Martell here. Co-founder of the Sepia Coffee Project(SCP), a minority-owned coffee roastery in Detroit's North End. Coffee, like food and spirits, bring people together. Gathering for a cup involves conversation. These conversations often lead to new ideas which can become seeds to social and economic change.Coffee has been an invaluable part of my academic and professional career. One of the greatest assets I have gained is an ability to immerse myself into diverse cultures and societies. Between 2014-16, I conducted fieldwork in East Africa to better understand coffee value and supply chains. These strides landed me a sales position with a Norwegian importer trading coffee in Europe. Seeing opportunities further east, I opened my very own trade business in Turkey importing specialty coffee for roasters throughout West Asia. For nearly a decade, my work as a trader has taken me to some of the world's greatest civilizations - all with the intent of making specialty coffee more equitable(at the farm) and more accessible(to consumers). And it is the latter which has brought me back to my hometown of Detroit where I am striving to make specialty coffee more accessible to lower income communities.