The North American Guild of Beer Writers has selected seven journalists to receive a Diversity in Beer Writing Grant for 2023. Now in its sixth year, the grant supports stories that showcase diversity and inclusion—in all its forms and challenges—within beer.
The Grant receives support from Crafted For All, a professional development platform that fosters inclusive, equitable, and just spaces and experiences in the craft beverage sector; Craft x EDU, which champions inclusion, equity, and justice in the craft brewing community through education and professional development; CraftBeer.com, a website published by the Brewers Association; and Allagash Brewing Company. These partnerships will allow the NAGBW to commission its greatest ever number of stories through the Diversity in Beer Writing Grant.
After receiving a strong collection of applications, the grant will fund the work of the following journalists. These pieces will be published at craftbeer.com, Crafted for All, or CRAFT x EDU:
Meghna Jaradi
Offering a glass of water is a sign of hospitality, but in brewery taprooms, it’s not just a simple pint of tap water. This piece explores the work and the environmental and social considerations that go into breweries’ non-alcoholic water offerings.
Elizabeth Bera
This story will focus on how breweries welcome guests from various ethnic communities through game nights, such as hosting loteria, mahjong, dominos, etc. Games become a conduit for cultural exchange among players.
Ian Donley
This is first-person piece from the perspective of a person with autism, mixed with reporting from experts in neurodiversity, that explores how breweries can be a space for testing and practicing social interaction. What makes these brewery spaces unique as “playgrounds” for socializing?
Anaïs Lecoq
This piece explores how women and non-binary people in France are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to festival safety. This piece briefly touches on the problems, but focuses on solutions that are coming from women and non-binary members of the French beer world.
Jose Abonce
Despite its ownership by a Korean-Polish-American family and the ethnic diversity of its neighborhood, diversity among Marz Brewing staffing and customer base was not always the case and had to be cultivated. This story will examine how giving an employee ownership over her role allowed her to leverage her language skills and cultural understanding in service of engaging the Latinx community.
Supon Peter Dulin
This piece will unpack the economic and business development hurdles Vine Street overcame on its way to becoming Kansas City’s first Black-owned brewery, with a particular focus on economic development and financing hurdles.
Amanda Thomas
This case study examines how the Mosaic State Brewers Collective inspires and empowers underrepresented people to build careers in the beer industry, asking whether this three-phase model could serve as a template for other such mentorship programs.
Previous Stories
Familiarize yourself with past stories to understand the kind of reporting that has come from the Diversity in Beer Writing Grant:
- Amber Gibson (2022): Pilot Project: Launching Brands and Lowering Barriers in Craft Beer
- Laura Hadland (2022): Brewers with Learning Disabilities: Equity in the Workplace (2022)
- Melissa Hidalgo (2022): Ube Yams and Dragon Tales: Finding Diversity in a New Generation of L.A. Breweries
- Liz Thomas (2022): A Walk through History and Race in Beer City USA
- Holly Regan (2021): The Still Point of the Turning World: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
- Ashley Rodriguez (2021): The Complexity of Mexican Lagers and Latinx People in the Brewing Industry
- Jonathan Andrade (2021): SoCal Cerveceros, America’s Largest Latino-Based Homebrew Club, Is Making Its Mark
- Jen Blair (2021): A Seat at the Table: Vegan, Vegetarian Food Offer Breweries Gateway to New Customers
- Stephanie Grant (2020): Creating Safe Spaces for Women in the Beer Industry
- Alessandra Bergamin (2020): A Cross-Border Brew Fosters the Next Generation of Latina Brewers
- Louis Livingston-Garcia (2020): Brewing Change Collaborative Tackles Diversity in the Twin Cities Beer Community
- Beth Demmon (2019): Craft, Community, and Children: The State of Parenting in the American Beer Industry
- Adriana Fraser (2019) Celebrating Women in Beer at 2019 Beer With(out) Beards Festival
- Rebecca Johnson (2018): Pride, Not Prejudice: Brewing Safe Spaces for the LGBTQ+ Community
Additional underwriting for the 2022 Diversity in Beer Writing Grant comes from Allagash Brewing Company.