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