[G]litter Cat has revealed its participants in this year’s Bootcamp, which will train coffee professionals from around the country to compete in the 2020 U.S. Coffee Championships. Following the success of 2019’s inaugural season, which focused on the Barista Champs, Glitter Cat has now expanded to include sessions for Brewers Cup, Roasters, and Coffee in Good Spirits.
The bootcamps will be developed around the guidelines of each championship and will be led by champions and head judges from each competition. All are all-expenses-paid, two-and-a-half day events designed to provide intensive training to members of marginalized communities to prepare for and succeed in the U.S. Coffee Championships, with a mission to increase representation and diversity on the national and international coffee competition stages.
This year’s Glitter Cat Bootcamp Trainees are:
(Barista) Cydni Patterson, Durham, NC; Eli Cecil, Grand Rapids, MI; Eve Wieser, Vermillion, SD; Jake King, Atlanta, GA; Kae Bonaguro, Cincinnati, OH; Marsinah Hopkins, Philadelphia, PA; Nicole Henderson, Washington, DC; Oodie Taliaferro, Austin, TX; Selina Gonzalez, Austin, TX; Zach Thanasilangkul, Denver, CO
(Brewers Cup) Alyssa Bell, Lilburn, GA; Demi Chacón, Tampa, FL; Dre Morales, New York, NY; Kristina Jackson, Boston, MA; Magda Vandusen, Burlington, VT; Nhan Trinh, Omaha, NE; Sirada “Peace” Sakulclanuwat, New York, NY; Sasha Wheeler, New Orleans, LA; Ujae Lee, New York, NY
(Roasters) Alexandra McClean Egan, San Jose, CA; Baylee Engberg, Tacoma, WA; Carlos Sims, Jr., Des Moines, IA; Chi Sum Ngai, New York, NY; Christina Chin, Long Island, NY; Emily Smith, Gaston, OR; Jess Harmon, Ypsilanti, MI; JR Harris, Hollywood, FL; Kebby Vincent, Boston, MA; Kris Carlson, Kansas City, MO
(Coffee in Good Spirits) Christina Lee, Palisades Park, NJ; Cyrenthia Ngueya, Fayetteville, AR; Jalen Kelly, St. Louis, MO; Joanna Lareau, New York, NY; Matt Kumar, New York, NY; Meghan-Annette Reida, Milwaukee, WI; Michelle “Mimo” Tran, New York, NY; Mika Turberville, New York, NY; Mo Koolphanich, Arlington, VA; Robert Rodriguez, Boston, MA
Visit the Glitter Cat Bootcamp website to learn more about the participants and the event.
