Lecture Description
Since 1999, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and Root Capital have strategically partnered to help agricultural enterprises scale and strengthen their operations and become engines of impact in their communities. We'll share a firsthand account of how a dual KDP/Root Capital client coffee cooperative in Peru has benefited from both parties.
We’ll highlight how this partnership came to be, the wins and learnings over the years, and how—most recently—this decades-long collaboration culminated in a celebrity ambassador campaign featuring Kevin Costner. We’ll also highlight the challenges of attempting to quantify the financial benefits of making social impact investments, as evidenced by studies that have been done.
Date: Friday, April 12, 2024
Time: 10:15am - 11:15am
Room Number: S401D
Speakers
Lindsey Bolger (Moderator)
Board Member, Root Capital
Chris Patterson (he/him)
Strategic Partnerships Manager, Root Capital
As Senior Manager for Strategic Partnerships at Root Capital, Chris leads strategies for building high impact partnerships and alliances among corporations, social enterprises, NGOs, as well as academic and research institutions that enhance and accelerate Root Capital’s impact. Prior to Root Capital, Chris held partnership and fundraising roles at Oxfam America and EcoLogic Development Fund. Chris holds an M.A. in International Development and Social Change from Clark University, and a B.A. in International Studies from Texas A&M University.
Allie Stauss
Senior Project Manager, Supply Chain Sustainability, Keurig Dr. Pepper
Allie Stauss is a senior project manager of supply chain sustainability at Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP). She oversees the tactical execution of KDP's supply chain sustainability strategy for coffee and supports strategy development for other categories including apple, corn, and cocoa to advance progress toward the company's commitments to responsible sourcing, nature, and livelihoods. Drawing on her roots at the intersection of coffee and sustainability, first at the development NGO TechnoServe and then at KDP, Allie builds partnerships that manage risk while also unlocking creative opportunities for long-term impact in the coffee sector.
Omar Garcia Mendoza
Gerente General, Cooperativa Alonso de Alvarado
Omar García is the leader of the Alonso de Alvarado Cooperative of young producers in the San Martín region in Peru. He is 26 years old and together with 383 young men and women producers develop regenerative agriculture, converting pastures and degraded land into productive farms, researching and producing coffee varieties of good quality, resistant to pests and diseases and adaptable to climate change, aims to generate a good quality of life for its members by producing healthy and environmentally friendly coffee, thus ensuring coffee land and coffee for the following generations.