Q PROCESSING INSTRUCTOR, CEREZA

Hernando Tapasco is an agronomist and Q Grader with 20 years’ experience cupping. A Q Processing Instructor, he has worked training producer families in processing practices to differentiate cup profiles.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHER, CENICAFÉ

Food Engineer and PhD in Engineering. Currently associated with the National Coffee Research Center - Cenicafé. Scientific researcher and lead of the quality discipline developing projects in water activity, roasting curves, fruit maturity degrees, and prolonged fermentations. Q-Grader. Q-Processing. Q-Expert by the Coffee Quality Institute.

COFFEE QUALITY CONSULTANT, CAFEYCIENCIA

Darveris Rivas is a coffee expert from Venezuela with a distinguished career in the coffee industry. He studied Chemistry and is certified as a Q Arabica Grader and specialist in coffee processing by the Coffee Quality Institute. As an instructor, he has taught at universities.

TECHNICAL OFFICER, SCA

From a coffee producing family in Mexico, Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda has tried to understand coffee for almost 30 years, under the light of food science. He has played many roles along the chain, from processor to coffee shop owner, but has mostly focused on the study of coffee flavor, how it is perceived and appreciated, and how it is formed. He is the Technical Officer of the SCA, which he joined in 2020.

CHIEF STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, SCA

Kim Elena Ionescu is the Chief Strategy Development Officer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), where she leads a team that turns research and emerging knowledge into event programs, standards, educational curriculum, and publications that serve specialty coffee industry businesses and professionals across the supply chain and around the world. Prior to joining the association in 2015, Kim spent a decade buying coffee and directing sustainability at Counter Culture Coffee in North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two daughters.

INNOVATION OFFICER

Jenn Rugolo is the Innovation Officer at the Specialty Coffee Association, where she leads a continuous cycle of development and refinement to ensure that the SCA's activities meet the needs its diverse stakeholders and align with its strategic aims. Perpetually curious about how people create culture and belonging through different activities, Jenn most recently worked as the SCA’s Editor and Curatorial Director.