Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) Introduces New Staff Members

(press release from CQI. Claims not verified or endorsed by Daily Coffee News)

PORTLAND, OR (February 28, 2014) – The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) is pleased to announce the addition of two new hires to its staff roster: Kimberly Easson and Camilo Sánchez. Ms. Easson has been working with CQI for over a year as a consultant on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Ethiopia AGP AMDe Project, one of CQI’s largest and most complex projects.

With over 20 years of experience in the specialty coffee industry, Ms. Easson brings a plethora of knowledge and contacts to the organization. She worked at Fairtrade for 14 years and played key roles in business development, marketing, and strategic partnerships. Most recently she oversaw the delivery of producer capacity building programs to over one million Fairtrade producers in 63 countries. Ms. Easson will assume the role of vice president of strategic partnerships, focusing on stakeholder engagement, strategy development, and partnership building within the organization. She will also advise the organization on its gender program. Her extensive history and experience will be a perfect complement to the organization.

With over 15 years of experience in sustainable development and agriculture, Mr. Sánchez is CQI’s new business development director. Mr. Sánchez worked at USAID for over a decade and has managed sizable projects that involved extensive planning, team building, collaboration, and complex portfolio management. As a seasoned professional with a history of successfully conceiving, initiating, and executing high-impact development projects in agriculture, Mr. Sánchez is great fit for this new role at CQI. CQI is eager to work with Ms. Easson and Mr. Sánchez in the upcoming year as it continues to expand and improve its services worldwide.

The Coffee Quality Institute® (CQI) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization working internationally to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it. CQI provides training and technical assistance to coffee producers and other individuals in the supply chain to increase the value, volume and sustainability of high quality coffee production. CQI also works toward building institutional capacity in coffee producingcountries by creating systems and infrastructure that encourage a focus on quality that leads to higher farmer incomes. | www.cofffeeinstitute.org