Education: MS Horticulture (Viticulture), UC Davis. BS Horticulture. California Polytechnic Univ. Mr. Roche is currently the Technical and Operations Director for with CQI (Coffee Quality Institute). He was Vice President Operations of a company dedicated to the production and procurement of organic herbs and spices. Fluent in Spanish, he has over 30 years of experience with a multitude of crops in several countries. Before joining CQI he was Vice President of Diversified Agriculture for Pioneer Mill in Maui, Hawaii, where he developed a 500-acre coffee plantation now well known for its unique selection of coffee varieties. In Mexico, he managed all agricultural operations for the Lipton Tea Company throughout Latin America. These and other previous experiences give Mr. Roche a deep and well-rounded knowledge of the International Agriculture business.

Ted Lingle

Senior Advisor

Ted R. Lingle was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1966, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1976 he earned a MBA in Accounting from Woodbury University in Los Angeles, California

During the first twenty years of his coffee career, Mr. Lingle was Vice President of Marketing for Lingle Bros. Coffee, Inc., a business started by his grandfather in 1920 in Los Angeles. During this period he directed the company’s sales programs for the food service, office coffee service, and specialty coffee market segments. Mr. Lingle served as a member of the National Coffee Association’s Out-of-Home Market Committee from 1974 to 1990. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Coffee Service Association and was elected an honorary member in 1990. He was one of the founding Co-Chairmen of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

In 1991, Mr. Lingle was appointed Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. As the first full-time staff member of SCAA, he helped guide the Association’s activities during its remarkable growth from 350 members in 1991 to over 2,400 members in 1995. He served as the Executive Director of SCAA for 15 years. Leaving that position in 2006 he became the Executive Director of the Coffee Quality Institute, a 501(c)3 educational foundation started by SCAA in 1995.

In 1975, Mr. Lingle pioneered the development of the coffee Conductivity Meter, an electronic instrument used for the measurement of soluble solids in the coffee beverage. In 1985, Mr. Lingle wrote the Coffee Cuppers’ Handbook to explain the science and chemistry behind the techniques used in coffee cupping. In 1995, Mr. Lingle wrote the Coffee Brewing Handbook to promote excellence in beverage preparation.

In 1998 he was awarded the National Medal of Merit by the Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia for his scientific efforts to improve quality. In 2004 he was awarded the Flor del Café Medal of Merit from the National Association of Coffee Growers of Guatemala for his efforts in promoting the sales of high quality coffees from Central America. In February 2007 Mr. Lingle received the “Bwana Kahawa” award from the Eastern Africa Fine Coffee Association for his work in promoting the expansion of specialty coffees from Eastern Africa.

In 2006, Mr. Lingle retired from SCAA to become the new Executive Director for the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI).

Mike Pomerleau, CPA

Director of Finance

Michael J. Pomerleau graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting in 1991. He spent the next five years as Controller of a small service-industry corporation in Hermosa Beach. In 1996, after passing the Certified Public Accountants Exam, he began work at a public accounting firm in Newport Beach. There he spent the next four years gaining experience in many different industries, including not-for-profit entities and organizations reporting to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Defense. He was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in 1999. In 2000, Michael began started his own accounting firm, Michael J. Pomerleau, C.P.A., Inc. and began consulting work with the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) in 2002. Michael became Director of Finance for CQI in 2004.

Lisa Conway

Administrations Director

BA Human Ecology, College of the Atlantic. Lisa currently works with the CQI’s Technical Staff to ensure that project information is captured, managed and effectively communicated to our partners, staff, consultants, Coffee Corps Volunteers. Lisa’s experience includes working for both for-profit (natural products industry) and non-profit organizations (community enrichment and development). Her background includes Marketing Manager for an organic vegetable farm on an island in Maine, Sales and Business Development for a major west coast produce distribution company and Membership Manager for Girls Scouts.

Camilo Sanchez

Business Development Director and Technical Advisor

Camilo Sánchez is CQI’ s Business Development Director and Technical Advisor. He is a project manager with over 15 years of experience in sustainable development and agriculture. Over the past decade, Mr. Sanchez worked at USAID where he managed sizable projects, which involved extensive planning, team building, collaborating, and supervising complex portfolios. Mr. Sánchez is an experienced senior professional with a history of successfully conceiving, initiating, and executing focused, high-impact sustainable development projects in agriculture as well as fostering public-private alliances. Camilo holds a M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He has also worked with the United Nations and the Private Sector.

Trish Rothgeb

Director of Programs - Q and Educational Services

Trish is Director of Programs – Q and Educational Services. She is responsible for development and implementation CQI’s activities and strategies to increase the number of students enrolled in Q Training Services Programs internationally. She will work to build demand and purchase of Q and R graded coffees among coffee traders, roasters, and retailers in the major consuming markets of U.S., Japan, and Europe. She will also work with CQI’s technical staff and project managers to execute training and technical services, and other educational projects in producing countries. She is also the owner and roastmaster of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters in San Francisco, CA. She began her coffee career as a barista in the late 80's and has been roasting for more than 20 years, working at renown specialty coffee roasters including Kaffa (Norway), Taylor Maid Farms, and Zoka. An avid traveler in coffee growing regions, she currently teaches cupping and roasting to coffee professionals worldwide, and is credited with conceiving the "third wave of coffee" concept. Trish is a credentialed Q Instructor for Coffee Quality Institute's Q Grader program. She is a credentialed SCAA instructor, served on the Roasters Guild Executive Council, the World Barista Championship Board of Directors, and was a founding member of the Barista Guild of America. She has served on cupping juries around the world, including Cup of Excellence, Taste of Harvest, Good Food Awards, and SCAA Coffee of the Year. Trish has also judged US Barista Championship and US Brewers Cup competitions, and helped to develop the new World Coffee Roasting Championship.

Alexandra Katona-Carroll

Programs Manager

Alexandra has been working in the specialty coffee industry for nearly six years and is the part-time programs manager for CQI. She is also the founder of a new company for craft products, Sensaay, and is a member of SCAA's Sustainability Council. Alexandra was drawn to coffee at her alma mater, University of Michigan, where she worked with a coffee cooperative in Chiapas and helped co-found a student-run coffee business. Post-college, she lived in Ecuador and worked directly with a cacao cooperative, Kallari. Alexandra also worked at the Specialty Coffee Association of America for two years prior to joining CQI. She enjoys traveling, anything outdoors, carefully crafted beverages, exploring new foods and laughing.

Roukiat Delrue

Q Service Manager

From Belgium lives in Guatemala
In coffee for about 8-9 years
Q Grader / R Grader / Q & R Instructor
WCE Certified Judge since 2009
WCE current National Bodies Manager
Advisory Board Member for "Barista Magazine" (USA)
Advisory Board Member for "Cafe Cultura" Magazine (Gua)

Joan Uphoff

Coffee Corps Volunteer Coordinator

Joan is originally from Wyoming, growing up in Cheyenne and graduating from the University of Wyoming in Laramie in 1976. She grew up in the travel agency business that her dad started in 1949, learning from him after school and during summer breaks. After operating her own successful travel agency for 13 years, Joan made a move to the Pacific Northwest and settled near Hood River, OR in 1991. She spent several years in the hospitality industry as a sales manager for a resort hotel in Hood River followed by five years as Administrative Assistant at a small hospital in the area.

Joan has traveled extensively and brings a good deal of experience to managing logistics for the Coffee Corps Volunteers and Consultants. She also assists with proposal development, report generation and training activities.

Rosangela Mancilla

Project Coordinator & Database Administrator

Rosangela received her Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography and Bachelor of Arts in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies from California State University, Long Beach. She acquired administrative experience as a summer intern at Metro Art, Creative Services Department, as part of a multi-cultural Getty sponsored internship. In addition she has had experience working in the non-profit sector through the Sierra Club. Her interest in the non-profit sector and passion for coffee had led to working for CQI as Project Coordinator & Database Administrator where she facilitates details relating to the Q Training services and Q coffee system. She up keeps maintenance of material archives at CQI headquarters, as well as ensures information on CQI’s website is up to date. She also offers support on communications and marketing and fills the role of photo editor. She has a passion for art, music, coffee, helping others and enjoys the outdoors as well as traveling.

Luz Stella Artajo Medina

Technical Advisor and Q Coordinator

Luz Stella Artajo Medina was born in Manizales, Colombia and also holds Spaniard nationality because of her father’s origin.

She received her Ph.D. in Food Technology from University of Lleida, Spain in 2006 and her Bachelor’s degree in Food Engineering from University of Caldas, Colombia in 1999. After working as a professor of Food Chemistry and Sensory Analysis in two important universities in her city from 1999 to 2001, she moved to Spain to do her doctoral studies and work and stay there for five years working in a research laboratory dedicated to food antioxidants with emphasis in olive oil. She then spent six months at the Canadian Grain Commission in Winnipeg, Canada conducting research on flaxseed antioxidant. As a result of the knowledge acquired from both research studies in mention she wrote her thesis and a number of articles for well-known scientific journals.

Luz Stella has always had a cup of coffee in hand. She found her passion for it and re-directed her professional career to the coffee world when she came back to Colombia in 2007. She has volunteered for different coffee international events during the last five years and has gained experience working as an auditor of the Cup of Excellence competition, development product engineer, quality control manager, lecturer and expert cupper in the coffee world for about six years now. Her primary professional coffee activities have been performed in the current area named “Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia” (CCLC), where she is proudly from. She has also done internships at Coffee Lab International (Waterbury, USA), Centro Studi Assaggiatori, partner with the “Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano”- INEI (Brescia, Italy) and Atlas Coffee Importers (Seattle, USA) for a total international experience of 1 year. This has enriched not only her professional but also her personal life. Luz Stella is an active Q Grader and currently works with CQI as a Technical Advisor and Q Coordinator for Central and South America based in Colombia but really enjoys all the times she travels locally or abroad and finds it is an amazing experience living in different countries to discover new cultures and coffees.