The grassroots coffee community-building and education group Girlsplaining (Instagram) is expanding with more events in more countries, amplifying the voices of professional women in coffee.
Created initially by Ecuadorian coffee and communications expert Camila Khalifé, the organization is currently planning in-person events in Bolivia, Guatemala, the United States and Peru, following wildly successful inaugural events in Ecuador and Peru.
“The truth is the reception has been amazing — way beyond my expectations,” Khalifé recently told DCN, noting that the group’s largest event to date, in Lima, Peru, attracted women from all over the country, as well as from Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica.
Khalifé created Girlsplaining as a platform for women in coffee to connect and share expertise and experience in a supportive and inclusive environment. Girsplaining also directly responds to the representational imbalance between men and women in leadership roles throughout the coffee industry.
However, Khalifé noted that the Girlsplaining programming — including hands-on workshops, cuppings, lectures and certified coursework through the support of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) — is not necessarily focused on gender issues, but rather on professional development in coffee.
“Our motto is ‘Created by women for everyone,’ because the idea is to create spaces and platforms where women who are experts in different topics can share their knowledge with anyone willing to learn,” Khalifé said. “I guess I would love to see a gender-diverse audience, but the truth is most of our events’ attendees are women, around 95%. We try hard to communicate that it’s not an event exclusively for women — so I am unsure if it’s because that’s what people think, or just because our society is not ready to go and learn exclusively from women.”
The next Girlsplaining event is coming to La Paz, Bolivia, on Aug. 3-5. Girlsplaining La Paz will include a Coffee Route (Circuito Cafetero), with workshops, tastings and classes at different venues, followed by gastronomic and culinary experiences, including an Aug. 3 cupping at high-end restaurant Gustu. The Aug. 5 events will take place at the Fundación Patiño auditorium, with lectures, workshops and CQI-sanctioned coffee classes. Follow the Girlsplaining Instagram page for updates.
Following the event in Bolivia, Girlsplaining is working with the group Latinas in Coffee to bring an event to Guatemala City. Other upcoming events will include a return to Lima, Peru, and an inaugural U.S. event, potentially surrounding the 2025 SCA Expo in Houston.
Puerto Rican coffee expert and entrepreneur Karla Quiñones recently joined Khalifé to help lead Girlsplaining operations, which typically rely on a network of local women for on-the-ground support.
“It’s truly rewarding to see how the events start coming to life and growing organically — the same way it started, with me and a couple of friends doing it for the sake of doing it, because we believed in the importance of creating this space,” Khalifé said. “It’s amazing how other women have the same feeling; they just show up willing to do whatever is needed for Girlsplaining to come to life, and it is thanks to the trust, vision and energy of all these women that I can see Girlsplaining as a sustainable project.”
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Nick Brown Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
