SCA UK Chapter: Election Results
Thank you for voting in the SCA UK Chapter election!
Following the nomination period, there were six open coordinator roles for the SCA UK Chapter, some of which were uncontested. As such, there was no need to proceed with a vote for these roles.
SCA UK members voted between nominees Ashley Dawes and Amir Montazer for the role of Judges Coordinator. The breakdown of the votes was as follows:
Ashley Dawes - 66.20%
Amir Montazer - 33.80%
We’re pleased to announce that the new SCA UK Chapter is formed by:
National Coordinator (Chair) - Rob Ward
Community Coordinator - Camilla Morgan
Education Coordinator - Antonia Godward
Judges Coordinator - Ashley Dawes
Marketing and Communications Coordinator - Alexx McKendry
Events Coordinator - Graziano Moroni
As a reminder, you can learn more about the roles and responsibilities of each position here.
Thank you to everyone who took part in this important process for SCA UK, by nominating, voting, and running for election!
Meet the Chapter Committee
Rob Ward
National Coordinator
Rob has been involved with the Speciality Coffee Association for over 10 years as a volunteer, AST and involved in the competition scene in various countries. His professional coffee career spans over 2 decades working in both speciality and commercial coffee and most recently is heading up Slayer Espresso for the UK Market. Rob is an operationally focused individual who frequently rolls up his sleeves to make things happen for the UK Chapter, with passion and enthusiasm.
Rob was the only member to accept a nomination for the National Coordinator position.
Camilla Morgan
Community Coordinator
A passionate coffee industry professional with over 10 years of experience working for coffee roasters and coffee machine companies. For the last three years representing Victoria Arduino with VA Machinery. Is involved in coffee community projects and barista development programs.
Camilla was the only member to accept a nomination for the Community Coordinator position.
Antonia Godward
Education Coordinator
Currently an independent coffee consultant and AST. Hugely passionate about coffee education, especially with sustainability education and promoting sustainable practices within UK businesses. Wanting to give more to the industry to making it as amazing as it can be. Her motto... we can always improve and do better.
Antonia was the only member to accept a nomination for the Education Coordinator position.
Graziano Moroni
Events Coordinator
Raised by coffee shop owners in Milan, my formative years were spent surrounded by coffee. My life in the UK began 20 years ago working in cafés and bars before I began a career in coffee training and development. Today I find myself running training, service, and events for Bewley’s UK – focusing on the Specialty Grumpy Mule brand. Having spent most of my two year tenure as SCA UK Events Coordinator dominated by COVID lockdowns and restrictions, I take this role as “unfinished business” and I would like the opportunity to run a full term to make a real difference.
Graziano was the only member to accept a nomination for the Events Coordinator position.
Alexx McKendry
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Hi, I’m Alexx! I’m your current Communications Coordinator, I stepped up to this role just before the pandemic when the committee was down a member.
I started in speciality coffee back in 2016 when I decided to open my first shop in Brighton. Loving the social side of coffee and hospitality, I wanted to get involved with the UK chapter to participate in the wider coffee community and the Communications Coordinator was a great way to meet some amazing people as well as contributing to the industry I love.
As we see our industry start to return to normality, I would love the chance to serve a term as your elected Communications Coordinator, pushing the chapter forward in terms of diversity and inclusivity, improving social media communications, website usability and how we deliver information to our members.
Graziano was the only member to accept a nomination for the Events Coordinator position.
Ashley Dawes
Judges Coordinator
Hi I’m Ashley, and I’ve worked in the specialty coffee industry for over eleven years. Starting out in cafés such as Harris & Hoole and Notes before moving to Union Hand-Roasted Coffee where I have been for the past seven years, now as a Key Account Manager and assisting in the QC department. I am the current volunteer Judges Liaison for the SCA UK Chapter, and have previously spent numerous years volunteering at SCA competitions, predominantly as a technical and a sensory judge, covering most of the national competitions. I would love to continue supporting and improving on the UK Chapter’s work, by becoming the elected SCA UK Judges Coordinator.
Amir Montazer
Judges Coordinator
Amir is the founder, roaster and trainer of Etude Coffee, a small batch speciality roastery based in Norfolk that was created after his passion to share the coffees he loves. He has been judging national and international coffee competitions for six years now, including World Barista Championship, World Coffee Roasting Championship, and World Cezve/Ibrik Championships. He's a WCE certified judge in Barista, Roasting, Brewing and Cezve Ibrik. He has also judged many national championships, including the UK for 3 years (Barista, Brewing and Roasting), Netherlands (Barista and Brewing), Denmark (Barista), Slovakia for 2 years (Barista and Brewing) and more. Amir is also an AST in Barista, Brewing, Roasting, Sensory and Green Coffee of the SCA Coffee Skills Program modules, he has been training baristas and coffee professionals for eight years and has trained more than 300 individuals around the world. He is very passionate about judging and promoting coffee competitions, he believes that competitions bring the industry forward and should perfectly represent speciality coffee and the barista profession. With all his experience in judging at the world level, he wishes to help train the best judges in the UK and help progress judging and coffee tasting in the UK Chapter further.