We chose the term director because all members of Just Coffee participate and direct the course of our organization.  When or if we discover or invent a better term that translates adequately into both languages we will change again!

Following are brief biographies of the directors of Just Coffee.

Reynaldo is a long time coffee grower, resident of Salvador Urbina and the acting mayor of Salvador Urbina.  Aida, his wife and his children Juan Carlos and Eva, work at various activities to make ends meet.
Reynaldo has a coffee plant  nursery where he cultivates Arabica plants for farmers in the area.  With many years of experience in the coffee business, Reynaldo acutely understands the magnitude of the current dilemma facing the coffee producers.
His relatives and friends have all suffered the loss of family farms and homes because of the low prices paid to the growers.
During our  trip to Chiapas, Mark, Miriam, and Tom stayed with Reynaldo and his family.   

Mark is a missionary serving on the US/Mexico border through the Presbyterian USA church, Frontera de Cristo Missions office.  Mark is in his second 3 year assignment with Frontera de Cristo and currently resides in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.  Mark also hopes to perfect his machete skills.

Daniel is a native of Salvador Urbina who now lives in Agua Prieta.  Daniel migrated from Salvador Urbina to Agua Prieta in  1994.  He is a younger brother of Ari, the assistant moderator of the coffee cooperative in Salvador Urbina.
There are 14 children in his family!

Like so many others from Chiapas, Daniel sends money back home from each paycheck.  He is currently employed in construction work in Agua Prieta. Daniel will be managing our toasting and packaging operation in Agua Prieta.

Miriam is a native of Chiapas and is very involved with the Chiapan community in Agua Prieta, Sonora.
She is a skilled coffee toaster with a sensitive tongue that can detect even slight variations in coffee toasting and aromas.  She is a dedicated participant in several social justice activities.  Miriam and her father migrated to Agua Prieta in 1994 to work in the Maquiladoras in order to earn a living and support her family back home.  She has one brother who is working in the restaurant industry in Alabama.  Currently Miriam's direct family is living and working in Agua Prieta.

Eva lives in Salvador Urbina in Chiapas.  She is currently learning how to use the internet with a newly donated laptop computer and she documents coffee cooperative meeting minutes, contracts, and other events.
Eva is in training to be our office manager in Chiapas.  Her waist length thick hair weighs one kilo, (2.2 pounds) and she always has a smile and a helping hand.

Ari is the oldest brother of Daniel, in a family with 14 children.  He works with Reynaldo to help guide the coffee cooperative in Salvador Urbina.  Ari has been employed in both farming and various aspects of coffee processing in Tapachula.  Ari has been involved with several civic programs as well as growing coffee.
He is very involved with the local university, government programs, and several studies regarding coffee cultivation and industry.


Walter and Mary Danforth are the most recent additions to our organization.  They are currently beginning a missions trip, visiting churches around the US bringing the Just Coffee message and samples to potential partner customers.  Walter is recently retired. Walter and Mary are very active members of the University Presbyterian Church of Tempe Arizona.  Walter and Mary bring a much needed outside perspective and are an additional source of faith, hope, and encouragement.
Tom thinks of them as our marketing gift from God.

Tom is a retired Maquiladora manager and a lover of fine coffee.
The old hippie has extensive industrial experience and is a photographer and writer.
Besides recently learning web weaving, he is very involved in border justice issues as well as the struggle for immigrant rights.

Everybody knows young men and women who have left their families and homeland to find work at a living wage in the United States.
“Salir de nuestra tierra es sufrir”  (To leave our land is to suffer), said Hermano Eduardo Verdugo to Rev. Mark Adams.
Like growers everywhere, the farmers from Chiapas want to stay home on their land.  It is this sentiment that sparked the vision for Just Coffee.

According to Mark, "Just Coffee is unique because the actual coffee growers are participating owners in the toasting, distribution, and all business aspects."
The need to accelerate some of the positive effects of other fair trade coffee initiatives was a force behind initiating the Just Coffee project.

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