Lecture Description
Join us in this panel as we delve into the transformative role of direct cash transfers, specifically micro-grants, in bolstering the resilience of smallholder farmers within coffee communities. While traditional sustainability efforts often revolve around capacity building, this discussion aims to challenge preconceptions about cash transfers by examining their impact on various facets of farmers' lives beyond just income. Rather than viewing them as mere handouts, we will scrutinize the thriving income index, emphasizing qualitative aspects such as stress levels, agency, and overall well-being.
Date: Saturday, June 29, 2024
Time: 13:00 - 14:00
Location: Lecture Room 2
This lecture is free to attend with a World of Coffee entry badge. Register to attend World of Coffee Copenhagen here.
Lecturers / Presenters
Abhinav Khanal (he/him)
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Bean Voyage
Abhinav Khanal is a social entrepreneur focused on reducing inequities in the world. He is the founder of two ventures: Bean Voyage and Little Big Fund.
Bean Voyage is a feminist non-profit social enterprise that works to build thriving businesses with smallholder women coffee farmers. Through a unique bundle of training, finance, mentorship, and global market access, Bean Voyage supports women in coffee-growing regions in achieving economic independence.
Abhinav is also the Co-Founder & Chief Thought Officer of Little Big Fund, a social impact organization that provides tools, networks, and funds to changemakers around the world.
Abhinav has a B.A in Politics from Earlham College, and is a Facilitator of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Social Change Course and Design Thinking Course at the Centre for Executive Education, United Nations Mandated University for Peace.
Sunghee Tark (she/her)
Co-founder and CEO, Bean Voyage
Sunghee Tark is the co-founder and CEO of Bean Voyage, a feminist non-profit social enterprise that collaborates with smallholder women coffee producers in Latin America. Her interest in the specialty coffee industry has initially stemmed from her passion to understand the intersectionality of income and gender inequality and she looked at coffee as one of the tools to address the issue. She explored this interest through academic research at the London School of Economics where she finished her master’s degree in 2019. Her research explored the role that coffee producers’ cooperatives play in promoting gender equality in farming communities and how to better engage different stakeholders. Through her work with Bean Voyage, a feminist non-profit social enterprise that she co-founded with Abhinav Khanal, she collaborates with smallholder womxn coffee producers and youths in coffee communities to co-create a sustainable supply chain that works for all. She is also the 2019-2021 Specialty Coffee Association’s LEAD Scholar (Leadership, Equity, and Diversity), Byron Fellow, Re: Co Fellow, Davis Scholar, Socap Entrepreneur fellow and Ackerman-Nicholson Scholar.
Nora Burkey (she/her)
Founder and Executive Director, The Chain Collaborative
Nora Burkey founded The Chain Collaborative in 2014 in order to invest in community-led development in the coffee sector. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the School for International Training, where she focused on gender in development and food systems. She is part of the Creator’s Group for the SCA Coffee Sustainability Program and is currently an Authorized SCA Trainer. Under the banner of TCC, she consults on a number of coffee projects, has written for several coffee magazines and blogs, and has taught at a variety of educational institutions. She speaks English and Spanish.
Nic Lauten (he/him)
Executive Director, Kula
Nic Lauten is the Executive Director for Kula, a nonprofit organization that exists to eradicate poverty through the development of entrepreneurs in Rwanda's coffee communities. With over 15 years working in economic development and 6 years residing in East Africa, Nic is energized by impact and by seeing farmers create new realities for themselves and their families. Through the Kula Fellowship Program, which combines agronomy training, business development and microfinance, coffee farmers on average double their harvest and triple their income within one year of graduation.