Conscious Coffee: Adam San Miguel

Cortaditos was founded by two Cuban American entrepreneurs, who came together under the pretexts of social impact and passion for their Cuban roots, literally. Adam, American born to Cuban parents, founded a nonprofit organization that supports Cuban American college students with scholarships and leadership development programs. Andres, who immigrated from Cuba at the age of 25, founded Sweets & Cortaditos, a local bakery cafe with his family. Andres would donate the appetizers, coffee, and desserts for Adam’s nonprofit scholarship Galas. And that is where the partnership formed, at the intersection of social good and Cuban culture.

Brief Bio

Adam San Miguel

Adam is an international business and civic leader with over a decade of experience in the technology sector. Currently CEO of Cortaditos Coffee, Adam recently worked at Google as a Client Director in the Google Cloud Platform division. Prior to Google, Adam worked for Microsoft, in the Technology for Social Impact (TSI) division as well as in Enterprise sales. Additionally, Adam worked for Dell Technologies, where he oversaw the Dell EMC New Jersey Public Sector practice and also served as the Dell Technologies Charity Ambassador to Cuba.

As a civic leader in the community, Adam is the founder and chairman of the Cuban American Alliance for Leadership Education (CAALE), a non-profit organization supporting education through merit-based college scholarships and leadership development programs, which was awarded Nonprofit of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of NJ in 2020. Additionally, Adam is a member of the Cuba Study Group, a Miami-based non-profit organization aimed at promoting civil society development in Cuba. Also on the international stage, Adam is a member of the Cuba Emprende Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that supports the Catholic Church of Cuba’s Proyecto Cuba Emprende in offering entrepreneurial training and business advisory services to Cuban entrepreneurs. Previously, Adam has served on the Lideres Board of Latino Justice, a New York-based national civil rights organization, as well as the Steering Committee of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, an international business organization committed to economic and social development throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Adam is a reservist in the United States Coast Guard and holds a BA in finance from Monmouth University, where he also holds the school record for most receptions in a single season as well as a career (Football). Most recently, Adam earned an MBA from Fordham University, where he performed micro-consulting in the technology and digital branding industries in Argentina.

Spring 2023 Inaugural Presentation

Keynote Speaker: Jacqueline Jones LaMon

Jacqueline Jones LaMon is the author of three collections, What Water Knows, Last Seen, a Felix Pollak Poetry Prize selection, and Gravity, U.S.A., recipient of the Quercus Review Press Poetry Series Book Award. She is the author of the chapbook, The Legend of Clarence Thomas, winner of the Integral Music Chapbook Prize; and author of the novel, In the Arms of One Who Loves Me, published by Random House/Ballantine Books.

Ms. LaMon’s work has appeared in a wide variety of publications such as POETRY, Callaloo, and Narrative Magazine. Noted twice by the NAACP in the category of Outstanding Literary Work, Poetry, Ms. LaMon is the recipient of fellowships from the BAU Institute at the Camargo Foundation, the Cave Canem Foundation, the Yaddo Foundation, and others. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and UCLA School of Law, Ms. LaMon earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing, Poetry, from Indiana University Bloomington. She served as a board member and past president of Cave Canem Foundation, Inc. A member of the National Council for Graywolf Press, Ms. LaMon taught for over a decade in the multi-genre M.F.A. program at Adelphi University, where she currently holds the position of Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.