Building Community with Coffee

Benita Ki ’11 in front of a coffee roasting machine.

The business that Ki helped found, Civic Roasters, donates some of its proceeds to local nonprofits.

The business roasts coffee beans from a range of countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, and donates a portion of its proceeds to local groups working on behalf of marginalized populations. Ki also is setting the groundwork for the day when Civic Roasters can hire formerly incarcerated women. Civic’s clients include grocery stores, restaurants, and coffee shops, and its website attracts individual customers from all over the country. A crowdfunding campaign last year raised about $100,000, which Ki took as a strong sign of community support.

For now, Ki and her partners hold other jobs—they take no salary from Civic Roasters—while they search for a brick-and-mortar home for their business. Ki works at a farm operated by the Franklin Pierce School District. Her job title, community nourishment coordinator, seems perfectly aligned with the aspirations she harbors for Civic.

Why coffee? Ki sees the morning staple as the perfect product for fostering community. “A coffee shop is a place where people gather,” she says. “Having a product produced by small farmers all over the world feels like a special thing to get to share.”

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