Coffee from the Jungle
A direct relationship, across continents, in service of a forest
I'm Jessie, a Portland, Oregon based project manager and co-founder of Wild Nomad Elephant Commons.
I grew up on a small farm outside Damascus, Oregon, bottle-feeding lambs, rescuing baby birds, following our dog Bandon through the pastures. Whatever emotion I was feeling, I always felt calmer after time outside with the animals. That hasn't changed.
In January 2019, I traveled to the jungles of Northern Thailand and walked with Asian elephants in their natural habitat for the first time. That week changed the direction of my life, and led me to my co-founder, Yo.
Wild Nomad Elephant Commons exists because of that partnership.
I do this alongside my partner Hannah, who traveled with me to Thailand in January 2026, and whose own work building B Corps is rooted in the same belief that business can be a force for good, and our eleven-year-old son. Showing him that it's possible to show up for something bigger than yourself, and that the choices we make today shape the planet he inherits, that matters to me too.
— Jessie
Meet the co-founders at origin.
Yo was born and raised in the highlands of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. His family has lived in relationship with this forest for generations, his grandfather owned six elephants, and Yo spent his childhood learning the jungle alongside them. He spent thirty years guiding visitors through Northern Thailand before quietly turning his attention to the land during COVID, planting coffee under the canopy and encouraging his neighbors to do the same.
Bee, Yo's wife, co-manages the farm and the Karen community relationships that make this work possible.
Together, they are the reason this coffee exists, and the reason it means what it does.
Grown where it belongs
The coffee Yo and Bee planted in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, with no buyer and no guarantee, is bearing fruit now.
It grows under native jungle canopy in the highlands of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, at 900–1,100 meters. This is agroforestry: coffee integrated within the living forest, not clearing it. No synthetic inputs. The same soil that holds the hillside together, filters the streams, and shelters the wildlife that moves through.
Yo and his wife Bee oversee every step. The Karen farmers who grow this coffee walk into the jungle multiple times during harvest, hand-picking only the cherries at peak ripeness.
You can know exactly who grew this coffee, and exactly why.
The connection is not metaphorical.
The Karen people of Northern Thailand have cared for elephants for over a thousand years. When logging was banned in the 1980s, the forest had already been largely cleared. There wasn't enough habitat left for the elephants to roam, and Karen families sent their elephants to city tourism camps to survive. Many are still there today.
Coffee is how we change that. Jessie takes no salary, all proceeds from Wild Nomad go directly back to Thailand. That means paying the Karen farmers who hand-pick and process every cherry, supporting the broader community, and creating rental income for elephant owners who choose to bring their elephants back to the jungle. Those owners can visit their animals whenever they want. The elephants get to live where they belong.
Every bag of coffee is part of that ecosystem, farmers, families, forest, and the elephants moving through it.
If you're ready to try it, we'd love to get you a bag
Wild Nomad coffee will be available in Portland starting summer 2026, roasted in small batches, sold through this website, at Portland farmers markets, and through select local cafes.
Here’s how to stay connected
Want to know when our coffee launches? Sign up on our coffee page and we’ll be in touch as soon as it’s ready. Interested in an immersion experience? Head to our contact page and send us a note.
