WEBINAR: Building Resilient Coffee Businesses
Tuesday, September 22 | 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT
On September 22, USWIC brings together six coffee professionals for a conversation on resilience across the value chain, from production to logistics to retail. Meet the panelists.
Ana María Donneys — Founder & CEO, Café Primitivo
Ana María Donneys is a fifth-generation coffee producer from Quindío, Colombia, and Founder and CEO of Café Primitivo, a family coffee company focused on specialty production, processing, and international trade. A certified Q Grader, she currently serves as President of IWCA Colombia, working to expand education and market access for women across the coffee value chain. Since taking over her family's business in 2019, she has focused on building a more resilient, sustainable operation through innovation in processing and quality, direct relationships with roasters and importers, and greater value creation at origin. She holds a degree in Business Administration, a specialization in Innovation and Business Development, and a Master's in Coffee Agribusiness.
Areli Barrera Grodski — Co-founder & Green Coffee Buyer, Little Waves Coffee Roasters
Areli Barrera Grodski is co-founder and green coffee buyer of Little Waves Coffee Roasters and Cocoa Cinnamon in Durham, North Carolina. Her coffee journey began in 2009 in the Great Smoky Mountains, and drawing on her experience as an immigrant, she and her husband Leon built Cocoa Cinnamon from a bicycle cart into three coffee shops and a roastery. Little Waves, a majority-women team, was named Micro Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine in 2022; the roastery was later featured in Apple TV+'s Omnivore and Standart Magazine, and in 2026 its Rio Dulce Gesha won a Good Food Award. Areli is driven by building meaningful connections across the coffee supply chain and supporting small communities and women producers worldwide.
Colleen Walsh — Logistics Manager, Covoya Specialty Coffee
Colleen Walsh is Covoya Specialty Coffee's logistics manager, with extensive experience in shipping and logistics within the coffee industry. Her career spans a wide range of freight work, from loading odd-sized cargo to negotiating ocean freight contracts, giving her a ground-level understanding of how coffee actually moves from origin to roaster. She navigated some of the industry's toughest logistics disruptions during the COVID pandemic, developing a sharp sense for timing and risk in a business where delays carry real cost. Colleen brings a practical, experience-tested perspective on the operational side of coffee, and is known within Covoya for the community-minded approach she brings to an often-overlooked part of the supply chain.
Katherine Morris — Owner & CFO, Cherry Coffee
Katherine Morris owns and operates Cherry Coffee, a Fort Worth, Texas coffee shop and roastery she founded in 2021 with a vision built on kindness and inclusion. In 2023, she acquired Novel Coffee Roasters and assembled a female-led roasting team, launching the Cherry Coffee bean line in 2024 and expanding to nationwide shipping. A self-described spreadsheet nerd, Katherine serves as the company's CFO in addition to running day-to-day operations, giving her a full view of the business from the register to the roaster to the balance sheet. Her work reflects a commitment to championing small, independent coffee businesses while staying true to Cherry's local roots.
Cheryl Hung — Co-Founder, Furthers & Betters
Cheryl Hung is Co-Founder of Furthers & Betters, a consumer insights and intelligence platform built for the specialty coffee industry. With over 20 years of experience turning business questions into confident decisions, she is passionate about helping coffee brands better understand the people they serve, making research rigorous, approachable, and actionable across the value chain. Cheryl serves on the Board of Directors for the IWCA Canada Chapter and previously served on the board of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity. She also mentors emerging talent through Women in Research. Whether leading a workshop or presenting findings, Cheryl is rarely far from a cup of black coffee.
Phyllis Johnson — President & Co-founder, BD Imports; Founder, Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity (Co-moderator)
Phyllis Johnson is President and Co-founder of BD Imports and Founder and Board Chair of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity (CCRE). Alongside her husband Patrick, she built BD Imports into a bridge between coffee producers in Africa and Latin America and specialty roasters across the U.S. and Canada. With more than 25 years in the industry, she has helped establish IWCA chapters in East Africa and the Black Coffee Producers' Program in Brazil, and in 2020 authored an open letter that led to CCRE's founding. Her honors include Harvard Kennedy School's Barbara Jordan Award and YWCA Woman Business Owner of the Year. She holds a degree in Microbiology from the University of Arkansas and a master's in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
Mark Inman — Director of Sales, Covoya Specialty Coffee (Co-moderator)
Mark Inman is Director of Sales for Covoya Specialty Coffee and has worked in the coffee industry since 1988. He is the former owner of Taylor Maid Farms, an organic educational farm and coffee roastery in Occidental, California, and the former founder of the Organic Coffee Association. Mark has held leadership roles across the industry as former President of the Specialty Coffee Association, former Chair of World Coffee Events, and former Chair of the Roasters Guild. He currently serves on the board of the U.S. chapter of the International Women's Coffee Alliance and is longtime co-host of The Exchange, a podcast by Covoya Specialty Coffee.
Join us September 22 as this panel discusses resilience across the coffee supply chain.