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Watch the timeline of this initiative and some of the highlights below.
Day 1
Its midnight and I'm laying in bed thinking of how I can continue to make a difference in the beer community. I read the article in Good Beer Hunting titIed "Diversifying the Pipeline-Scholarships Aim to Confront Challenges to Minority Employment in Craft Beer" . While reading the article, what hit home the most was what Dr. Nikol Jackson-Beckham said about "tokenism". I realized that in that moment I was subconsciously contributing to the idea of "tokenism" by being comfortable with being the "only one". I was the only black person that worked at my previous brewery, although they had other minorities at different periods of time. I was the first and only black person that had ever worked at the grocery store bar I worked at. I was one of the only ones, at the NC Craft Brewers Guild conference a few months earlier. Being the "only one" had become a part of the "norm" for me and I realized I wasn't okay with that anymore. While laying in bed that night, I decided that I wanted to change the ideology of being okay with "tokenism" and I wanted to invite other women to the table with me. Hence, I came up with the idea to help 50 women achieve their Certified Beer Server status. Instead of simply asking for donations, I decided to create a t-shirt and sell it as apart of a campaign. That way, people got the opportunity to donate and support a good cause, while also receiving something tangible. I came up with the t-shirt design based off of a post I had wrote a few weeks earlier about building more bridges in the beer community and eliminating barriers. You can read that post here:
​www.instagram.com/p/CB0i2yNpDDq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link This video also goes into more of the WHY behind this initiative and why I started. ​
The Cicerone organization reached out to me on day 1 to match my 50 exams with 50 more exams. This enabled me to double my impact and help even more women pursue their Certified Beer Server exam. To say I was THRILLED was an understatement. Check out this video when I made the announcement.
Day 2
On day 2, I realized that not only would I meet my goal, I would EXCEED it. When I realized this, I decided that this was actually a good thing. This would provide us with the opportunity to not only help buy the exam for these women but also buy resources like books and other materials to help them study. Check out this video to hear more.
Day 3
On day 3, I was almost speechless. Not only did I exceed my goal, people were still donating and I was featured on TWO news stations. Check out those videos, along with some updates below.
TV Interviews:
WCNC Charlotte: www.wcnc.com/article/life/heartwarming/charlotte-black-beer-chick-helping-fund-beer-certifications-for-100-minority-women/275-6a21bf4c-965e-4d2a-a77a-d846c7864890
​Spectrum News: spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2020/07/24/n-c--woman-aiming-to-create-diversity-in-craft-beer-industry-?cid=share_clip
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