While positions of leadership in the coffee industry have historically been held by cis-men, there are a handful of people and organizations that have been leading the way in providing opportunities for folks who hold marginalized identities. Here’s just a few organizations that are doing some amazing work in uplifting coffee professionals and advocating for more diversity in the coffee industry!
Glitter Cat Barista is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to reimagining the coffee industry through competition, community engagement and events, and hospitality programming. Founded by Veronica and Eric Grimm, Glitter Cat started as a coffee competition training program for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, and persons of marginalized gender. It has since expanded to encompass projects that are intended to have an impact on the specialty coffee industry by promoting the hiring and career advancement of members of marginalized communities. With the cancellation of the 2021 Coffee Championship due to COVID, they created their first virtual coffee competition, the the DiGiTiTiON. They also created the SNiFF-i-TiTiON, a free international scratch and sniff competition. Recently, they started the Roasters Spotlight, a monthly coffee release featuring past and present Glitter Cat Roasters. Follow them on instagram to see what they’re up to next, or get involved by donating or becoming a volunteer!
#ShestheRoaster is a volunteer group founded by Jen Apodaca, Chair of the Coffee Roaster’s Guild of of the Specialty Coffee Association. It started off as a social media campaign that focused on encouraging more women to compete in coffee roasting competitions. As a woman roaster and competition participant herself, Jen wanted to see more female roasters take on leadership positions in the coffee industry. #Shestheroasters holds events that bring together self-identifying women and allies to explore career opportunities in roasting. They also give scholarships to women for roasting courses and are currently giving away gear boxes to BIPOC women coffee professionals. Check out the #shestheroaster instagram page to learn more!
Getchu Some Gear, founded by Chris McAuley, is an organization that aims to counter the gate-keeping within the specialty coffee industry by bringing resources and knowledge to marginalized coffee workers. They started with accepting donations of coffee gear to send gear boxes directly to coffee workers who applied for one. Most recently, they partnered with Compassion Access Projected to launch Getchu Some Care which will bring herbal self care boxes to 25 coffee workers per month. They are always growing their support network—follow them on Instagram to learn more and donate gear!
GoFundBean was founded at the start of the pandemic to support the hourly coffee worker through need-based grants. Throughout the last year many folks have been laid off (in some cases repeatedly), or were put in the risky position of needing to work without proper support from their workplace to prioritize safety. As the pandemic escalated, they have expanded to accept donations through their Patreon, they've become a nonprofit, and have added several other programs including a jobs board! Follow them on instagram or visit their website to learn more and donate.
