Presenting the Slate of Candidates for the 2027-2029 SCA Board of Directors Election and the Appointment of the Second Vice President
YANNIS APOSTOLOPOULOS, CEO of the Specialty Coffee Association
Dear members of the Specialty Coffee Association around the globe,
Today, it is my pleasure to present the slate of candidates for the 2027-2029 SCA Board of Directors elections. The Nominating Committee, chaired by SCA Board President Andrew Tolley, has put forward the following professionals after an extensive interview process with SCA members who responded to our call for nominations made in June 2026.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC)
Sunalini N. Menon, President of Coffeelab Limited
Karsten Ranitzsch, Global Head of Coffee, Nestlé Nespresso S. A.
The SCA Board of Directors consists of 15 volunteer members that serve a 3-year term, supported by the CEO and SCA staff. For this 2026 election, there are 3 seats open, with the following role description: Board Director Qualifications – June 2026. I want to say thank you to our 2026 Nominating Committee for the hours of work they have contributed to this process:
Andrew Tolley, Board President
Nadine Rasch, Board Vice President
Jiyoon Han, Board 2nd Vice President
Cosimo Libardo, Board Treasurer
Pamela Chng, Emeritus Director
Garfield Kerr, Emeritus Director
Each year, the Board of Directors elects a 2nd Vice President, who serves an additional term of three years to ensure presidential succession. Jon Allen, Founder and CEO of Onyx Coffee Lab, has been selected by the board to serve in the role of 2nd Vice President.
In 2027, per the bylaws of the SCA, current 2nd Vice President Jiyoon Han moves into the role of Vice President, and current Vice President Nadine Rasch moves into the role of President of the Board.
Learn more about Jon Allen by reading their biography at the bottom of this post. With the election of Jon Allen as 2nd Vice President, the SCA Board of Directors Officers group in 2027 will be as follows:
Nadine Rasch of Primavera Coffee, President
Jiyoon Han of Bean & Bean Coffee, Vice President
Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab, 2nd Vice President
Cosimo Libardo of Nomad Coffee Consulting, Treasurer
What Happens Next in the 2026 Election?
The final 2026 ballot will be announced on October 13. In the event that the number of candidates exceeds the number of open seats, SCA members will take part in a voting process from November 1-30. SCA members will receive their ballots from eBallot, the third-party company that runs our voting process, via email from elections@sca.coffee. Add elections@sca.coffee to your contacts so that the ballot is not marked as spam by your email client. Please help us ensure your ballot is sent to the correct email address by logging in to your member portal here to verify your email address or by contacting us via the contact form at the bottom of our elections page.
As always, thank you for supporting the work of the Specialty Coffee Association and for taking part in this process to elect our leadership. Let’s continue to #makecoffeebetter, together.
YANNIS APOSTOLOPOULOS is the Chief Executive Officer at the Specialty Coffee Association
Meet the Slate of Candidates Proposed by the Nominating Committee
Ahmed Bin Sulayem
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC)
Ahmed Bin Sulayem is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC and has driven its growth from a start-up of 28 member companies in 2003 to the world’s leading international business district with over 26,000 member companies from 180 countries, employing over 80,000 people.
Tasked with enhancing commodity trade flows through Dubai, DMCC has introduced to the market a number of value-added products and services under Mr Bin Sulayem’s leadership. In 2023, DMCC was named ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’ by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, for a record ninth consecutive year.
Mr Bin Sulayem oversaw the exponential growth of the DMCC Free Zone master development in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), a 200-hectare business and residential community in Dubai of over 100,000 people living and working in 87 towers. Mr Bin Sulayem also oversees the development of DMCC’s latest real estate project, the Uptown Dubai district.
Mr Bin Sulayem currently serves as the Chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX).
The Kimberley Process officially appointed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the first and only Arab country to Chair the Kimberley Process (KP) in November 2015. Shortly after, the UAE Ministry of Economy officially appointed Mr Bin Sulayem as the UAE’s Chair of the KP for 2016. Mr Bin Sulayem was reappointed Chair of the KP for a historic second time in 2024 and again in 2025 as Custodian Chair.
Sunalini N. Menon
President of Coffeelab Limited
Sunalini Menon is a Food Technologist and has spent more than 50 years in coffee in the arena of quality. She has worked as Director (Quality) at the Coffee Board of India, as a quality evaluator, trainer, professor, coffee blender, developer of green coffee brands, judge in coffee competitions, writer of coffee articles and even as a coffee guide to new coffee entrepreneurs. She is heading the Sensory lab for coffee “Coffeelab”, which was set up in 1996 in Bangalore, being the first of its kind to provide comprehensive quality related services not only for the Indian coffee industry, but also for coffees from other producing origins. She is the Professor at the University of Trieste, Italy and lectures at the Programme on ‘Master in Coffee Economics and Science’ since it’s inception.
At present, she is on the Board of Directors of the Speciality Coffee Association. Earlier, she was on the Board of Trustees of the Coffee Quality Institute, USA, an Independent Director on the Board of Tata Coffee and the past President of the Women’s Coffee Alliance - India.
She has many awards to her credit, received from the Speciality Coffee Association of America, the Coffee Quality Institute, USA, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), USA, the First Lady Achiever’s Award from the President of India and recently, has received the Outstanding Achievement Award in the 16th Annual Sprudgie Awards 2025.
From a Q grader to an R grader, Sunalini is a Q Processing Professional Robusta Instructor.
Karsten Ranitzsch
Global Head of Coffee for Nestlé Nespresso S.A.
Karsten has dedicated more than four decades to coffee, driven by a lifelong curiosity about what makes coffee meaningful to the people who grow it, prepare it, and enjoy it.
His coffee journey began at a small coffee roaster in Germany and evolved into a career spanning sourcing, quality, sustainability, innovation, consumer understanding, marketing and coffee expertise. Throughout that journey, he has had the privilege of travelling extensively to both coffee-producing and coffee-consuming countries, developing a deep appreciation for the diversity of coffee cultures around the world and the people who bring them to life.
Today, Karsten serves as Global Head of Coffee at Nespresso, where his responsibilities include not only coffee development, expertise, and consumer experience, but also helping build and share coffee knowledge across the organization. He strongly believes that coffee is most powerful when passion and expertise are shared, inspiring others to learn, discover, and deepen their appreciation for the product.
Karsten holds an MBA from IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a certified Q Grader. He is also a frequent public speaker and spokesperson on topics including coffee quality, sustainability, innovation, consumer trends, and the future of coffee.
What continues to inspire him most is the unique community that exists around coffee. Across origins, markets, cultures, and professions, he has found people united by a shared passion for the product and for the relationships it creates. He believes the future of specialty coffee depends on strengthening those connections and helping consumers better understand and appreciate the craftsmanship, dedication, and value behind every cup.
Karsten is seeking to serve on the SCA Board to contribute his global perspective, collaborative approach, and passion for coffee in support of the Association’s mission and the broader coffee community.
Meet the 2nd Vice President Appointed by the SCA Board of Directors
Jon Allen
Founder and CEO of Onyx Coffee Lab
Jon Allen is the founder of Onyx Coffee Lab and 2nd Street Creative Studio. He has wide range of experience across multiple facets of the Specialty Coffee and hospitality sector, and a background in international travel for green coffee purchasing as well as extensive experience as a creative director in charge of branding direction, marketing, architecture and consulting for the hospitality industry.
At heart, Jon is a visionary whose creativity in entrepreneurship work in tandem with a strong passion to understand how products, social environments, and digital assets impact people and their financial responsibility. He has also focused deeply on exploring the intersection of philosophy and communication in the way we serve others.
Outside of his career, Jon is deeply invested in his family and community. Jon lives on a small farm in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, USBC winner Andrea Allen, and their two daughters, River and Abishai. He’s admirer of British entertainment, avid in exercise, cooking for his family, and reading philosophy, science fiction, and fantasy novels.
Learn More About the 2026 SCA Elections
Visit our SCA Elections page to learn more about the elections process, find out who on the board is cycling off this year, and for answers to frequently asked questions. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact us via email at elections@sca.coffee or via the contact form.
