Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Padron.
Maria , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The Austin Coffee Collective started 11 years ago! It started with a few coffee people gathering to share their love for coffee through latte art competitions. In these 11 years the organization has been through many phases depending on who is on the board and what they feel is needed for the community. The past couple of years it has evolved into a more consistent community driven organization as we just recently filed to become a non-profit organization.
We are proud of the work we’ve been able to do and events we’ve been able to create for the coffee community! Now we create consistent monthly competitions where we get to feature different coffee shops around Austin and help facilitate other events created by the community. We also try to create affordable education and connect those resources with others! Every quarter we try to create fun events that focus on mental health, wellness or just community driven. This mix of different events help different type of people that come together for the love of the craft!
I would say that people and passion is what has helped us get to where we’re at, our amazing volunteer board members, the coffee shops that host us and the community that shows up and is open to share things together! These spaces are where we get to share experiences and ideas that help us grow together!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Because we are a non-profit organization and we volunteer our time, it could be challenging to commit every month as we all have jobs and lives. But we try our best to be available and do what we can without overstretching or over committing while still staying consistent for our community.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Non-profit, creating local latte art competitions, educational and wellness event for the Austin Coffee Community.
What’s next?
We are always working on new events to keep the community engaged and create events that the community needs! As this season ends and we get new board members we will also evolve with them. The cool thing about the Austin Coffee Collective is that it becomes what we put into it and what mission we decide to focus on. I’m excited to see more people step into this community leader role and feel how fulfilling it is to give back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://austincoffeecollective.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austincoffee/
