Hector Castillo Carvajal, founder of Don Carvajal Café, is a 26-year-old Afro-Latino entrepreneur
on a mission to reimagine the specialty coffee market. He was born on a small farm in the
Dominican Republic and returned there often while growing up in the Bronx, an experience that
gave him a unique perspective on the coffee supply chain. After pursuing his education at
CUNY-Guttman and the University of Rochester, Hector has returned to the Bronx to build a
coffee business model that is both fair to producers and inclusive to consumers. In just two
years, he’s taken the brand from operating out of a dorm room to a city-wide distribution
network.
Hector Carvajal
