Mission

Doug Welsh is Vice President of Coffee for Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Peet’s was established in 1966 in Berkeley, California, fount of the farm to table renaissance in American foodways. Originator Alfred Peet brought the focus of the industry to the finest grades of Arabica coffee and the pursuit of roasting as a craft. As only the third Roastmaster at the pioneering company and leader of the quality movement. 

Doug is responsible for coffee overall, from sourcing to the blending, roasting, and brewing of a superior customer experience. Among other international fora, he has served as a judge at Cup of Excellence, speaker at Symposium, and is past President of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association. Doug resides in Berkeley and holds degrees in Sociology and Law from the University of California.

Jim Trout has more than 23 years of product development and innovation management experience, including 14 years in coffee. In 2008, Jim joined Smucker from The Procter & Gamble Company as part of the Folgers acquisition. In his current role, Jim oversees coffee research and development, the coffee innovation portfolio, as well as several strategic innovation partnerships. Prior to Smucker, Jim held numerous R&D management and staff roles at Procter & Gamble in the areas of process development, formulation, device development, and program management.

Jim’s career has focused primarily on the food and beverage industry, and has spanned several product categories including oils, coffee, and salted snacks. Jim currently holds 18 U.S. patents. He graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Jim lives near Cleveland in Broadview Heights, Ohio with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he is a board member of BioHio Research Park and volunteers with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Liz Longstreet Darr is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at National DCP in Atlanta, GA, a $2 billion supply chain management company serving the franchisees of Dunkin’ Donuts. Liz started in the foodservice industry almost 20 years ago in restaurant operations, with the past 12 years spent in supply chain roles supporting multi-unit restaurant companies. She completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, and her MBA at Emory University. 

Victoria Salin is Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University and since 2013, she has been Chair of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Agribusiness).  Under her leadership, the Agribusiness program reputation grew to the 2019 ranking of first in the United States and third in the world among professional masters’ degrees in food industry management.  

Dr. Salin’s research relates to food safety, traceability, and efficiency of enterprises involved in food distribution.  Salin provides economic and financial research for the Scientific Advisory Council of the World Food Logistics Organization, an affiliate of the Global Cold Chain Alliance.  Salin serves on the Board of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (an affiliate of the CGIAR international agricultural research system) (since 2016) and in this capacity monitors entrepreneurial ventures and other means to commercialize agricultural technologies to enhance food security in Africa.  In 2020 Salin joined the Board of World Coffee Research.

Salin grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a master’s degree from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in agribusiness finance and international trade.

Andrea Illy is the Chairman of illycaffè SpA and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer for over 22 years, until 2016.

Mr. Illy contributed to make the company famous for its innovation in espresso technology. He joined many boards and his writings are recognized in the coffee sector.

Mr. Illy, who used to define himself as a “humanist chemist”, firmly advocates for corporate responsibility as means to improve society and promotes culture and art.

Among his several recognitions, Andrea Illy was named Cavaliere del Lavoro by the President of the Italian Republic.

Since 2018, Giacomo Celi is the Sustainability Director at Mercon Coffee Group where he leads the global Corporate and Sustainable supply chains activities. 
Giacomo has a strong background in different areas such as tropical agriculture, coffee procurement, international trade, corporate social responsibility and sustainable agro-supply chains. 
With over 15 years of experience in industry, retail and consulting ranging from family-owned to start up and multinational groups, Giacomo knows well the international landscape in the coffee sector. 

Kelly Goodejohn is Vice President, Global Coffee Sustainability and Education at Starbucks where she’s been working for over 14 years. As part of the company’s aspiration to be resource-positive, she leads the sustainability strategy for coffee, tea and cocoa, focused on ways in which Starbucks can reduce its environmental footprint in green coffee while also positively impacting our suppliers, farmers and their communities. In addition, her team is also responsible for creating engaging ways to connect the company’s more than 346,000 partners (employees) who wear the green apron with coffee, whether that be thru origin experiences, the Starbucks Digital Traceability web tool, or the Starbucks Coffee Academy. 
 
Kelly has had the opportunity to work on many innovative projects at Starbucks including the $50M Global Farmer Fund, partnering with NGOs to advance women’s empowerment and advocating for industry collaboration through Conservation International’s Sustainable Coffee Challenge. She has built productive relationships with stakeholders to advance and scale the impact one can have including her board of director role at World Coffee Research and her Leadership Circle role within the Sustainable Food Lab. 
 
With over 25 years of sustainability experience, Kelly has a relentless commitment to making a difference for all. She and her husband have two daughters and while they haven’t acquired a taste for coffee (yet) they have embraced the concept of sustainability and taking care of the planet.

Elizabeth McLaughlin serves as the Group President at Westrock Coffee Company, the parent company of Westrock Coffee Roasting and S&D Coffee and Tea. 

In her role, Elizabeth leads the combined sales, marketing, and client services teams, sustainability initiatives, and the innovation/product development and quality assurance programs.

Elizabeth’s first cup of coffee was in Rwanda in 2013 where she immediately went to visit upon joining Westrock Coffee. This is where Elizabeth fell in love with coffee, the families who cultivate this beautiful, delicious crop and the mission to build strong, ethical supply chains. 

Prior to joining Westrock Coffee, Elizabeth owned and served as Chief Operating Officer of SIR Research, a consumer marketing research firm in Richmond, Virginia. She previously worked as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at PBM Products, a private label consumer products company. She began her career at Alltel Corporation with a role in investor relations, corporate communications, and regional marketing in Virginia and the Carolinas.

Mario Cerutti was born in Torino (Italy) in 1958. He graduated in Business Administration at the University of Torino and got an MBA from the University of Dallas. He has been working in Lavazza since 1986, currently he is Chief Institutional Relations and Sustainability Officer in Lavazza. He is currently President of the European Coffee Federation (ECF) – he served as president in ECF also from 2004 to 2007. He is currently serving as President of  Italian Coffee Committee (CIdC -  Comitato Italiano del Caffè) -  the association of large Italian coffee companies - , as Chairman of the Coffee & Climate Steering Committee and as member of the board of the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC). He is board member of ICP (International Coffee Partners).

Shawn Hamilton is the Vice-President of Operations and Coffee Buyer for Java City, located in Sacramento, California. Since 1985, Java City has pioneered initiatives designed to enhance the global village, support the communities and protect the environment. Shawn has been involved in the Specialty Coffee industry since 1987. During his tenure he has worked in almost every facet of the industry from Barista, packaging, roasting, quality control, coffee buying, purchasing, futures and options hedging to executive management. He was instrumental in several mergers and acquisitions within the industry. His experience also includes a proven dedication to the industry and volunteering. Shawn has been a volunteer in Colombia to teach and evaluate cuppers for Coffee Corps, participates as a lead judge in the annual Cupping for Quality for the Rainforest Alliance, and has been a judge for Cup of Excellence. In addition, he is one of the founding members of the Roasters Guild and served for six years on the Executive Council. While on the Executive Council, Shawn served as Chairman and was instrumental in the creation of the overall structure of the Guild. He has also served on the Board of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association. 

James McLaughlin is the president of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea.  Previously he served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Director of Green Coffee.  James' work with coffee began in earnest in Taquaritinga do Norte, Brazil where he was the director of an organic shade coffee farm. Prior to that James was a corporate lawyer for Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Monique Oxender leads Keurig Dr Pepper efforts to Brew a Better World as its Chief Sustainability Officer. Monique joined Keurig Dr Pepper in 2012 and has navigated a path for integrated sustainability management. This journey travels directly through the intersection of world benefit and business value, informed by meaningful internal and external stakeholder engagement. 

Prior to joining the company, Monique spent eight years with Ford Motor Company where she designed and developed a leading supply chain sustainability program spanning the company's $65B buy from 60 countries. Issues under her responsibility included human rights, indirect carbon and water footprints, and raw material transparency. In addition, she served as Chair of multiple industry workgroups for the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) and represented Ford on United Nations Global Compact, US State Department, Department of Labor and OECD advisory groups. 

With a background in secondary education and sustainability, Monique has an MBA and an MS from the University of Michigan.

Matt Saurage is Chairman of the Board and the fourth generation in the largest family-owned coffee brand in America. Saurage believes in coffee research, particularly that which focuses on origin and agriculture, and is pleased to be part of a research program that allows information to be shared broadly and freely within the coffee industry. 

Jim Smith is the Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Royal Cup Coffee and Tea headquartered in Birmingham, AL and represents third-generation leadership within the family-owned organization. Royal Cup was founded in 1896 and is dedicated to providing high quality coffees and fine teas to customers nationwide.  As one of World Coffee Research’s founding members, Royal Cup continues to actively support the vision and shared responsibility to lead in industry-wide educational efforts to sustain and grow the supply of quality coffee not only for today, but for the generations to come. Jim also serves on Royal Cup’s Board of Directors.

Keith Writer is the Supply Director and an experienced member of the leadership team responsible for creating long-term strategy and the day to day running of Taylors. With overall responsibility for all direct purchases including coffee, tea and packaging in addition to research and development and sustainability for the Taylors business.

With over twenty years of experience Keith has traveled extensively around the world seeking out the top quality teas and coffees enjoyed by Taylors of Harrogate customers, including bringing to market new organic teas, rare teas and coffees and a herbal range. Travel is integral to his job and he spends several months in the course of the year visiting suppliers and growers worldwide, creating and sustaining strong direct relationships that are key to the business' approach to sourcing. Keith is a past member Board member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, United Kingdom Tea Council and British Coffee Association.

Hope Bagozzi, one of Canada’s top marketing minds, joined Tim Hortons in January 2020 as the Chief Marketing Officer. A deeply respected and award-winning marketing leader, Hope brings deep experience in the QSR industry having also worked for 15 years with McDonald’s Canada, including leading the marketing team as Marketing Officer. As the recipient of Cannes Lions, Effies, Cassies and Marketer of the Year awards, Hope has been recognized for her work both in Canada and internationally and has also lent her expertise to industry and charitable boards, including for IAB Canada, the Effies and the Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory. She is currently a board member for the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps. Hope takes equal pride in developing buzz-worthy campaigns as she does in building teams, relationships and ideas that are driven by a philosophy of marketing with purpose – driving clarity around what a brand uniquely stands for.

Nanda Bergstein is the Director for Corporate Responsibility at the German Coffee and Consumer retailer Tchibo. Since 13 years, she held several sustainability related roles in the company and is now -together with her team- responsible for managing Tchibo's transition towards becoming a fully sustainable business. 

Nanda brings an in-depth understanding and broad outlook on global supply chains and consumer goods as well as coffee to the table. Her mission is to challenge the status quo, seeking out paradigm shifts and innovations to bring more human rights and environmental protection into global supply chains and products. Nanda is driven by scaling sustainability via sector initiatives and systemic approaches and to develop new approaches towards more sustainable consumption. This also entails engaging consumers for a stronger movement towards sustainability from the demand side. 

Nanda graduated in International Relations at the Technical University of Dresden (BA) and Gender, Development and Globalisation (MSc) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).