WPCS 2026: Rewriting History, Weaving Solidarity

For the past four years, the Women Powered Coffee Summit (WPCS) has brought together hundreds of women — most of them coffee producers — for a gathering that tries to do things differently. This fifth edition feels like a turning point (and a milestone!). We're going back to the roots of why we started this in the first place.…

So, what is WPCS?

WPCS is not a trade show, a networking event or a conference. It is a space built by and for community — designed to shift the power dynamics by creating space for women coffee producers to be at the center.

The idea for WPCS came up when Bean Voyage founders Sunghee Tark and Abhinav Khanal kept showing up to specialty coffee events and leaving with the same feeling: something was missing. The spaces felt designed for people already on the “inside”. They were built around transaction, not connection. Around industry, not people.

As Abhi puts it:

"We went to our first specialty coffee event in 2019 and felt completely lost. The spaces didn't feel built for us — and they certainly weren't built for the producers whose work was being celebrated but rarely represented. We kept looking for something more intimate, more welcoming, more honest about who actually holds the knowledge in this industry. When we couldn't find it, we decided to build it. WPCS exists to hold space for producers at the center — not as guests, but as protagonists. Flipping that power dynamic, and doing it in a way that actually feels true."

Five years later, we're still building on that foundation.

This year's theme: Rewriting History, Weaving Solidarity

For the fifth edition of WPCS, we are turning our attention to three key ideas that shape the spirit of the summit. Each one is a thread in a larger vision — one that invites us to reflect on where the coffee industry has been, consider whose stories have been left out, and imagine what a more equitable future could look like.

Rewriting

A verb in the present participle is a living verb — one that is constantly in motion. That is exactly what we seek through WPCS: to rewrite, as many times as necessary, the story of women in coffee. Most coffee events are designed for roasters, traders, coffee shop owners, and industry leaders. Our Summit takes a different approach: 50% of participants are women coffee producers with valuable knowledge, experiences, and perspectives to share.

Weaving

A traditional Chiapanecan loom is not woven overnight. Meaningful connections are not built overnight either. They require each of us — our time, our energy, our curiosity, our willingness to listen, and our awareness. One great example is the ideas marketplace, a space where women showcase their projects, brands, ideas to each other, and weave pathways towards greater collaboration. 

Solidarity

Solidarity is more than simply collaborating on a shared project. It is the conscious decision to recognize that when one woman in coffee succeeds, we all become stronger. It means sharing knowledge instead of gatekeeping. It means creating more opportunities instead of competing for them. It means understanding that when we work together, we move forward together.

At the Summit, this shows up in small but meaningful ways. We offer interpretation in multiple languages — Spanish, English, Tsotsil, and Tseltal — because solidarity only means something when everyone can actually participate.

The question we're sitting with this year:

What can we achieve when we change who we place at the center of the story, how we connect with one another, and how we imagine the future of this industry?

It is a question that can only be answered by experiencing the Summit — by meeting other women, engaging in meaningful conversations, and perhaps even allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable for a moment.

What we can promise is a safe, intimate, inclusive, and sustainable space, grounded in community and filled with conversations over coffee.

The full program, speakers, and workshops will be announced very soon. But if this fifth edition of WPCS already resonates with you, there's still time to get your ticket. See you in San Cristóbal!

A note of deep gratitude.

None of this work happens alone. This year's Summit is being woven together with the support of partners who believe in this vision — including the Coffee Quality Institute, W.K Kellogg Foundation, Coffee Circle, Grupo Gigante, ANICAFE, Kerry, Root Capital, Peet's Coffee, The Coffee Source, Falcon Coffee, Barista Magazine, Descamex, Colectivo Rokunin, Woma Woma, Spirit Tea, Timemore, MTPak, and MiiR, whose collective generosity made it possible for more than 120 producers to attend on scholarship. Together with our community partners, volunteers, speakers, and the entire Bean Voyage team — we're making it real.

Blog written by Mariana Gaxiola

Edited by Lesley Yuen