Viral Hashtag Launches New Beer Nonprofit Into the Spotlight
For Immediate Release: November 18, 2019
Craft x EDU: United States
Members of the media interested in being included on Craft x EDU’s press list should email their name, affiliation, and beat to opportunity@craftxedu.org.
A New Nonprofit Improving the Beer World
Craft x EDU, a new nonprofit launched by beer scholar and diversity champion Dr. J Jackson-Beckham, fosters inclusion, equality, and justice in the craft beer community through education and professional development. To achieve these goals, Craft x EDU Executive Director Dr. Jackson-Beckham—also Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association—will partner with state guilds, local government, nonprofits, and of course the beer industry itself. Already, Craft x EDU’s industry supporters include Good Beer Hunting, which provided brand development services to the burgeoning organization, and New Belgium Brewing, which sponsored a Great American Beer Festival Professional Development experience that helped Craft x EDU send 18 people to GABF only a few weeks after the nonprofit was founded. Follow Craft x EDU on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at @craftbyedu.
#IAmCraftBeer Goes Viral
When someone gives you sh*t, use it for fertilizer. When Cholanda White, aka craft beer blogger Afro Beer Chick, shared publicly her level-headed response to a racist email, Dr. Jackson-Beckham was shaken but inspired, and gave her Twitter followers a call-to-action: Using the hashtag #IAmCraftBeer, show the world that the craft beer community is united in its diversity. The beer community responded in force. With over 65,000 Twitter engagements and more than 3,800 shares on Instagram, #IAmCraftBeer went viral within hours, coinciding with the launch of Craft x EDU. The momentum is clear.
Craft x EDU Core Programs
To achieve Craft x EDU’s mission and champion inclusion, equality, and justice in the craft brewing community, the organization has a pair of tactics already in development:
Professional Development & Scholarship Funds
Women- and minority-owned businesses are universally under-capitalized, and the beer industry is no exception. “There are already some amazing programs like Pink Boots that help folks gain access to technical brewery schools,” says Dr. Jackson-Beckham, “so we’re looking for complementary ways to support professional development.”
Opportunity Fairs
Craft x EDU launches the first of its series of free-to-attend career expos and networking receptions at Norfolk State University, a public HBCU in Norfolk, VA, this April. These Opportunity Fairs are designed to represent the beer industry in its breadth, exposing attendees to the wide variety of career tracks, from biochemistry to communications, available in the brewing industry. Simultaneously, the events will offer breweries and allied trade organizations the opportunity to diversify their application pools. “Talking to brewery owners throughout the country in my role as Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association, a common refrain is that they have trouble hiring diversely because of their pool of applicants,” says Dr. Jackson-Beckham. “I want to help take that excuse out of the equation.”
Meet the Craft x EDU Board
Working alongside Dr. Jackson-Beckham are the following Craft x EDU founding board members:
Bev Armstrong: Armstrong is Founder, Owner, and Head Brewer of Brazo Fuerte Artisanal Beer in Watertown, MA. Brazo Fuerte is one of the few black women-owned breweries in the U.S. and the first in Massachusetts. After earning three degrees from Harvard University, Armstrong worked as an investment banking attorney and a biotechnology executive. While training as a nationally competitive rugby player, however, Armstrong developed a passion for easy-drinking beers as well as the art and science of brewing. Upon winning a prestigious mentorship experience with Boston Beer Company, the makers of Samuel Adams beers, she decided to leave the corporate work and pursue her craft beer journey. Armstong is a Certified Cicerone and a BJCP-certified beer judge.
Trista Kendall: Kendall is a specialist in nonprofit leadership development with an impressive history working for organizations whose charges include diversity and inclusion, wellness, and environmental advocacy. She is currently Grants Manager of a multimillion-dollar grant portfolio for the National Skills Coalition in Washington, DC.
Scott Metzger: When Metzger founded Freetail Brewing in San Antonio, TX, over a decade ago, he was unsatisfied with the legislative environment for craft brewers in his state. He successfully lobbied the Texas legislature to change laws regarding self-distribution, opening up opportunities for dozens of small businesses across the state. Metzger has served on the board of directors of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and the Brewers Association, where he served as the first chair on the BA Diversity Committee. Metzger is currently the General Manager of Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA.
Mari Rodela: Rodela is Co-Owner and Chief Community and Culture Officer at DC Brau Brewing Co. She is also Founder and President of the Washington, DC, Brewers Guild. As a member of the board of directors for Think Local First DC, she helps develop and implement solutions that strengthen the DC independent business community and helps make DC a more equitable, inclusive, and vibrant place to live. Rodela comes from a public policy and public health background with extensive experience forging nonprofit/community and nonprofit/governmental partnerships to effect change.
Craft x EDU is a nonprofit founded by Dr. J Jackson-Beckham in September 2019 with the mission to champion inclusion, equality, and justice in the craft brewing community through education and professional development. Members of the media interested in being included on Craft x EDU’s press list should email their name, affiliation, and beat to opportunity@craftxedu.org.