Who we are:

We are a fully worker-owned and operated coffee roaster and cafe. There are currently 9 members, 5 of whom are founders and 4 newer members who are working towards ownership. Our cooperative operates without bosses or hierarchy, relying instead on a well developed horizontal structure. Decisions are made through a consensus building process in which each participant has an equal voice regardless of where they are at in the ownership process. This collaborative environment creates an empowering and healthy workplace while also strengthening the business itself. We are not a nonprofit, but we are committed to resource redistribution and mutual aid, and we will reinvest as much as we can into the community once we are able to sustain our labor at a livable wage. 

Why do we work this way?

Quite simply because we believe that another world is possible. One in which wealth and resources are equitably distributed, where everyone has not only their basic needs met, but where we can all thrive. We want to live in a world where kindness, trust, and accountability are the norm.

We believe that we can (and must) build this world - not just for some distant future, but right now; today. 

We see that the culture of consumption and the competitive, scarcity driven mindset fostered by capitalism is destructive, exploitative, and isolating. So instead we work together to care for each other and our planet and to dismantle these oppressive structures. While the current system still remains, we aim to create a healthy workplace to test the limits of what is possible. We know that there is no truly ethical consumption under our current paradigm, so we operate on a model of harm reduction.

How will we do this?

We donate our money, time, and resources to mutual aid projects and other community support efforts in our city and region. We purchase coffees that are not only transparently sourced, but where the metrics for sustainability (for all members of the supply chain such as farmers, pickers, drivers, as well as the environment) are clearly defined and met. We will offset any necessary consumption of non-renewable resources with investments in sustainable practices elsewhere - such as composting, recycling, reuse, renewable energy, and more. We are working towards becoming a zero-waste business!

We hope you are as excited about these potentials for progress as we are and we hope to see you out there. Here’s to our collective future.

Where we are:

We are located in Scott’s Addition at 1719 Summit Ave. The five founding members of Afterglow are all former Lamplighter employees. We are immensely grateful to the owners of Lamplighter for being open to our proposal to buy the roasting business to turn it into a cooperative, and as a result we were able to purchase all of the roasting and production equipment that was already here to turn our worker-owned coffee shop dreams into a reality. We renovated the cafe space and continue to make upgrades as we are able. We are still roasting unique coffees for the original Lamplighter location at 116 S. Addison Street, which is now the sole retail location for Lamplighter branded coffee.