Erwin Mierisch - Executive Director

Erwin J. Mierisch is a 4th generation coffee producer. His family began coffee farming over a hundred years ago when his great grandfather emigrated to Nicaragua to design the railroad. Part of his payment was in land and he was fascinated by the mountains of Matagalpa where he recognized the potential to grow coffee.

Coffee has been part of his life from early childhood but studies took him into petroleum engineering which he didn't pursue for too long. Erwin dove fully into coffee in 1994 and it became his true passion. Erwin has worked on the entire spectrum of the coffee supply chain since then – from producing, processing, cupping, roasting, exporting, and importing. He has been instrumental in the implementation of specialty quality standards in his own families' farms, which have come to earn several spots as Cup of Excellence winners in two different countries and has been an active advocate for the value of specialty coffee in several countries including his own. Trained as a processing specialist he has had the chance to share his knowledge with producers across the globe.

Erwin's rich history with Cup of Excellence began in 2002 with onboarding the first Nicaragua Cup of Excellence and served as an in-country coordinator. Since then, he has been its operations manager, a skilled head judge, a trainer, and a winning Cup of Excellence® farmer. He was also involved and helped coordinate the Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction.

Languages: Spanish, English

Gary Urrutia, Honduras - Managing Director, Cup of Excellence

Gary became part of the ACE team in 2018 as the Field Coordinator. His passion for coffee started in 2014. Working for Volcafe in Honduras as part of the production department. Eventually, he joined the purchase management team and dealt with procurement around Honduras. Majoring in Logistics Engineering, his thesis was specialty coffee production feasibility; working in coffee allowed him to further develop his skills and learn every day from experiences in the supply chain from bean to cup. After Volcafe, Gary worked in budget management for the National Institute of Technical Education, but he was reminded of the thought of a former coworker who stated, "once in coffee, always in coffee."

His amazing experiences in coffee provoked a strong desire to come back to this fascinating industry. Now, as Cup of Excellence Managing Director, based in Honduras but overlooking other origins, Gary enjoys working in operations and logistics. He likes traveling and meeting people from different cultures, as well as eating and Sunday barbeques.

Languages: Spanish, English, and French

Kathia Lopez, Nicaragua - Auction Manager

Kathia was born in Honduras. During my childhood, her family moved a lot. One of the countries they moved to was Nicaragua – one of the most amazing places in the world. During college, Kathia studied Marketing, and in here last year at the university she discovered her passion for coffee.

Kathia started working in the coffee world in 2014 – as an intern in the Specialty Coffee Association of Nicaragua (ACEN). She spent six amazing years learning about cupping, roasting, markets, logistics, producers, and sales; She has worked with the Cup of Excellence Program, National Barista Championship, National and International Expos, and for the last three years she was the Director of Marketing and Logistics at ACEN.

In 2020 Kathia earned her Masters Degree in Coffee Economics and Science – Ernesto Illy in Italy and started working for Caravela Coffee as Operations Consultant in Nicaragua, giving here the opportunity to work directly with different farms, dry processes, exporting and cupping amazing coffees.

Laurie Linn, USA - Director of Marketing

Laurie joined ACE in 2015 to help out around the office and developed a love and passion for both the coffee and the organization. In 2016 she moved into the role of Membership and Marketing and built lasting relationships with other coffee enthusiasts throughout the world. Laurie took a brief hiatus and returned to ACE in the Spring of 2023 anxious to once again work with members and share the goal of the organization to find exceptional coffees and reward the farmers who produce them.

When not traveling, Laurie pursues her passion for art, music and dog training with her amazing Australian Shepherd Maggie Mae.

Gabriela Salcedo Bolaños, Colombia - Logistics Manager

Gabriela was born in Bogotá Colombia. She studied finance and commerce and obtained her master's degree in International Relations. She began her professional life working in international cooperation projects with governmental and non-governmental organizations.

She entered the world of coffee in 2017 when she began working as executive director of ASECC and Coordinator of Cup of Excellence Colombia. There she was involved with the entire specialty coffee process from plant to cup and could see the impact of the COE program on the lives of the coffee growers and their communities.

Gabriela enjoys exercising in nature with her dog and of course dancing.

CC Su - Asia Origin Development & Education

A firm believer of education and a dedicated coffee origin servant, CC has been heavily involved in origin development in Asia since her graduation as the 1st Chinese Coffee Master in 2014. Seen as one of the key participants of the development of coffee in Yunnan, CC has been invited to present on Yunnan Coffee via various channels, including the International Tea&Coffee Symposium (Chiang Rai, 2019), International Women's Coffee Alliance Breakfast (Seattle, 2018), etc. and paper media like Global Coffee Report.

Having studied in Europe and worked closely with international companies and organizations including the Coffee Quality Institute, ACDI/VOCA, and the Yunnan International Coffee Exchange, CC is well versed in western and Chinese cultures and is an effective communicator. She is excited and honored to be using her experience and knowledge in coffee and project management in her role with ACE.

Outside coffee, CC enjoys cooking, baking, singing, and dancing. As a shutterbug, CC's photos have been used by different coffee companies, cafés, and magazines. Two of her photos ranked Top 10 in the ICO International Coffee Day 2018 Photo Competition.

Languages: Chinese & English

Certified Q Arabica Grader and Q Processing Professional
Msc. in Food Innovation & Product; Msc. in Coffee Economics & Science

Susie Spindler - Executive Advisor - 🇺🇸

Susie Spindler was instrumental in the development of the Cup of Excellence® (COE) program and the Founder and Executive Director of The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE). Susie expanded CoE and ACE to include programs in more than 10 countries with members from over 50 countries and is now an executive advisor focused on strategic planning.

Spindler began her coffee development career before "specialty" was a term and coffee was rarely identified even by country of origin. Her career focus has always been to build marketplace support for high quality farmers. She holds an undergraduate degree in the social sciences and a graduate degree in international marketing and management.