Giving a Family Business a Jolt With Coffee That Empowers Women
With the men aware that more money is coming in simply
because of female involvement, Ms. Kolosvary said, “for the very first time these women are now viewed as having a leadership role in their communities.”
The I. W.C. A., with legally recognized chapters in 22 countries, helps mobilize women in the industry
and provides a platform for them to share the challenges they face.
Josiane Cotrim, chapter president for Brazil, the largest coffee-exporting country, said the support of organizations like the I. W.C. A.
meant “the woman was no longer the daughter or the sister or the wife of someone in coffee.”
“We were women in coffee,” added Ms. Cotrim, who was raised on a coffee farm.
In addition, the company donates 5 percent of all profit to organizations
that support women in the industry, including the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, or I. W.C. A., and Café Femenino.
“Wait a minute, we’re just going to walk away from it?”
Only a few months later, in April 2015, Ms. Bohbot struck upon her idea for City Girl after
attending an International Women’s Coffee Alliance breakfast at a conference in Seattle.
“We were hitting a plateau, and it needed to be reinvigorated,” said Ms. Bohbot, now 32, all steely determination and dry humor.