Meet the JusTeam
JusTea is a partnership between families in Canada and Kenya.
Meet the JusTeam members below and for more farmer updates search #LiveFromKenya on Instagram where our Kenyan partners go live to answer your questions!
Paul Bain
Paul is the Tea Captain at JusTea. After Canada, Kenya is the country Paul has spent the most time in and in many ways it feels like home to him. Paul is energized by working directly with small-scale farmers in Kenya, living with them on the tea gardens and processing tea together. Paul manages JusTea’s sales, marketing, and product development.
Russ Lafond
Russ is the Doctor of Operations and has been with JusTea from the beginning. Being very passionate about his involvement in a start-up, he learned a great deal about building a sustainable and ethical business. Now, Russ manages all product sourcing, packaging production and shipping logistics. On Russ's most recent trip to Kenya, he brought a scoby with him and taught Boaz how to make kombucha!
Sally Bain
Sally is involved with packaging design and online order fulfillment. If you’ve purchased from JusTea you’ve likely received a hand-written thank you note from her! When JusTea was getting started Sally helped design some of JusTea’s packaging and branding elements including our beautiful logo.
Grayson Bain
Grayson is the Canadian Founding Father. Wherever Grayson goes people tell him they are looking for food that is natural healthy and directly benefiting the farmer. For this reason he is proud to be the founding father of JusTea! As Mzee (East African term for proud old man) he loves seeing how Paul (Tea Captain) and Russ (Doctor of Operations) have taken over the leadership of JusTea in partnership with the Katah family of Kenya.
Shanice Alexander-Watson
Shanice is the relationship manager at JusTea. She manages most of our wholesale accounts across Canada and the USA. Shanice also works directly with online customers (like yourself!) to ensure everyone receives the best JusTea experience possible. See that little speech bubble in the bottom right corner of your screen? Click on that, and you will connect directly with her!
Daniel White
After a 6-ish year hiatus, Daniel is thrilled to be back with JusTea as the Online Marketing Manager. He oversees just about everything online and is so happy to be working with the amazing JusTeam once again!
Tahsin Ahmed Tonmoy
Tahsin is the newest JusTeam member, and has loved every minute of his time here. A master of operations and organization, Tahsin is responsible for packing, sorting, and shipping all our online orders. What drives him each day is knowing he’s playing a vital role in delivering all the amazing tea from the JusTeam in Kenya to happy tea drinkers like you!
Grace Bain
Momma Grace always makes herself available to support JusTea and lend a hand wherever it is needed. Grace helps package tea, gives feedback on new flavours in development, and spends a lot of time being a Nana to her grand-daughter Cleo (Paul and Sally’s daughter)!
Boaz Katah is the cottage factory manager. He is excited to create new job opportunities for his neighbours in Nandi Hills. Boaz is featured on our
Purple Rain Tin
Mzee Jacob was our Kenyan founding father. His vision to create a more just supply-chain for small-scale tea farmers is the core of JusTea’s mission. We honour Mzee’s life through our farmer-direct partnership and sharing Kenyan teas with the world! Jacob is featured on our African Chai Tin
Esperanza is a founding member of the Kenyan Women’s Tea Co-op. After 25 years of farming, picking, and processing organic herbs, she is now the production manager. Esperanza is featured on our Chamomile Dream Tin
Jamila manages many of the social impact projects JusTea supports on the ground. She also cooks the best chapatis in Kenya! Jamilla is featured on our Purple Chocolate Tin
Emmanuel, is one of our processing supervisors in the cottage factory. He is proud to share his teas with you! Emmanuel is featured on our Purple Mint Tin
Christine, called Chepkimi, is a single mother of 2 energetic children (Joy and Darius). She is so pleased to have a steady job managing the tea leaf sorting and packaging team.
Christine is featured on our Purple Jasmine Tin
On her small-scale ‘shamba’, Isabella grows her own organic lemongrass and sells it to the Women’s Co-op. Her dream is to visit Canada! Isabella is featured on our Peppermint Detox Tin
As a dedicated mother, Beth supports her two sons and daughters. Beth’s employment allows her to pay for her children’s school fees. Beth is featured on our Little Berry Hibiscus Tin