2022 US Chapter Elections

National Coordinator: 1 Coordinator

The National Coordinator is the voice and representative of the United States of America for the Specialty Coffee Association. This is an elected role by popular vote.

Requirements:

• Leadership skills/previous leadership experience
• Ability to plan at a macro level
• Familiarity with a large network of coffee professionals within the US
• Basic familiarity with SCA as an organization
• Public speaking skills
• Ability to deal with high stress situations
• Ability to promote and build consensus within a group
• Ability to commit to an average of 10-15 hours per week of volunteer work
• Ability to commit to a 2-year term

Responsibilities:

• Engaging regularly with the association’s Community Experience Team
• Ensuring that all committee coordinators reflect the Association's vision and aspirations in engaging with members and the wider community
• Organizing townhalls for all chapter members to attend
• Promoting, liaising, and communicating with chapter members on a regular basis
• Cooperating with the Association’s election team during the next election period
• Helping lead chapter meetings and supporting coordinators as needed
• Providing direction in tasks that are done
• Communicating with SCA staff/leadership
• Attend Chapter meetings and participate in working groups/committees

Goals:

• To be an ambassador for the Specialty Coffee Association, promoting the association through Events, Education and other activities for the full term
• To help guide the future of SCA USA and communicate that direction to SCA global, while representing US interests

Community Coordinator: 1 Coordinator

Community Coordinators are individuals who closely connect with their small, local communities and wish to grow or strengthen those communities. Communities may be coffee organizations within a regional area or town as well as communities that represent marginalized or underrepresented coffee professionals. These might be local or national in reach and are determined by the coordinator themself.

Requirements:

• Represents a small community with limited resources (town/small city, or group of people who are not geographically bound)
• Able to commit to an average of 8 hours/month of volunteer work. This time is divided between keeping up with US Chapter activities through Chapter Meetings, participating in working groups, and liaising with their self-identified community
• Able to commit to a 2-year term

Responsibilities:

• Representing and listening to community interests to help guide chapter activities and events
• Collaborating with other chapter members to exchange information about events and activities
• Working with the Chapter Committee to create resources to develop new and existing communities across the USA
• Fostering relationships with existing communities through engagement at local events, virtual events, and on virtual platforms
• Attend Chapter meetings and participate in working groups/committees

Goals:

• Connecting people from smaller communities to the national conversation and ensuring that voices of smaller communities are considered when decisions are being made

Regional Coordinators: 5 Coordinators

Regional representation of an area of the U.S. Coordinators should be well connected and feel like they have ties to a specific, identifiable geographic area. The open regions are West (2), East (2), and Hawai’i (1). See below to learn more about the regions, as well as how they’re elected.

Requirements:

• Ability to work with a diverse group of individuals to build consensus.
• Able to commit to an average of 8 hours/month of volunteer work, which will consist of responding to/supporting people in their area, attending Chapter meetings and working group meetings, supporting events, and working with the other coordinators in their region.
• Able to commit to a 2-year term.

Responsibilities:

• Identifying prospective and new members and supporting their on-boarding.
• Promoting the regional events and activities as well as the association events and activities. Looking for opportunities for regional events.
• Organizing community meetings.
• Gathering and sharing resources which are geographically specific
• Assisting organization of events in their region.
• Representing the chapter at virtual/in-person events.
• Creating and leading a regional committee.
• Working with Competitions Coordinator to plan and support Prelims
• Attend Chapter meetings and participate in working groups/committees

Goals:

• Connecting people with training and resources in a given area
• Assisting in event planning/execution, including competition prelims
• Representing a specific geographic region and their needs

Social Accountability Coordinator: 1 Coordinator

This coordinator will join 2 existing Social Accountability coordinators to help identify and remove potential or existing barriers for various groups of people, as well as help the US Chapter and Chapter events become more inclusive and accessible for all. These coordinators will work as a team and have regular check-ins about opportunities to create or influence positive change in the Chapter, US coffee community, and SCA as a whole. SCA staff support recognizes that these roles are essential to the mission of the US Chapter and will support them as necessary.

We do not intend for the bulk of our diversity to come from this group, but this group works to ensure that the structure of our organization/Chapter events are inclusive and diverse.

Requirements:

• Must be a member of a marginalized community
• Must have an interest in creating opportunities for marginalized people and breaking down the barriers that hold them back
• Ability to commit to an average of 8 hours/month of volunteer work

Responsibilities:

• High level of communication with other working groups within the Chapter
• Active involvement in advocating for equity and inclusion
• Holding the chapter, coordinators, and chapter affiliates accountable for all actions
• Make changes to the chapter as needed in order to ensure the chapter stays true to its mission
• Attend regular meetings and events.
• Ability to seek out and actively include underrepresented groups
• Attend Chapter meetings and participate in working groups/committees

Goals:

• Make the industry better for people
• Help the Chapter move forward and question the structures which limit people
• Engage with other coordinators on their projects, committee work, and events in order to ensure they are staying true to the Chapter’s mission

Social Engagement Coordinator: 1 coordinator

Working closely with SCA staff, this person is in charge of making sure the chapter’s voice and message are consistent and representative of our collective voice.

Requirements:

• Related experience
• Willingness to learn
• Active listening skills
• Ability to convey the voice and image of the chapter
• Familiarity with multiple social media and communications platforms, including: Facebook, Slack, Instagram, Mailchimp, Canva and/or other illustration platforms
• An ability to create or maintain a network of coffee professionals relevant to the role
• Exceptional organizational skills
• Ability to commit to an average of 8-10 hours per week of volunteer work

Responsibilities:

• Managing US Chapter communications on all platforms
• Liaising with other Chapter Members
• Attend Chapter meetings and participate in working groups/committees

Goals:

• Communicate Chapter projects and initiatives to the public
• Listen to what SCA stakeholders in the US want through social media platforms
• Convey an appropriate image and voice for the Chapter

Barista Guild Liaison: 1 Coordinator

Guild liaisons represent the professional perspectives of their respective coffee guild in the United States. This role will help the US Chapter work more with the Barista Guild while better supporting Barista Guild events and interests within the United States.

Requirements:

• Have a connection to the Barista Guild and keep an open line of communication with both the Barista Guild and Chapter
• Have a basic understanding of how the Barista Guild operates and is excited to get more involved with the guild
• Able to commit to an average of 8 hours/month of volunteer work, which will consist of responding to/supporting people in the Barista Guild, attending Chapter meetings as well as relevant Barista Guild meetings, and supporting Barista events.

Responsibilities:

• Attend regular guild meetings and events
• Attend Chapter meetings
• Advocate for needs of the guilds and help organize volunteers when guilds need help for things

Goals:

• Increase collaboration between the US Chapter and Barista Guild
• Help both organizations produce better events
• Communicate needs of the US Chapter to Barista Guild and vice versa

Why should I nominate myself to serve on the US Chapter committee?

A chapter reflects the SCA’s global vision, mission, and purpose on a local scale. Chapters can more efficiently develop and serve their communities with respect to culture and language. As a committee member of an SCA Chapter, you help provide access, influence, and a sense of belonging to your local community as part of a global network.

SCA Chapters are organized and lead by volunteers in their country. The election is run by SCA staff and communicated via email to all SCA members as well as promoted to the general community. In the US Chapter election, anyone from the community can be nominated for a leadership position. There is no limit to the number of nominees. All selected leadership are required to commit to the two-year term, volunteer responsibility, and SCA membership when they accept the position.

How is the US Chapter leadership selected?

The National Coordinator is elected through a popular vote and the Competitions Coordinator, Coffee Roasters Guild Liaison, and Coffee Technicians Guild Liaison are appointed by external committees. All other positions are selected through a partially-random lottery process.

What is a lottery selection?

A lottery selection, also referred to as a sortition, is selection of leaders at random from a large pool of candidates. A true lottery is where everyone is considered.

The US Chapter is proceeding with a partially-random lottery where candidates submit their own names for one of the open positions this year. It is okay to nominate someone other than yourself and the committee will reach out to that person to make sure they agree to being nominated for that position. There is minimal vetting in this process. We ask that folx agree to the code of conduct, the US Chapter mission, that the nominee agrees to the two year term and hours required for the volunteer position. There are a few positions that are available only to self-identified marginalized community members. This partially-random lottery helps remove barriers to entry while encouraging a more diverse range of nominees.

To learn more about the lottery process, we encourage you to review this podcast.

What platform is the US Chapter using for the selection?

Each candidate will be assigned a number then we will use random.org as the selection tool. We will contact the candidate selected to confirm they are still interested in moving forward and filling the position.

Are any coordinators from the current US Chapter leadership returning?

Yes, there are 14 coordinators from the 2021 - 2022 US Chapter leadership that are returning, some in different roles, to ensure a smooth transition. This decision creates an opportunity for a staggered election where half of the coordinator roles will turnover each year. The returning coordinators are:

Central Regional Coordinator - Jasmin McGinnis
Central Regional Coordinator - Wes Wakefield
West Regional Coordinator - Jeni Kisa
West Regional Coordinator - Arthur Duarte de Barros
East Regional Coordinator - Brandon Bir
Puerto Rico Regional Coordinator - Evelyn Hernandez
Community Coordinator - Kathy Altamirano
Development Coordinator - Jess Ross
Social Engagement Coordinator - Cydni Patterson
Social Accountability Coordinator - Daniel Gutierrez
Social Accountability Coordinator & Coffee Roasters Guild Liaison - Baylee Engberg
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator - Grayson Caldwell
Competitions Coordinator (appointed) - Lauren Lathrop
Coffee Technicians Guild Liaison (appointed) - Christopher Brown

Who can participate and put their name in the lottery for selection?

Any US-based coffee professional can be nominated for a position and entered in the lottery. All selected leadership are required to commit to the two-year term, volunteer responsibility and SCA membership when they accept the position.

How can I volunteer?

Put your name in the lottery to apply for a specific role. If you do not get selected or if you want to volunteer for a shorter period of time, email us at uschapter@sca.coffee and we will contact you for any future volunteer opportunities!

Who does the US Chapter serve?

The US Chapter serves and represents the US coffee community as a whole.

Who can I contact if I am seeking support from the US Chapter for a project I am working on?

Send us an email at uschapter@sca.coffee.

Can I nominate someone for a role, and how does that process work?

Yes! You can nominate someone else by submitting the nomination form with their contact information. We will contact them to verify that they are interested in putting their name up for selection.

If I am nominated multiple times for one role, do I get more chances to be selected for the role?

No. You will only have your name entered once for each role you are nominated for.

Is there a limit to how many people can be nominated for each role?

No, the more the merrier!

What is the Code of Conduct for volunteers?

You can find the Code of Conduct here: https://sca.coffee/code-of-conduct.