SCA board of directors 2021

SCA image.

The votes have been tallied for the Specialty Coffee Association board of directors election, with six new members joining the 18-member board for 2020-21.

The new members officially joining the board on Jan. 1, 2020, are:

  • Burak Alici, founder and CEO of the New York City-based investment firm QVIDTVM;
  • Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos, CEO of the 400+ location coffee shop chain Coffee Island, based in Greece;
  • David Piza, director of national accounts for the North Carolina-based full-service roasting company S&D Coffee & Tea;
  • Sarina Prabasi, author of “The Coffeehouse Resistance” and co-founder of the New York City-based, Ethiopia-coffee-focused independent chain Buunni Coffee;
  • Doreen Zankowski, a partner in the Philadelphia-based law firm Duane Morris LLP and co-owner/operator of the Hawaiian coffee-producing and roasting company Kope Kabana;
  • and Cosimo Libardo, Group CEO of Italian espresso and beverage systems specialist Carimali Holding.

Libardo was elected by SCA membership through a petitioned candidacy, tallying more votes than Paul Macek, vice president of programs for the Washington D.C.-based World Cocoa Foundation, who was originally nominated by the SCA election committee.

The board members whose terms are up at the end of this year are Heather Perry of Klatch Coffee (U.S.), Andrew Hetzel of Coffee Strategies (U.S), Inyoung Anna Kim of LetSequoia (Rwanda, DRC, Burundi), Ludovic Maillard of Maison P. Jobin & Cie (France), Sarah Leslie of Leslie Coffee Co. (U.S.), and Emilio Lopez Diaz of Cuatro M Single Origin Coffees (El Salvador).

According to SCA bylaws, the board change results in new leadership. incoming board president Christina Meinl of Julius Meinl will take over for Heather Perry of Klatch Coffee. The new vice president will be Colleen Anunu of Fair Trade USA, and the new 2nd vice president will be Juan Luis Barrios of Finca La Merced.

“A very special mention goes to our outgoing president, Heather Perry, as under her leadership the board and the executive team had meaningful discussions about the future of SCA and arrive at a solid five-year plan,” SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos wrote in an announcement from the group released today. “It has been a tremendous honor to work with Heather for the past year. Honesty, transparency, and trust are three values that led Heather’s long volunteering career with SCA. She has been a catalyst for positive change and we were really lucky she was leading change in SCA as president.”