2017 Roasters Guild Executive Council Election Now Open!
Executive Council members are elected each year by the Roasters Guild’s membership to fill vacancies left by outgoing members of the Roasters Guild Executive Council. Each Executive Council member serves a two-year term. Terms start the day after the Global Specialty Coffee Expo (April), and end two years later, at the end of the Expo. There are six (6) open positions on the Executive Council for the 2017-2019 term.
For more information on the election process, please review the Roasters Guild Code of Regulations here. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the governance of your guild. Your vote is important! Deadline for voting is December 21, 2016. Election results announced January 6, 2017.
Listed below are the Roasters Guild Executive Council Nominees for the 2017 election cycle. Each position on the council serves a two-year term. Please review each candidate profile carefully and prepare to vote. You must be current Roasters Guild member to vote.
CANDIDATES
ANNE COOPER, EQUILIBRIUM MASTER ROASTERS
INCUMBENT
With over 23 years working in the coffee industry, Anne is an Australian roaster who has gained extensive experience in many areas of the coffee industry as barista, café owner/manager, national barista trainer & assessor, head roaster/roasting production manager at both a national & international level.
A certified Q Grader, Anne regularly attends, volunteers, competes in & judges regional, national & international Barista, Brewers, Cup Tasting & Roasting competitions in Australia, USA & Brazil. With her consulting company, Equilibrium Master Roasters, Anne continues to develop her extensive roasting skills & knowledge with exposure to a wide range of roasting machines (from large Commercial roasters to small Specialty roasters), various roasting techniques & industry relevant processes and protocols - skills & knowledge she is really passionate about passing on to the next generation of FlameKeepers!
JOE MARROCCO, CAFE IMPORTS
INCUMBENT
Joe Marrocco has served in several areas of Specialty Coffee from Barista to Roaster to Green Importing. When it comes to roasting, Joe loves to talk theory, try new equipment, break old roasting rules, and roast lots of different coffees. As a Sr. Sales Associate and the Director of Education at Café Imports, Joe has been given lots of opportunities to do just that. If you are ever in the Twin Cities area, you should look him up! He will likely take you out for coffee. If you can’t find him at the office, you may want to look around one of the many lakes or rivers where he and his kids will likely be hiking and fishing, or check his kitchen. Joe loves to cook, especially for friends.
JEN APODACA, ROYAL COFFEE
INCUMBENT
Jen Apodaca started roasting coffee in 2005 for McMenamins Inc. in Portland, Oregon. She has roasted coffee for Ecco Caffe, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, and Blue Bottle Coffee. She is now the Director of Roasting for The Crown; Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room. She has experience on several styles of roasting machines and is dedicated to the craft of making coffee more delicious. She is an International Juror for the Cup of Excellence and the Chair of the Coffee Committee of the Good Food Awards for the past 4 years.
STEVEN LEE, GROUNDWORK COFFEE & TEA
INCUMBENT
Steven Lee began his coffee career in 1996 as a barista at Peet's Coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area. After spending a number of years in the Training & Education Department of Peet's, he moved on to help open the Roasting and QC Department at Intelligentsia Coffee's Los Angeles Roasting Works, where he developed his love for the craft of roasting. Since then he has worked on a number of consultancy projects, and has served as a judge for international coffee competitions. Steven is currently a Certificate Holding Lead Instructor for the SCAA, which allows him the opportunity to teach, help others, and have meaningful conversations about coffee; something he actually enjoys. Steven currently holds the position of Director of Coffee Quality and Education at Groundwork Coffee in Los Angeles where he spends his days cupping coffee, writing educational programs, and figuring out better ways to make coffee brown.
ANTHONY AUGER, GENUINE ORIGIN
There’s a fine line between addiction and dedication, and Tony has successfully balanced his career in coffee by going back and forth between the two. Tony’s first job in specialty coffee started as a way to fund his increasing habit of going to a cafe and ordering one of everything. He has now spent the past decade transitioning from coffee consumer to barista, then head roaster, QC lab manager and now he resides in green importing. Along the way he picked up various awards and accolades for his devotion to coffee - including four regional and national Brewers Cup placings, a US Roasting Competition placing, a Good Foods Award, and 3 consecutive Roasters Guild Executive Council nominations. Tony now works on the Roasters Guild Events Committee and as a Regional Partnership Manager for the Genuine Origin Coffee Project where he helps bridge the gap between coffee producers and roasters. He looks forward to joining the Roasters Guild Executive Council as another way to link people with specialty coffee.
DAVID MYERS, MIGHTY GOOD COFFEE
I grew up in a home where whole beans, grinders and Chemex were the standard in the days when Chock Full o’Nuts and Sanka were prevelant. Eleven years ago, I ventured in to specialty coffee when I happened upon a Diedrich IR-12 that was for sale along with several bags of beans. I’ve been hooked ever since going from a part-time roaster delivering coffee door to door to operating several cafes and a wholesale business. Along the way, I’ve been volunteering at Roaster’s Guild, Barista Camps and SCAA Events as a Lead and Station Instructor and served on the Roaster’s Guild Curriculum Council for the past two years. I’ve been fortunate to travel to origin and meet some of the people that grow the coffee I roast and have made many great friends in the coffee community. I recently traded in my Diedrich for a Loring but often have the most fun trying new machines in the roasting tent at the Retreat. I’m especially interested in connecting with and engaging newer members with the Guild and growing and diversifying the membership. And I make it a point to make sure my parents still get a weekly shipment of fresh coffee.
JOHN NICOLINI, PEET'S COFFEE & TEA
John 'Nic' Nicolini Jr. has always had a deep curiosity for how things work. As a boy he would spend his time dissembling and reassembling his parents radios and vacuum cleaners, and from there moved on to cars and motorcycles. So when he began his career in coffee at Peet's Coffee in 1990, it was a natural transition to mechanic for coffee roasters. Under the guidance of Jim Reynolds, he transitioned from mechanic to full time coffee roaster, making modifications to his roasting machines that caused Alfred Peet and roasting manufacturers alike to take notice. After 20 years of coffee roasting and millions of pounds of roasting experience, Nic is the Director of Roasting Operations for Peet's Coffee. He has built and rebuilt roasting equipment, perfected heat application, created green silo systems from scratch and has mentored many coffee roasters in the industry. Nic continues to honor his commitment to teaching others and endless curiosity.
