Presenting the New Members of the 2022-2024 BG Leadership Council
The election of the new 2022-2024 BG Leadership Council is complete and we’re thrilled to welcome five new members!
Please join us in giving a warm welcome to:
Sandra Ventura
Carlos de la Torre
Angelo Sportelli
Mark Lamberton
Miguel Olmos
Barista Guild members had the opportunity to vote for the five open seats out of ten nominations on the slate. The voting period was open from November 22 to December 6. During this time members received an email with a unique link to vote (and a reminder at half time as well). We had some good engagement and a vote that moved the above 5 people forward for the 2022-2024 term.
The breakdown of the votes was as follows:
Sandra Ventura: 55.80%
Angelo Sportelli: 37.68%
Carlos de la Torre: 37.68%
Miguel Olmos: 32.61%
Mark Lamberton: 31.16%
Alex Zepeda: 26.09%
Andrei Tecau: 18.12%
Salman Ilyas Khan: 16.67%
Ennio Cantergiani: 16.67%
Jay Beaton: 10.87%
Special thanks to all nominees who put their name forward in this election and thanks to Barista Guild members for their commitment to the guild. We urge the community to please continue to support the new members in their upcoming two-year term. We wish the new Leadership Council members every success with the continued development of the local coffee community!
Thank you to our 2021 Election Committee for the hours of work interviewing all of the nominees that we received. It was a lot of hard work and we appreciate their dedication to the guild. Thank you:
Jessie May Peters
Aashifa Hussain
Bailey Arnold
Kathie Hilberg
Will Pitts
Francisco “Paco” Guidño
Thank you,
Bailey Arnold
2021 Chair of the Barista Guild
Meet the new members of the Leadership Council:
Angelo Sportelli
Originally trained as an electronic engineer, in 2009 Angelo followed his childhood dream of becoming chef and worked in fine dining as a chef and trainer until 2015 when he discovered coffee. He then worked as head barista for one of the first specialty coffee shops in Cardiff (Wales) and soon after became Sales and Support Manager for a local roastery in Bristol, England. In 2018, he decided to move back to Italy and became at first a freelance barista and trainer. In September 2018, he became part of the team of MUMAC Academy, Gruppo Cimbali. As member of the Leadership Council of the Barista Guild, created and promoted with Marzia Viotti of the Coffee Technicians Guild, E-Merging Guild, the first online cross-guild event.
Carlos de la Torre
Carlos de la Torre is the founder of Cafe Avellaneda and co-founder of Cafe con Jiribilla a coffee shop and a roastery in Mexico City.
During his profesional career he has won the 2012 Mexican Cup Tasting Championship, 2015 & 2016 Mexican Brewers Cup Championship, 2018 & 2019 Mexican Barista Championship and 2019 L.A. Coffee Master.
Right now he invests the most of his time in “Ratiorama”, a collaborative project promoting up-coming roasters, coffee shops, and coffee professionals from the specialty coffee scene in Mexico in a monthly subscription platform aiming to support his community during the pandemic crisis building a stronger and interactive network between consumers and professionals.
Sandra Ventura
“I am from Spain but living the dream in London as Head of Coffee at Cabon Kopi, and a licensed AST since 2019. In my role I am responsible for the development of the team’s skills, I also choose the best coffees for our customers.
I have worked in coffee for 7 years. The most important position was with Taylors st Baristas, where I developed and became a trainer.
Two years ago , I was selected for a fellowship at the Re-Co program, which was life changing, providing access to information, innovation and connections with people from different countries with one purpose, make an impact in the coffee industry.”
Mark Lamberton
“Three things I relish: introducing prospective peaberries to the industry, sharing and supporting their progression, and drinking great kwoiffee. I’ve been in specialty coffee for eleven years now. My journey began working and competing as a barista for two years before utilising my learnings to become a barista trainer (AST) and education program developer for the next seven. I was Head of Coffee Education at UK specialty coffee chain Harris+Hoole before going on to establish the program and the first academy at London non-profit training academy Well Grounded CIC. I’ve lobbied the UK’s Institute of Apprenticeships for recognition of the Head Barista role, trained over 900 individuals to SCA standards and am an active World Barista Championship judge. Keen to keep learning and explore another side of the industry, I’ve jumped into green coffee as Sales and Sponsorships for Cafe Imports Europe, where I continue to look for opportunities to engage and support baristas across the industry!”
Miguel Olmos
Miguel was born in Chile and moved to France 5 years ago after some years traveling, he discovered specialty coffee while studying in Argentina, and he couldn't leave.
He is the founder of Cafe Lihue - Torréfaction & Coffee Truck, working with local producers and coffee as direct as possible from the producer in the south of France, which is neglected when it comes to specialty coffee, has had an excellent welcome. He is constantly participating in events and learning about coffee.
"I love the community that forms so naturally in coffee, making friends, talk and share. It is also an incredible feeling to know and tell the stories and the love that is behind each cup of coffee, which is not only a cup of caffeine, it has a careful work since it was on the plant"
Cordialement,
Miguel OLMOS HERNÁNDE