Nicaraguan mission lands Martin Rojas at US Roast

Less than a year ago, Martin Rojas was at the top of his professional game, assigned to manage “strategic accounts” for Active, a software development company with an international reach. His interest in coffee came from mission work in Central America, where he established Alas de Dios, Wings of God. Another non-profit, Alas de Dios primarily serves children living in trash dumps and squatter shacks along the side of roads in Nicaragua, the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Alas de Dios funds a school for children ages 4 to 7, providing meals and a U.S. based educational curriculum.

His interest in coffee began with Alas de Dios land holdings where he began planting a coffee plantation to fund the school. Rather than marketing raw coffee beans, he envisioned the potential for larger returns with further processing and began his study of roasting.
Then Mr. Glover called.

“We actually met once twelve years ago,” Mr. Rojas said. “My next door neighbor was a classmate of Scott’s at Baylor and is now his lawyer. When Scott approached him about beginning the coffee business, he told him about my school and its coffee plantation, so he called.” Mr. Rojas changed professions.