Hiring? Here’s Why You Should Consider an NKG PACE Graduate

Coffee is an industry with tendrils reaching from hospitality to international trade, climate awareness, immigration policy, global supply chains, financial markets and well beyond. Strong coffee professionals possess a wide and deep understanding of many such intersecting industries and challenges. 

At the completion of the program, Partners will self-assess their mastery of the above items, which span four departments within green coffee importers. 

The NKG PACE program provides its participants (we call them Partners until they become Graduates) with an unparalleled level of exposure to all these facets. The intensive educational curriculum includes lectures, readings and guest speakers from across the globe and supply chain, covering a range of topics, from Farm Management to Hedging.

Further, daily apprenticeship work gives the Partners a chance to be key contributors in multiple departments, including Quality Control, Customer Service and Logistics. Daily cupping and regular calibrations using the SCA cupping form have familiarized the Partners with a range of qualities, from high Specialty to Commercial coffee.   

The program's structure provides a well-rounded foundation as well as a chance for individuals to pursue their personal interests in depth. Their time alongside colleagues provides an opportunity to ask questions, shadow work and dive deeply into aspects of the industry that are often difficult to access. 

Over the course of one year, NKG PACE Partners participated in an intensive Orientation Week, covering the foundations needed to hit the ground running in a Quality Control Lab; they spent a week in Costa Rica with NKG Ceca learning about coffee through the lens of an exporter; they attended multiple industry events including conferences and coffee competitionsany had an extended stay with an NGUS customer, learning about the functions and operations of a large roaster/distributor. Additionally, this year all three Partners chose to take the Q Arabica Exam (thanks to a generous collaboration with the Coffee Quality Institute) with impressive results.  

It is also worth mentioning that these highly skilled individuals chose to uproot their lives for a year to be a part of NKG PACE, with the promise of an uncertain transition upon completion. They adapted quickly to a high-paced corporate environment with ever-shifting demands, straddling work in multiple departments alongside separate program responsibilities. The resiliency, tenacity and dedication to excellence each Partner has demonstrated speaks volumes in and of itself. 

The commitment all have shown to the coffee industry and to their personal performances sets these individuals apart. We hope you will support the mission behind NKG PACE, to accelerate members of the Black community — a group that experiences the largest gap in employment and decision-making roles in the U.S. coffee industry — into higher levels of employment in the coffee industry.  

We are proud of what the current, and previous, Partners achieved in such a short time and are excited to see all their futures hold. •