About Thrive

After leaving a healthcare services company in January of 2011 that he had started ten years prior, Michael had planned to spend some long-needed time with his family while deciding what his next course in business would be. It was during this sabbatical that he was revisiting a conversation with his father-in-law, a long-time Blue Mountain coffee farmer in Jamaica, about the severe disadvantages in the value chain of coffee, that ultimately led to the creation of Thrive Farmers – an innovative platform to change the world of coffee and align the interests of producers and consumers for the first time.Michael is the quintessential entrepreneur, having founded and operated several privately held companies. He has managed high growth companies and has been successful in building significant market value for shareholders. Most recently, Michael founded Implantable Provider Group (IPG), a provider of market-based medical implant solutions that is delivered to payors, manufacturers, providers and patients. In his role as President/COO, Michael was named one of Atlanta’s top 25 entrepreneurs by Catalyst Magazine in 2008 (#4). Jones was selected because of his role in founding IPG and turning it into one of the country’s fastest-growing businesses. In 2008, Inc. Magazine ranked IPG as the sixth-fastest growing healthcare company in the country (1,500% three year growth rate) and the 138th fastest-growing overall. FORBES Magazine recently ranked IPG at #5 in its list of 100 Most Promising Companies in America. Michael has been instrumental in raising capital from high profile private equity firms including Sequoia Capital, arguably the most revered venture capital firm in recent history due to its investments in Apple, Atari, Oracle, Cisco, Yahoo, Paypal, Google and others, who invested in IPG in early 2010. Michael’s background prior to IPG includes an early career in the financial services industry in corporate finance. He then segued into healthcare in the mid 90’s pursuing two other ventures. Michael is married to Sharon, and they have three boys.

As a retired trial lawyer from Georgia, Ken has extensive experience in advocating client’s interests on long-term projects as well as in complicated litigation in both the private and public sectors. After 14 years of the practice of law, Ken decided to move with the entire family to a coffee farm in Costa Rica. With the transition from trial lawyer to coffee farmer, Ken quickly began to understand the injustices that farmers face in the current value chain of coffee.With the combination of Ken’s never failing passion for advocacy and his new found vocation as a coffee farmer, Ken decided to make the case for the coffee farmer and to reveal the truth about your morning cup. Thrive Farmers is the direct result of Ken starting the San Rafael Sustainable Coffee Initiative in mid-2010 with other farmers in his coffee-growing community. The SRSCI became the initial local platform and test case for the farmer in San Rafael. THRIVE Farmers was the natural next leap to take the case of the coffee farmer to the entire world.As Chief Sustainability Officer of Thrive Farmers, Ken seeks to find, advocate and project the voice of the farmer and to tell the world that a new day has come in the world of coffee. His passion to stand and advocate on behalf of his fellow coffee farmers has found its place in THRIVE Farmers. Prior to law and farming, Ken was a marketing director with Feld Entertainment, Inc. working in public relations and marketing for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Walt Disney’s World on Ice. There is no coincidence in life, only Providence. A past experience in public relations, the practice of law, the passion for advocacy, and now coffee farming all are being brought to bear in Ken’s life to make Thrive Farmers the connection between the coffee farmer and the lover of coffee.

Michael McCathren is a 35-year restaurant veteran whose experience includes Operations, Supply Chain, Finance and Marketing responsibilities in the quick casual and fast-food segments.  He has worked and consulted for companies including la Madeleine French Bakery & Cafes, Kmart, Applebee's, Genghis Grill, Huber Industries, 4R Smokehouse, and FanDual.  Recently, Michael led a transformation initiative as Executive Director of Guardian Independent Operator Association that expanded their membership from Chick-fil-A Operators only, to the mid-size restaurant franchise market. Prior to that, Michael spent 21 years at Chick-fil-A, Inc. His experience there included roles as a regional marketing consultant, establishing the company’s Interactive Digital Marketing department. In that role, Michael was responsible for all consumer-facing digital communications, websites, social media strategies, online customer relationships, mobile app strategies, retail gift card program as well as local and market-level digital marketing consulting services available to Chick-fil-A franchisees.  Later, Michael was selected to lead one of three long-term business priorities for Chick-fil-A – growing the breakfast daypart. In this role, he took an unconventional approach by applying the innovation process to marketing that resulted in a repositioning from “chicken for breakfast” to “Chick-fil-A for breakfast”. He also guided media planning and messaging tactics designed to triple unaided awareness by 2020.  That same year, Michael was also responsible for redesigning how Chick-fil-A establishes a presence in new and existing markets by innovating its franchisee consulting model and marketing support for new restaurants.  Michael built and led the Innovation Services team in the Innovation Department at Chick-fil-A where he and his team were responsible for helping the organization transform its ideas into business value. He created an innovation ecosystem in a decentralized environment that included identifying external disruptions and opportunities, providing internal consulting and facilitation services, and overseeing a 37,000 sq ft innovation center.  Over the past several years, Michael has also consulted with Church of the Highlands on their strategic planning and growing an innovation culture, Operation Mobilization USA with expanding its ScatterGlobal vision through collaboration with US churches, She Is Safe with process improvements, priority setting and work alignment, Leader 2 Leader with how to lead with an innovation mindset, Biblica board of directors on strategic planning, and NewSpring Church advising on standing up an innovation practice within the church. 

What began as a passion soon became a calling. Edgar immersed himself in the world of coffee and, through his work with Thrive Farmers International, he has been able to connect producers with consumers in ways that transform lives. His vision has opened new markets and fostered lasting relationships, enabling coffee from Latin America and Africa to reach farther than ever before. At Thrive Farmers, Edgar’s approach goes beyond business. It reflects a deep commitment to excellence, scalability, and most importantly, creating meaningful impact for farming families. He is also passionate about managing client relationships from an Origin perspective, ensuring that every connection between growers and buyers is rooted in authenticity, transparency, and shared value. His mission is to build bridges between coffee growers in Latin America and Africa and consumers worldwide, generating opportunities that truly change lives.Beyond his professional achievements, Edgar is defined by his devotion to God and family. He is the husband of Regina and proud father of four wonderful children: Alejandra, Adrián, Javier, and Marcelo.

Vice President of Marketing Ricardo Caceres has spent his career driven by a steadfast passion to change and challenge business-as-usual. He is a creative and resourceful marketer with a proven record as a leader in revolutionizing multinational companies through social good development.Most recently, Caceres served as the Senior Director of Purpose at VF Corporation, where he was responsible for shaping the company as the global leader of purpose in the apparel industry. He worked closely with the CEO and Senior leaders to align and socialize the company’s purpose-driven strategies, vision and values, and with many global brands to turn social purpose into business growth.Previously, Ricardo was the Global Marketing Director of Sustainability for the Coca-Cola Company, where he worked for more than 18 years. He partnered with corporate and regional teams to integrate sustainability across all marketing, which enhanced brand strategies, set up new capabilities and improved analytics. He was also a key player in the creation of the New Still Beverage Business in Latin Center.Prior to joining TCCC, he worked as an account executive for O&M and was later recruited to work in Brand Management at Unilever.In addition to purposeful business strategy, Ricardo has helped many nonprofits. Notably, he served as the Regional Strategic Partnership Director for CARE, an international humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting global poverty and world hunger.Ricardo holds a BA in International Business from Tulane University and an MBA from Thunderbird, The American School of International Management. He was a Member of the Advisory Board for Sustainable Brands from 2014-2017 and a co-leader of the Practice of Purpose Project, where he galvanized brands to integrate sustainability and social purpose into their marketing activities, with Professor Omar Rodriguez from Emory University.The mission of Thrive Farmers is deeply personal to Ricardo. He is originally from El Salvador, where his family has farmed coffee for five generations.

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David has spent his career driven by a passion for coaching and leading people to reach their full potential. He is a disciplined and resourceful operator with a proven record of building systems and developing people in high pressure environments. David spent 11 years in the military as an Army Ranger Captain, serving two combat tours. His service was recognized with three Bronze Star Medals with Valor Device, the Army Ranger Tab, Combat Action Badge, Airborne Badge, and Air Assault Badge, a reflection of his leadership and heroism under fire. Following his transition from military life, David discovered his passion for coffee while living in Belgium, where he helped an American couple build a coffee shop from the ground up. He has worked in just about every position in the coffee industry, as a barista, roaster, green coffee buyer, and Q Grader. A gifted teacher at heart, David mentored numerous coffee professionals during this time, several of whom have gone on to become head roasters or start their own roasting companies. In 2017, David joined Thrive Farmers, where he now leads operations across warehousing, logistics, and production. He applies the same discipline and coaching mindset that guided him through more than a decade of military leadership to build strong systems and develop the people who run them. David holds a degree in History from Georgia Southern University and a master's certificate in Public Administration from Kansas State University, and he is currently a candidate in the University of Georgia Terry College of Business Executive MBA program. Developing people and building things that last is deeply personal to David. It is the thread that runs through his time as an Army Ranger, his years mentoring roasters, and his work leading the operations team at Thrive Farmers today.