Sarada Krishnan Named Executive Director of International Womens Coffee Alliance

IWCA Executive Director Sarada Krishnan. IWCA/Jamaican Women in Coffee (JWiC) photo.

Decorated coffee scientist and coffee sector leader Dr. Sarada Krishnan has been appointed to the role of executive director of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance.

In the role, Krishnan will oversee IWCA programs, fundraising and events while directing strategic plans and organizational growth for the international nonprofit organization. Krishnan succeeds former IWCA executive director Kellem Emanuelle, who recently joined the staff at green coffee trading company Sustainable Harvest.

The IWCA, which works to build networks and empower women throughout the supply chain while promoting the sale of coffees grown by its members, currently has 27 country chapters, including recently the United States.

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In addition to Krishan’s extensive resumé in coffee genetics research and horticulture, the new IWCA director also owns coffee plantations in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, and was the founding member of the IWCA Jamaica chapter, according to the group.

Krishnan, whose doctoral focus was on genetics of wild coffee in Madagascar, is currently the director of horticulture and the Center for Global Initiatives at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Here is Krishnan delivering an address on the Coffee Conservation Strategy at the 2017 Re:co Symposium: