Staff

Monika Firl    |     Shannon Ripley    |     Florent Gout 

Monika Firl, Cooperative Coffee’s producer relations manager,
has worked with a variety of locally based development projects, while living in Central America and Mexico from 1991 to 2000. Her experiences range from founding and directing a center in San Salvador for the exchange of information on alternative technology, to coordinating a regional program within the Campesino a Campesino network for information exchange on production practices for organic coffee and market alternatives with farmers from Chiapas and the rest of Central America, to direct participation in technical training and marketing development with coffee producers’ cooperatives in Chiapas— including Mut Vitz and Maya Vinic from whom Cooperative Coffees maintains a relationship. 

Monika remembers fondly the day when Bill Harris walked through the door of a farmer coop in Chiapas - where she worked at the time - and began to "tell the story" of his interest in Fair Trade and the ideas he had for supporting small farmers. That conversation stuck with her (as well as the sincerity and positive vision) and the relationship with a soon to be formed Cooperative Coffees began a few short years later - first coordinating some visits to farmer coops in Chiapas, then with communication support and now as Producer Relations Manager and Director of Cooperative Coffee's "sister coop" - Cooperative de Solidarite du Cafe Equitable, CoopSol. 

Born in Sete (southern France) Florent Gout grew up on the Mediterranean coast. After having achieved his secondary education, he decided to go abroad in order to explore undergraduate studies in international trade. After few months, he met a Professor involved in the development of ethics in trade activities who introduced him to the Fair Trade principles.

Fascinated by this new vision, he investigated further and was quickly convinced by the Fair Trade movement. A final school project led to Vietnam where he spent a month with cashew nut producers.  There he got to work closely with producers and concretely understand the benefits that Fair Trade can bring them. After his studies, he had the opportunity to pursue the Fair Trade adventure, he said: “I really had the chance to get an enjoying job immediately after my graduation”. He became responsible of import operations for OXFAM Fair Trade in Montreal. This experience gave him a strong background in the management of import operations, forecasting, and inventory.

A short experience in the conventional food industry was enough to convince him that Fair Trade was his preferred way of business! He did not hesitate to apply when he saw the Job offer posted by Coop Coffees. “The CC structure is a perfect proof that collective unity is stronger than individual actions, and I definitively believe it," Florent says. "I am really glad to enter such a dynamic team!”

American by birth, Canadian by residence (and marriage), and Latin American by passion, Shannon Ripley is the newest member of CoopSol staff and couldn’t be more thrilled to join this collective of Fair Trade coffee enthusiasts!  She was born in Denver, CO and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  In the flurry of deciding which university to apply to and, ultimately, to attend, she ended up selecting the most mysterious - McGill University in Montreal, Canada.  It could have been in Nunavut for all she knew!  Her first visit to Montreal (and in fact, first to Canada) was in February, during a record-low temperatures. Even Philadelphia had not prepared her for that!  But the cold reality of Canadian winters wasn’t enough to keep her away and she enrolled at McGill one year later (and lucky for her, the half-year she spent abroad in Argentina during her university career coincided with the Arctic freeze that Quebecers refer to as “winter.”

After having recently received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the all-too-commonly-asked question of “What in the world can you do with that?” started to haunt her.  Remembering a fond acquaintance she had made in September 2007 at the "Arriba Mujeres" Round Table led by Monika and Genevieve in Montreal, she contacted Cooperative Coffees. She was looking for leads into the world of Fair Trade that went beyond simply buying coffee at roaster member Cafe Rico.  Little did she know, CoopSol was entering into a transition period, saying farewell to both Genevieve and Sylvie.  After a couple weeks of conversations back and forth, then formal interviews - Shannon was quickly jumping into Sylvies shoes.... training in diverse areas of communications and getting to know all the fascinating programs and personalities involved with CoopCoffees.

See the staff at the CoopCoffees office in Americus, Georgia.