A Look Inside Dean's Beans
You might already know this, but we're not a coffee roaster. (I can hear it now. Gasp! What?! No!) Yes, it's true - we are an international development organization disguised as a coffee roaster. The community development work is our mission...and the delicious coffee we roast is the vehicle through which we get it done. I bring this up now because this week was so full and rich for all of us here at Dean's Beans, it gave us pause. This past week was a clear reminder that we are a coffee AND CHANGE organization.
Here is what "Brewing Great Coffee" and "Creating Real Change" can look like day-to-day...
Friday June 14:
PRODECOOP is now off and running on their 2019 development goals! I sent money to them today, to help them accomplish their 2019 goals for the "Forgotten Children Literacy Program" and the native-tree Reforestation Project. They sent me their proposal with their priorities back in April, and after some back and forth, the plan for the year was set. I can't wait to see what they accomplish this year! We just updated with the 2018 results - check it out here!
I also wired the committed money to PANGOA in Peru, enabling them to get to work on the next phases of 1) their reforestation program 2) micro-loans to women 3) upgrading bathrooms and 4) educational scholarships for local youth! Keep on kicking butt, Esperanza and everyone on Team Pangoa!
Saturday June 15:
JB and Donnie spent the day slinging lattes at the Waltham Riverfest in our Javatrekker Coffee Truck
Monday June 17:
The first oil plam trees were chainsawed to the ground on the land our direct development dollars went to help purchase in Sumatra! I only wish I could have been there to rev that saw wildly and cut the first tree down. Don't worry - I've already packed my chaps for my January 2020 Sumatra trip. I'm gonna jump in and cut some trees myself! What an opportunity!
Our NEW coffee truck arrived, fully-wrapped, fully-loaded and ready for espresso. It is beautiful and striking - thanks to the fine people at Sign-a-rama in Springfield, MA. The inagural event for this truck will be the Green River Festival in Greenfield July 12-14. See you there!
Tuesday June 18:
I was on air live with Kerri Miller on Minnesota Public Radio to talk about the coffee pricing crisis and how it relates to migration to the US. What a great interview! You can check it out here.
Anna served coffee and represented Dean's Beans at the Pioneer Valley Workers' Center "Night of Food Justice", with keynote speaker Mark Bittman, world-renowned, James Beard award-winning and personal-favorite chef and cookbook author of the How to Cook Everything series.
Wednesday June 19:
I spent the afternoon at Oxfam in Boston, in a serious meeting with all sorts of important people about international development work. They were looking to us for some rare "real talk" on how to do meaningful work, and have an actual impact. I have nothing but respect for Oxfam, and was thrilled to be able to share some of my best practices with such a respectable NGO.
While I was in Boston, Katherine attended the annual New England B Corp Leadership Development Conference in New Hampshire. It was our first time in attendance, since we're a new B Corps, and it was a great day for networking, inspiration, reinvigoration, and storytelling.
Thursday June 20:
Unlocked and unloaded a direct-trade container from our friends at ASOBAGRI in Guatemala. The last people to touch that coffee were the farmers themselves, not an exporter, a shipper, or an importer. And the next people to touch the coffee were Roast Master Brendan and all-around helpful guy Pat! Maybe instead of "Direct Trade", since that word is so overused, we should call it "Lock-to-Lock"?
Our coffee fueled all the fine folks at Atlanta's Best & Brightest Places to Work For event. Congrats to all the winners! Maybe we'll be at the Boston table again this fall (fingers crossed)
Friday June 21:
It's finally summer! And we're gonna celebrate our big week of coffee + change by unwinding with a little team building. The team here is celebrating the solstice (which coincides nicely with the quarterly profit sharing they just received!) with pizza, beer and ping pong! Have fun, gang. And thanks for all your hard work.
