Meet Holinda, the Fremont High Senior Running a Coffee Cart at Her School

On a recent, balmy Saturday afternoon, 1951 Coffee Company, located just a few blocks from UC Berkeley, was hopping. People were bent over textbooks, typing on laptops, or coming in for a quick coffee to go. Behind the espresso bar was Holinda, a petite, smiling 20-year-old, who gently coaxed the foam on top of a latte to look like the layered petals of a tulip. 

Holinda is not a veteran barista, but between her weekend work here and the coffee cart she started at Fremont High School in February, she’s well on her way to becoming an espresso entrepreneur. 

Now a high school senior, Holinda arrived in the Bay Area from Guatemala four years ago with little English. Over the past few years, teachers at Fremont High School helped her become fluent, and she found support with Refugee and Immigrant Transitions (RIT), which partners with schools to help students adjust to living in the United States. 

It was there that Holinda heard about the Youth Barista Training Program with 1951 Coffee, a Berkeley nonprofit organization that helps refugees develop skills in the coffee industry and connects them with jobs — such as work at their coffee shop downtown. 

The course, which caters to young people ages 15 to 24, covers everything from coffee making techniques to understanding the flavor of different beans from around the world. “They teach you how to do the espresso, how to steam the milk, do pour-overs,” Holinda says. “And they teach you about the history of coffee, which is really cool.” 

Doug Hewitt founded 1951 Coffee in 2015 with immigrants and refugees in mind. Before the nonprofit, he had worked as an employment caseworker at the International Rescue Committee in Oakland, helping refugees apply for jobs. As he saw folks struggle to find entry-level work, he began thinking about how he could fill that gap. What if there was a barista training program that boosted people’s resumes? And a nonprofit coffee shop where he could employ people himself? 

“We have an extensive network of the coffee industry here, and so many people — especially on that high end of the specialty coffee industry — were continually looking for staff,” he says. “When refugees and immigrants are coming in, they're looking for that place of stability, somewhere to put down roots. It would be even better if they could put down roots in an industry that would actually have movement and an opportunity for them to grow.”

 Holinda completed the course in 2024, and about a year afterwards, reached back out to the organization to see if they had any job openings. They brought her in to meet with the cafe’s manager. “I was a little bit nervous: It was the first time I was doing an interview for a job,” she says, laughing. “It went really good.” Holinda got the job, and for the past year, she has worked weekend shifts when she isn’t in school.

At first, it was a challenge. “I couldn't make the latte art pretty well, and I took a long time to make it. Taking orders was a little bit hard since I didn't know English before. I was still practicing how to take orders, how to ask them what milk they want.” Over time, that changed. She learned how to take orders, and pronounce the Italian names of espresso drinks like cappuccino and macchiato. 

As she settled into her role, Holinda became something of a coffee influencer in her school. She encouraged her friends to take one of 1951’s week-long barista trainings over spring break and even helped co-teach a class. 

Then, at the beginning of her senior year last fall, she mentioned to a staff member at RIT how fun it would be to serve coffee at Fremont High. The nearest coffee shop is about a 10-minute away from school, so the cart would be a lifesaver for anyone looking for a quick coffee break. With their support, and Hewitt’s expertise, she held meetings with school officials to brainstorm the logistics. The back of a science lab was deemed an appropriate space, with its access to a sink and running water. 

In February, Holinda opened the Hug in a Mug coffee cart with two of her friends. For now, it’s only for staff; the principal said it’s not a good idea to sell caffeine to kids. But it’s been a success: Teachers have shown up every day it’s open, and funds raised go toward scholarships and supplies for students. 

Graduates of 1951 Coffee’s program tend to move on to work at shops throughout the Bay Area, but Holinda is the first one to open a concept in a public school. Hewitt sees it as a fantastic, student-led expansion of 1951’s work:  “It's kind of like a little business incubation class,” he says.

Holinda is graduating in May and hopes other students will take over the coffee cart next year. But she’s already looking ahead to what’s next. Coffee is now in her blood. “When I'm at school, I'm just missing my latte,” she says. “Every Saturday or Sunday in the morning I make my latte with whole milk.” Last week, she participated in her first latte art competition, and while she didn’t make it past the first round, she’s now inspired to start making rosetta patterns after seeing other baristas pull it off. 

When asked recently what 1951 Coffee should do next, Holinda suggested opening a second location in San Leandro, near where she lives.

“Now they ask me, ‘Are you going to open a coffee shop in San Leandro?’ Maybe! I will see about that,” she says. “I’d like to go to Laney College in Oakland, to learn how to manage a small business like a coffee shop. And then we’ll see!”