Ruth Ann Church on What Motivates Rwandan Farmers to Invest in Coffee | Re:co Symposium Seattle 2017

Ruth Ann Church is the founder and Chief Relationship Officer of Artisan Coffee Imports (founded 2009). She searches out great-tasting coffee to satisfy roasters who demand quality and trade that sustains and improves the lives of farmers. The company also provides consulting at origin focusing on improving efficiency and quality at washing stations.
To further strengthen the company mission, Ruth Ann is pursuing a second master’s degree in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). She’s happy to be working on final edits to her master’s thesis, “Estimating Farmer Cost of Production: Implications for Sustainable Growth in Rwanda’s Coffee Sector.” She is also a Q Grader, IDP certified and a board member of the International Women in Coffee Alliance.
Long before her coffee passion set in, Ruth Ann studied development economics, writing on the “East Asian Miracle” and conducting field research with small farmers in Mexico. She continued to work in and with multinational manufacturing organizations and their supply chains for 16 years gaining valuable lessons in sales and marketing in the global economy.
Ruth Ann is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and travels frequently to Rwanda.