Katie Gilmer has been a part of the specialty coffee industry for more than eight years, and through her work with Sustainable Harvest in Portland, Ore. she has touched the lives of coffee farmers from Tanzania to Peru to Colombia with her efforts to help provide them with the education and tools they need to grow quality coffee and prosper.
She’s also been instrumental in fostering relationship between some of the world’s best roasters and its top producers. For example, Katie traveled several times with the team from Dillanos Coffee Roasters, based in Washington, to producing countries to help them connect with their origin partners.
Katie’s also, simply put, an all around great person. I’m sad to see her leave not only Sustainable Harvest, but Portland ”where she was born and raised. But she’s headed for new horizons, and an undoubtedly bright future, considering her skill set, extensive knowledge, and indeed, her empathy and passion for people as well as coffee.
In true Sustainable Harvest fashion, there was a fun and rowdy party to bid their beloved Katie farewell. On Friday, staffers and friends gathered for a coffee cocktail contest, laughing their way through the tears at seeing Katie move on.
Here are some fun images from the party…
