Colombia Team

Jorge “el Mono” Duque

Jorge Andrés Duque is a coffee quality specialist and has served as Technical Advisor for PDC Colombia since 2023. As the first partner to believe in the untapped potential of coffee from southern Córdoba, he has played a key role in shaping quality-driven processes with a strong social and territorial focus. 

  • Coffee Quality Specialist & Technical Advisor, PDC Colombia

    Jorge Andrés Duque is the coffee quality expert who believed in what was once just a dream: to discover, elevate, and position the undiscovered coffee of southern Córdoba. With deep expertise, a spirit of excellence, and a generous, human-centered approach, Jorge became the essential bridge that allowed barista and Sokuao Café co-founder Wilfred Valencia to offer a new path forward, one rooted in hope.

    Since March 2023, Jorge has been part of PDC Colombia, contributing both his technical insight and human sensitivity as a key guide in shaping the organization’s quality protocols. His role goes far beyond evaluating beans, he has built trust with emerging producers, validated their work with respect, and offered expert guidance that uplifts without imposing.

    He was the one who didn’t hesitate to make that first journey to Tierralta, when everything was still uncertain, to taste the first beans harvested from a land shaped by resilience. Since then, he has supported the evolution of PDC with steady resolve, helping to establish quality standards that are now allowing Córdoba’s coffee to begin claiming the recognition it deserves.

    Jorge is more than a coffee curator or a technical expert. He is a quiet yet vital ally, someone who combines excellence with a deep social mission, and who has made his work a tool for rural transformation. Thanks to him, coffee from southern Córdoba is not only cultivated, it is recognized, respected, and proudly shared with the world.

Wilfred Valencia

Wilfred Valencia, a proud native of Córdoba, is a barista, coffee roaster, and Project Coordinator at PDC Colombia. He is also the co-founder of SOKUAO Café Tostado, a brand allied with PDC Colombia.

Wilfred leads initiatives in the rural areas of Tierralta, where he works hand in hand with emerging coffee growers, supporting their transition toward new opportunities rooted in coffee and dignity.

  • Project Coordinator, PDC Colombia

    Wilfred Antonio Valencia Villegas was born in Tierralta, Córdoba, and his story is a testament to resilience, love for his land, and the power of transformation through coffee. Though he began his technical studies in business administration, it was his hands-on experience, from the simplest tasks to managing a coffee shop, that sparked a deep connection to the world of coffee.

    He later trained at SENA as a barista, cupper, and roaster, and has spent over a decade refining his craft. Alongside his wife and brother, he co-founded SOKUAO Café Tostado, a PDC Colombia partner brand born in the heart of southern Córdoba, with the mission of elevating the value of local coffee and honoring the work of those who grow it.

    For the past year, Wilfred has served as a Project Coordinator at PDC Colombia, where he leads initiatives in rural communities such as El Diamante, La Chica, San Rafael, Guarumal, and La Zumbona. His work supports transitions toward legal and sustainable economies rooted in dignity and opportunity.

    Wilfred’s close ties to the community, practical expertise in coffee, and personal journey make him a key member of the PDC team, a living bridge between coffee growers and the transformative processes taking root in Córdoba.

Wilver Valencia

Wilver Valencia is a community ethnographer and social liaison for PDC Colombia. Born in Tierralta and currently based in Germany, he leads participatory processes that bring visibility to the memories and knowledge of rural coffee-growing communities in Córdoba. Through his work, he helps build bridges between territories, justice, and the decolonization of coffee.

  • Community Ethnographer & Social Liaison, PDC Colombia

    Wilver Arbey Valencia Villegas is a social liaison, business administrator, and community ethnographer who has been part of Project to Decolonize Coffee since 2024. Born in Tierralta, Córdoba, he has dedicated his professional and personal life to recognizing, amplifying, and protecting the voices of the territory.

    Wilver led PDC’s first official field visit on July 11, 2024, a historic moment for the PDC, as it marked the beginning of its on-the-ground work in the rural coffee-growing regions of southern Córdoba. Since then, he has focused on designing and carrying out ethnographic processes that bring to light the stories, knowledge, resilience, and living memory of communities that have long been neglected and are now walking the path toward self-determination.

    Through participatory community assessments, Wilver has helped strengthen the connection between local dynamics and the broader goals of coffee decolonization, understanding that this work is not just about growing beans, but about sowing justice, dignity, and memory.

    Though currently based in Germany, his commitment to PDC and to Colombia remains unwavering. He leads his team in Colombia with intercultural awareness and empathy, showing that it’s possible to build bridges between distant worlds when there is a shared sense of purpose, respect, and deep roots.

    Wilver’s presence at PDC Colombia reflects a powerful commitment to a new way of walking alongside communities, one that listens, honors rural voices, and recognizes that every meaningful transformation begins with acknowledging the other.

    SIMON CUELLAR BETANCURTH

    Simón Cuéllar Betancurth is the filmmaker for PDC Colombia. Through his work with PDC, Simón has found a space to grow while doing what he loves most: telling real stories with social impact. With sensitivity and talent, he captures and brings visibility to the work of emerging coffee growers in southern Córdoba.

Mariela Rojas

Mariela Rojas is a resilient woman who was displaced by the armed conflict in Tierralta. A mother of three, she found a path to dignity through her work as a community coffee picker with PDC Colombia.

In 2024, after completing training and earning her high school diploma, Mariela marked a powerful turning point in her journey. Today, she continues to transform her life—and the lives of her children—through the strength of coffee, the pursuit of education, and the promise of a better future.

  • Member, “The New Coffee Pickers” Project – PDC Colombia

    At the age of 29, living a humble and hard-working life in the countryside, Mariela Rojas met the man who would become her life partner and the father of her three children: Luis Carlos, Luisa, and Alberto. When Luis Carlos was just four months old, the war reached her doorstep. She was forcibly displaced from her home in the village of El Diamante, Tierralta, Córdoba, marking the beginning of a life shaped by sacrifice, perseverance, and long days in the fields to support her family.

    One morning, while working at Finca El Tesoro, Mariela met a young man who told her about PDC Colombia. “Do you have work for me?” she asked. At the time, the answer was no, they were just getting started. But days later, the organization called back, this time offering her the opportunity to provide meals for the team. That was the beginning.

    It was there that she met the people behind PDC, who saw more than just a cook, they saw commitment, strength, and heart. They promised they’d find a way to work with her again. And they did.

    Months later, she was invited to join The New Coffee Pickers project and traveled to Manizales for training. That experience changed everything. It opened her eyes to a new path, not just for herself, but for her family. Mariela decided to return to school, and in December 2024, she proudly earned her high school diploma.

    Today, she continues to grow, learn, and walk alongside PDC, as a symbol of resilience and transformation.

    Her story is not an exception. It is a promise: that when opportunities are offered with respect and sincerity, real change is possible.

    “Coffee didn’t just give me a job, it gave me back my dreams, my desire to learn, and a future for my children.”

Jhon Arley Gómez

Jhon Arley Gómez Rojas is part of “The New Coffee Pickers” project at PDC Colombia. Born in Montelíbano, Córdoba, he experienced forced displacement and spent years working in illicit crop cultivation.

Today, through coffee and his involvement with the organization, his story stands as a powerful symbol of transformation, dignity, and hope in rural Colombia.

  • Member, “The New Coffee Pickers” Project – PDC Colombia

    Jhon Arley Gómez Rojas was born in Montelíbano, Córdoba. The youngest of five siblings, he was raised in a household shaped by rural labor, a deep love for the land, and profound hardship. At just two years old, he lost his mother. His father, along with a caring neighbor who became a maternal figure, guided him through life.

    Like many young people in southern Córdoba, Jhon experienced forced displacement due to the armed conflict. His family resettled in the village of La Chica, where he began his studies, but had to leave school early to support his family. In the face of limited options and urgent need, he spent six years working in informal agricultural economies tied to coca leaf cultivation, an experience shared by many in regions historically excluded from legal economic opportunity.

    But his story didn’t end there.

    Determined to forge a new path, Jhon turned to coffee, and it changed everything. He began working with the region’s first coffee grower at Finca El Tesoro, where he soon met members of PDC Colombia. They saw in him not just a laborer, but a person full of potential, and invited him to join the organization as part of “The New Coffee Pickers” project.

    For the past year, Jhon Arley has contributed to PDC’s work in the field, not just by harvesting coffee, but by becoming a symbol of dignity and change. Jhon returned to school and in December 2024, proudly graduated.

    His journey is living proof that transformation is possible when real opportunities, respectful accompaniment, and the will to change come together.

    Today, Jhon brings strength and heart to every step of the coffee production process. For him, coffee is no longer just a harvest, it is a new beginning.