbon interventions and accounting, supply chain linked payment for ecosystem services, nature metrics and impact investing. Having been invited to speak in multiple forums – including but not limited to private sector internal education events, the OECD, New York Climate Week, the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA), Sustainable Coffee Challenge (SCC), World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), GreenBiz, Textile Exchange, and ChangeNow; and regularly participate in professional and technical webinars.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR A SUSTAINABLE COFFEE SECTOR?
A sustainable coffee sector is a resilient and productive coffee sector. It is characterized by fair compensation to producers and the ability to earn a living income; the long-term stability of production through the maintenance and promotion of ecosystem services, and thus sourcing from a productive landscape that has found balance and equilibrium with its natural surrounding environment.
To achieve this, it is essential that practitioners across the supply chain (from producer to project implementor and brand) have the resources, tools, data, knowledge and safeguards to allow them to make the most informed decisions in balancing environmental and social sustainability with productivity and economic realities.
In more practical and specific terms, I believe the industry would benefit from three main things:
1. Methodological Clarity – for the reporting of impacts within and surrounding coffee value chains that level the playing field for positive action and set minimum safeguards for best practice;
2. Tools and Resources – in the form of agronomic and economic knowledge, case studies and design tools (of varying scales) that enable actors to make informed decisions;
3. Data Collection Infrastructure – that leverages best digital technology (including remote sensing and AI) to support the measurement of impact; helping to drive implementation costs down, provide a vector for performance payments to producers, all while improving return on impact.
HOW WILL YOU SUPPORT GCP’S WORK AND GOAL?
I believe I bring significant experience, from the boardroom to the field, in addressing technical topics related to climate change, water, forests, policy, standards and technical assistance specific to:
- Closing the living income gap through payments for ecosystem services (PES) and farm economics;
- Addressing country plans in support of supply shed level collaboration for carbon and impact initiatives that are designed for scale and growth with a ‘glocal’ strategy;
- Driving economic viability of sustainability, social well-being and environmental resilience through improved data, monitoring and analysis.
Relevant Skills
Finance – I have worked in capital markets and for the European Investment Bank in a financial capacity. I have my CFA Level 1 and operate within the context of financial decisions for the firm on a daily basis.
Board Management – I have participated in multiple boards across the industry. As part of PUR’s Management Team I engage at the Board Level and regarding governance on a regular basis.
Coffee Production – PUR engages with coffee producers in 13 countries. As the Chief Technical Officer for PUR I am in charge of the agronomy teams that support the design of our technical interventions. However I only believe producers, academics and day-to-day technicians should be considered to have a high level of knowledge.
Value Chains – PUR operates and I lead our teams on engagements in other crops including Cocoa, Palm, Coconut, Timber, Pasture Systems and Row Crops.
Social Dimension of Production – I personally lead our Technical Teams focused on livelihoods design and stakeholder engagement within our global projects across 20 countries.
Environmental Aspects – I have a Masters in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University, have extensive field experience in the design and management of nature-based projects and have held technical leadership positions in the sustainability industry for 15-20 years.
Leadership – I have held Director and C-Suite positions since 2016, leading staff and an extended partner network of >500 persons.
Previous board service, leadership or volunteer experience
I currently sit on the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board (NSAB) and for a three-year term served as the civil society representative on the Board of the International Platform for Insetting (IPI). As part of my role at PUR I actively contribute to and participate in PUR’s Board Meetings; as well as participating in the day-to-day operational, financial and legal management of PUR (a global operation with field activities in 20 countries) as part of its Management Team. During my time at the European Investment Bank, I was responsible for evaluating the operational and financial stability of existing and potential investments; supporting the management of investments thereafter.
