Former USAID Employee Launches First Light Coffee in Maryland

Bags of First Light Coffee. All images courtesy of First Light Coffee.

First Light Coffee is on the rise in Maryland, helping customers meet the dawn with freshly roasted and delivered coffees. 

Former USAID employee Annie Leverich founded the online coffee brand earlier this year, launching it from her home in Deale, on Chesapeake Bay’s Western Shore. The mother of two sells roasted coffee and wellness merchandise through her online store.

“Since starting First Light, former colleagues have reached out with connections to coffee-growing communities, and I’m excited to build on that,” Leverich, whose USAID work centered on crisis response and humanitarian communications, told Daily Coffee News.

The company plans in-person coffee service and bean sales through pop-ups this fall and winter as it ramps up retail activities and expands green coffee sourcing. First Light currently donates 5% of profits to World Central Kitchen.

First Light Coffee Founder Annie Leverich.

USAID, meanwhile, was created to bolster American democracy by promoting international trade while addressing poverty, food insecurity and other concerns. For decades, the agency has played a major role in financing projects affecting the coffee sector.

“While I worked around food security and livelihoods more broadly — and many of those communities certainly include coffee production — I didn’t manage coffee-specific programs,” said Leverich. “I came in [to the coffee business] as a serious home coffee nerd who really focused on self-education and relationship-building.”

The coffee company idea lit up for Leverich when it became clear the Trump administration was serious about defunding the 64-year-old agency, where she’d served eight years as press and communications adviser in the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance — a job she’d never intended to leave.

“I received notice in late March 2025 that my final day would be July 1, 2025,” said Leverich. “I took voluntary leave in April and quickly put my head down to develop First Light Coffee, launching online sales in early summer 2025.”

Leverich now partners with Jessup, Maryland-based Orinoco Coffee & Tea, working closely with them to select coffees and develop custom profiles and labels. Orinoco handles sourcing and production, while Leverich’s professional background adds to storytelling, retail operations and partnerships.

“We’ve been growing through direct-to-consumer orders and are now building community partnerships and building out a mobile unit that will bring the brand to life in person,” said Leverich. “I’m a lifelong coffee lover, so this is truly a long-held dream coming to life.”

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