NCA Distinguished Leadership Award

Nominations for the 2026 award cycle will open on September 15, 2025.

The National Coffee Association's Distinguished Leadership Award has long celebrated individuals whose extraordinary leadership, service, advocacy, and engagement have advanced both the NCA and the broader coffee industry. As the industry continues to evolve, so too does the lens through which we recognize exemplary leadership.

In that spirit, the Distinguished Leadership Award will now focus on individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the U.S. coffee community at large. This prestigious honor recognizes those who have made enduring contributions to the industry through education, advocacy, and/or the cultivation of community within the coffee sector. Rather than recognizing a single moment or achievement, the award highlights sustained leadership and impact over time.

While the scope of the award has expanded, its core remains unchanged: to honor those whose work strengthens and uplifts the coffee community. We are proud to continue this tradition—rooted in legacy, inspired by progress.

Nominations may come from NCA members or non-members, and nominees must be a current or prior member of the NCA in good standing.

Questions: Terri Bartlett, Director of Member Relations, at trbartlett@ncausa.org

2025 Distinguished Leadership Award Recipient: Allan B. Colley

The NCA is honored to award Allan B. Colley the 2025 NCA Distinguished Leadership Award, sponsored by the Eight O'Clock Coffee Company, in recognition of his many contributions and distinguished career spanning over 50 years in the coffee industry.

Colley started his career at the Dupuy Group in 1973, working under his father and with his four brothers. He learned the business from the ground up and became president of Dupuy, a position he held until the sale of the company in 2023. He now serves as a valued consultant to the company’s new owners.

Throughout his time with Dupuy, Colley maintained the company’s steadfast support as an NCA member. Within the NCA, he advocated for the warehouse industry, engaged in many working groups, and sponsored and attended NCA Conventions for decades. He served as president of the Southern Coffee Association and the Green Coffee Association, and he represented the coffee industry as the president of the New Orleans Board of Trade.

In 1992, Dupuy Group helped to establish the first green coffee silo in the U.S., and in 2005, Dupuy opened a second state-of-the-art green coffee silo in Jacksonville, Florida. Dupuy also installed unique blending and upgrading equipment in several locations, all groundbreaking investments and technological solutions in the world of coffee warehousing.