The Speciality Coffee Association of Southern Africa has called for its members to nominate a new Board of Directors. It is understood that all current Board Members will be stepping down from their positions to allow for a new crop of coffee professionals to step in (but they can be nominated again and voted in) and have an opportunity to mould the Association. Chris Rootman and Alessandro Morrico have volunteered to help in an advisory capacity.
Now, you may be thinking, what does SCASA do? And what would a Board Member be expected to do?
Good questions. The idea moving forward is that SCASA can practically support the industry not only through running the World Coffee Events Competitions, but also through other programs and activations across other sectors of the industry.
We've always said that an Association is only as strong as its members, and we need to build up the membership again. So the task of a new board would primarily be to build trust with the industry, run grassroots events and grow membership so it can function successfully.
In our capacity as Media Partner and experience of the Board, (our publisher was on it for several years), one of the most important roles is to have a Chairperson who is detail-orientated and enforces protocol of having regular meetings with a clear agenda that can be shared with all members. As in other sectors of our industry, transparency is key and encourages collaboration.
On the note of Competitions, there will be a competition of some kind at HOSTEX in Johannesburg 26-28 June 2022. More information on this will be available soon. So if you were on the fence about joining again, you will need to be a member to compete at all, so now is the time so you can also have a say in the nomination process.
To be able to nominate and vote and build the Association to the best it can be, please sign up to be a member here. A normal membership costs R680, a sponsor membership is R2900.
We have also requested that the nomination process be extended past 29 April as stated on form. We will keep you updated on this as well.
Link to nominate people is located here (only paid up members nominations will be considered): https://forms.gle/dWk5vxep2DvVFHNR9
