Changing lives through coffee! It is something we all want to take part in and learn how to do with our businesses and careers. Well, today’s guest is doing just that and setting an example that should inspire all of us. We are having a conversation with Pamela Chng, the founder of Bettr Barista. Better Barista is a coffee organization built to make a lasting social impact by working with marginalize women and at risk youth in Singapore.
We dig into her work, the history of why she set up this company, how it works, the challenges of training high standards in coffee and also helping train their students emotionally, and physically to better their lives and overcome the challenges they face.
Pamela also lays out for us what we should do if we too want to use our business for social impact and effectively change lives through coffee.
Pamela is basically a hero and this conversation is sure to inspire you to action.
Enjoy!
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Pamela Chng Founder, Bettr Barista
Pamela has over 16 years of start-up and business experience and is the founder of Bettr Barista Coffee Academy, a for-profit social business in Singapore that arms marginalised women and youth-at-risk with the skills and tools to make their lives better. The Bettr Barista Holistic Training Programme adopts a whole-person approach that focuses on mental (skills), emotional and physical development, using the humble coffee bean and Singapore’s flourishing specialty coffee industry as its starting point.
Prior to founding Bettr Barista, Pamela co-founded, ran and grew a successful web consultancy, Digital Boomerang. As Project Director, Pamela managed major projects and all key client relationships with government agencies including SPRING, IDA, MICA, MTI, MOH and MCYS.
Pamela was also part of the pioneer team in the web division of Singapore Press Holdings during the dot-com boom, juggling a diverse portfolio of responsibilities. As Head of International Online Advertising Sales and Business Development, she managed key sales representatives in Europe, Australia, and East Asia.
A sociologist by training, Pamela is very passionate about solving problems and is constantly excited about the possibilities that social businesses present to the betterment of business and society. She has spoken at multiple coffee, social business and entrepreneur forums and seminars both locally and overseas, including at Re:co Symposium (Seattle 2018), the UBS Global Philanthropy Forum, DBS Social Enterprise Summit, B-Corp Asia Annual Forum in Taiwan, Social Asian Women Social Entrepreneurs Network Conference in Bangkok and the Makers of More Global Summit in London by Ashoka and Arthur Guinness Projects.
Trained in Melbourne, Singapore, Italy and the US in various aspects of the coffee industry, Pamela is a World Barista Championship Certified Sensory Judge, World Coffee in Good Spirits Sensory Judge, Licensed Q Arabica Grader, WDA ACTA-certified Trainer and Assessor, Specialty Coffee Association Certifier and Authorised Trainer. She started Bettr Barista with hopes to use coffee as a tangible vehicle by which to holistically better the lives of women, youth-at-risk and the less privileged in communities around the world.
P a g e | 1 Bettr Barista, 9 Harrison Road, #04-01, Singapore 369651 T: (65) 6383-5030, E: connect@bettrbarista.com, W: www.bettrbarista.com
BETTR BARISTA COFFEE ACADEMY ACCOLADES
2012
- Singapore’s first recipient of the Arthur Guinness Fund, which targets businesses with a socialheart that are committed to finding innovative solutions to real world social problems. 2013
- President’s Challenge Award: Social Enterprise Startup of the Year 2015
- Singapore’s first Certified B Corporation 2016
- Best For The World (Community) Honouree, which recognises
- AWARE Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment 2017
- Best For The World (Community) Honouree, which recognises
- President’s Challenge Award: Social Enterprise of the Year
- Natasha Shariff, 4th place in World Coffee in Good Spirits 2018
- Best For The World (Community) Honouree, which recognisesFounded in 2011, Bettr Barista is a home-grown specialty coffee company in Singapore. It is a leading provider of specialty coffee education, and is a certified Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Premier Campus andIn addition to providing a full spectrum of internationally certified courses, the Academy runs public workshops and customised coffee programmes for corporates and schools.Bettr Barista also operates:
- An ISO-certified coffee roastery
- an events arm that organises full-service mobile coffee experiences and brew bars
- micro-enterprise retail coffee bars at various community locations around Singapore
At the heart of Bettr Barista’s business is a social mission to empower vulnerable groups in the community via a proprietary Bettr Holistic Training Programme developed around coffee. This unique 4- month vocational programme focuses on marginalised women and youth-at-risk, arming them with professional expertise and life management skills that help pave the way for long-term careers in the specialty coffee industry.
With every Bettr cup of coffee, you’re helping to change lives by directly supporting Bettr Barista’s social initiatives, including:
- Nurturing direct trading relationships with our partner farms so as to maximise the commercial benefit to these farmers and the extended communities that they support.
- Running vocational programmes and micro-enterprise opportunities for marginalised women and youth-at-risk.
- Reducing our carbon footprint by repurposing and recycling materials that go into our coffee carts, and using more compostable/biodegradable serveware.For more information, please visit www.bettrbarista.com.Bettr Barista, 9 Harrison Road, #04-01, Singapore 369651 T: (65) 6383-5030, E: connect@bettrbarista.com, W: www.bettrbarista.com
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