About Us

Nora founded The Chain Collaborative in 2014 in order to invest in local leaders as they developed and implemented community projects in coffee regions around the world. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the Graduate Institute at School for International Training, where she focused her studies on gender in development and food systems. She is part of the Creator’s Group for the Coffee Sustainability Program of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and is currently an Authorized SCA Trainer for the program. Under the banner of TCC and in collaboration with other industry colleagues, she consults on a number of projects, has written for several coffee magazines and blogs, and has taught at a variety of educational institutions. She is fluent in Spanish and English.

Camila is a coffee quality specialist with a communications background. Based in Quito, Ecuador, she holds a B.A. in Graphic Design & Communications from San Francisco de Quito University and has more than 20 years of experience in these fields. She started her journey in coffee in 2014, when she founded Botánica, a café, training center, and quality lab. Afterward, she worked in different roles throughout the coffee industry, specializing in coffee quality and education. While working closely with producers and sourcing and processing Ecuadorian coffee, she was encouraged to learn more about sustainability and get involved with community-led development in the coffee sector, which led her to TCC. Camila is a Q Arabica Grader and is currently completing the Assistant Instructor Program of the Coffee Quality Institute. She is fluent in Spanish and English.

Carolina is a researcher and communications specialist with previous experience as a journalist. Based in Madrid, Spain, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Rey Juan Carlos University and a master’s degree in International Relations from Queen Mary University of London. A personal interest in sustainability led her to investigate coffee farming communities in the Canary Islands and northern Argentina, which launched her into a research and communications career in the coffee sector. Alongside her role at TCC, she works part-time for Digital Coffee Future, supporting their communications efforts. She is fluent in Spanish and English.

Originally from New Mexico, Emma is now based in Bern, Switzerland. She is an Authorized Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Trainer (AST) for the Coffee Sustainability Program (CSusP) and holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the University of Graz and the University of Basel, where she researched the global coffee price crisis and the rise of emerging coffee origins. In 2024, she completed a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced Studies in Coffee Excellence at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Her journey in coffee spans over a decade, with hands-on experience as a barista, latte art instructor, and roaster. These roles helped shape her passion for sustainability and producer-focused initiatives. Alongside teaching the CSusP for TCC, she works as a coffee roaster and barista and supports sustainability reporting for Drip Coffee Roasters in Bern. She speaks English and is currently advancing her German and Spanish.

Nicole is a coffee educator and inclusive leadership advocate from Puerto Rico, now based in Oklahoma City, United States. She serves as Lead Coffee Trainer and Corporate Manager for the nonprofit coffee organization Not You Average Joe, where she supports training systems and leadership development across multiple cafe locations that are focused on employing individuals of all abilities.

With over 18 years of experience in specialty coffee and education, Nicole is an Authorized Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Trainer (AST), delivering professional coffee education in English and Spanish. She holds a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and multiple SCA certifications.

Emeric is a coffee professional working across the value chain, building long-term, direct relationships between smallholder producers and consumers. Originally from Québec, Canada, he has been based year-round in El Salvador since 2023, working closely with producers as they transition toward specialty coffee, with a focus on harvest productivity, climate resilience, and income stability.

Through Fantôme Café, Emeric develops sourcing models that are transparent, equitable, and sustainable, grounded in trust, long-term commitment, and decision-making that centers producers rather than markets. With a background in anthropology, he approaches coffee as a human system first, paying close attention to power dynamics, labor conditions, and the lived realities at origin. Photography and storytelling are also part of his practice, helping bridge the distance between producers and consumers and making visible the work that often goes unseen.

Emeric speaks French, English, and Spanish.

Ashley is a coffee professional with a background in coffee operations, sourcing, and education. Based in Colorado Springs, she serves as Coffee Director at Loyal Coffee, where she leads green coffee buying and quality strategy across retail and wholesale operations.

Before transitioning into coffee, Ashley studied biochemistry and worked in research, developing a strong analytical foundation and a curiosity for complex systems. Over the past decade, she has worked across multiple layers of the supply chain, from cafe leadership and training to roasting, green purchasing, and sales. Through building sourcing programs and long-term producer partnerships, she developed a focused interest in transparency, economic sustainability, and collaborative supply models.

Her work centers on aligning quality with equity and building resilient, relationship-driven coffee programs that support long-term viability across the value stream.

Stephanie is passionate about the specialty coffee industry and helping agribusiness be more sustainable and profitable for everyone involved, especially those who have been historically disadvantaged. Stephanie joined the TCC board in 2022 and brings 15 years of experience in strategic research and advisory services, stakeholder engagement, partnership development, and project management, particularly at the intersection of sustainable development and business. She focuses on harnessing the power of business to drive meaningful change and address social and environmental challenges. This includes helping companies analyze new markets, identify underserved customer segments, and strengthen supplier relationships. It also includes helping industry associations and governments better support businesses of all sizes. Stephanie’s professional projects have covered diverse sectors and geographies, including particularly exciting work aiming to develop domestic coffee markets in coffee-producing countries. Stephanie has an MA from Tufts University and a BA from Wellesley College. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

Ben joined The Chain Collaborative board in 2015 as the founding board member. He began his work in coffee in 2005, starting 1000 Faces Coffee as a roasting and importing company. He later lived in Los Angeles and worked for Frinj Coffee and 49th Parallel Coffee. Ben was a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he focused on ecosystems and western philosophy, two lifelong passions he continued to study until his passing. Throughout his career, Ben was fortunate to travel extensively throughout the coffee lands, making over 20 voyages to different coffee-producing countries in his almost 20 years of working in the sector. He left an indelible mark on all those who knew him, and we thank him for being one of the first people in the coffee industry to see the potential of The Chain Collaborative. May his beautiful light continue to shine from up above.

Alejandra Rodriguez is the Give Miami Day and Special Events Director at The Miami Foundation. With over 15 years of experience in marketing, development, and event planning, she has worked in international development with multicultural teams and industries across the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Prior to her role at The Miami Foundation, Alejandra worked with nonprofits focusing on Latin America, including TECHO, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes youth volunteers to fight extreme poverty in Latin America by constructing transitional housing and implementing social inclusion programs, and the Seeds for Progress Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of education in coffee-growing communities in Guatemala and previously in Nicaragua. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an MBA from INCAE Business School. Alejandra is a strong believer in the power of collaboration through public-private partnerships to achieve sustainable results and long-term impact.

Adam is a husband, father of two girls, and loves working in the world of specialty coffee. With a diverse professional background spanning nearly two decades, his experience includes co-founding a coffee roasting business, building affordable housing, managing urban infrastructure reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, co-founding and leading a non-profit start-up in Nicaragua, and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Driven to support people who co-create meaningful cross-cultural connections and inspire sustainability, he joined The Chain Collaborative board in 2024. He is a fluent Spanish speaker with a BA in Theology from Boston College and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA.

Gelila Solomon is a medical doctor, public health expert, and social entrepreneur committed to creating systems that return value to producer communities and strengthen local economies. She is the Founder and Director of Tilaye, a start-up building a centralized, transparent marketplace that connects socially conscious consumers with responsible producers and businesses. With a strong background in coffee sustainability, Gelila is focused through Tilaye on expanding equitable value chains that prioritize producer livelihoods and environmental stewardship. Though her career began in clinical medicine, with first-hand experience in both urban and remote rural settings—her first role as a physician was at Lalibela Hospital, located 600 km from Ethiopia’s capital—this early exposure to the inequities and structural challenges of healthcare and rural economies shaped her commitment to systemic change. Tilaye is an extension of this commitment, and currently integrates medical expertise, grassroots understanding, and entrepreneurial thinking to drive impact at the intersection of health, sustainability, and inclusive development for equitable value chains.

Ella Taylor is an environmental educator and water rights campaigner based in the United Kingdom. With a degree in sustainable development and geography, Ella gained a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which systems of land use, agribusiness, and international development often dictated the livelihoods of farming communities disproportionately. Having worked on farms for much of her life as well as on the TCC team from 2020-2022, Ella feels passionately about continuing her efforts to strengthen the sovereignty and collective power of coffee farming communities worldwide. Through her experience as a staff member with TCC and her interdisciplinary background and approach to enacting sustainable change, Ella brings an informed and multi-angled perspective to the TCC board.