SANTA ROSA, Calif., January 23, 2023 –With a strong commitment to cultivate a culture that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the wine industry, Jackson Family Wines is proud to partner with The Urban Grape on its Wine Studies Award for Students of Color.
Founded in 2020 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Urban Grape, one of the country’s most successful Black and woman-owned retail stores based in Boston, the Wine Studies Award for Students of Color uses a three-pronged approach of education, work experience, and mentorship to break down barriers to the beverage industry. The program’s goal is to create opportunities for career advancement and prepare BIPOC students for long and prosperous careers in the wine industry that can grow generational wealth among its participants, while also increasing diversity in the wine industry. As part of this partnership, Jackson Family Wines will host the 3-month paid winery internship phase of the program to provide real world, on the job training to the scholarship winners so that they gain experience working in a winery setting, across disciplines of viticulture, winemaking, sales and marketing, and other aspects of operating a winery business. Jackson Family Wines is also supporting the program financially by covering some expenses of the participants while on their winery internship, including travel and housing.
“Diversifying an industry is hard work. Many large wine industry businesses promised big changes in 2020, but very few followed through with actionable programs. Jackson Family Wines is one of the few companies we’ve seen that has not walked away from this conversation, but has instead found ways to dig in even deeper and to commit for the long haul,” said Hadley Douglas, Founder and President of The Urban Grape and Progressive Wine Company: “Jackson Family Wines’ desire to work with us to grow this program shows that change can happen when small and large businesses join their resources together,” she added.
As part of its Rooted for Good: Roadmap to 2030 climate action and social corporate responsibility initiative launched in August 2021, Jackson Family Wines committed to growing and supporting talent from groups currently underrepresented in roles at every level in the wine and spirits industry: Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino and Latina, Indigenous, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+; as well as other underrepresented groups. Over the past two years, the company has spent significant time and resources to make an immediate impact towards more diversity, equity and inclusion within the company and the wine industry. The company established the IDEA Alliance (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness), a special employee led taskforce that brings together employees of different genders, age groups, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds from across all levels of the organization to lead efforts around building an inclusive culture that gives employees a voice and sense of belonging, while also establishing key initiatives and partnerships to strengthen recruitment & talent acquisition through learning, recognition, training, and career development.
“We’re proud to continue making progress on building opportunities for people of color within the wine industry through meaningful partnerships with leading changemakers, like TJ and Hadley Douglas,” says Katie Jackson, 2nd Generation Proprietor and SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility at Jackson Family Wines. “Building more diversity, equity, and inclusion within the global wine industry remains a priority for Jackson Family Wines and we’re excited to make an impact through the Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color program.”
“Too often over my 25 years in the wine industry I’ve been the only person of color in the room. My wife Hadley and I began this program to change that experience for future generations,” says Urban Grape Founder and CEO TJ Douglas. “Originally, I thought that opening my own successful wine business would be my legacy, but now I know that helping to diversify the industry – both who works in it and who sees themselves represented by it – is my real life’s work.”
With more than two decades working in the hospitality industry, Douglas combined his coursework at Boston University’s Certificate Program in Wine Studies with valuable work experience on three sides of the wine industry – restaurant, distribution, and retail – to become a leader in the regional and national wine industry. Throughout his career, TJ was often the only, or one of few, people of color at his job, at industry conferences, and even in his own wine store.
As the 10-year anniversary of The Urban Grape approached, TJ and his wife and co-founder, Hadley, knew that they wanted to create a program that would increase opportunities for professionals of color to advance in the wine industry. As TJ succinctly states, “I don’t want to be the only one in the room anymore.” With that vision, they launched The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color. The Douglas family began the fund with a $10,000 contribution on June 22, 2020, and active fundraising helped grow an endowment fund at Boston University to over $225,000.
The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color offers four key components to help students of color receive the education, experience, and mentorship needed to build a successful career within the beverage and wine industry. The program includes:
- Education: Participants in the program complete four levels of education at the Boston University Certificate Program in Wine Studies. These full semester classes include seminars and tasting sessions, and provide a working knowledge of wine varietals and regions, the history of wine, and the wine industry:
- Paid Internships: During the program, participants complete four paid industry internships with the program partners: The Urban Grape, MS Walker, and Row 34 in Boston and Jackson Family Wines in Sonoma County. This allows the participants to learn four sides of the beverage industry – retail, restaurants, distribution, and production – with a focus on areas such as operations, marketing, customer experience, and wine making. From here, the students are able to clearly evaluate which segments of the industry interest them most for career opportunities.
- Mentorship: A key component to any successful educational program is mentorship. Learning how to navigate the beverage industry, create opportunities for growth, and plan for long term success in a new career are all key components to this program’s success. Mentorship meetings take place every two weeks throughout the program.
- Job Placement: Upon completion of the program, participants use industry connections for informational and job interviews and are supported throughout the job placement process. Jackson Family Wines will also work with the participants at the conclusion of the program to identify job opportunities to support their career advancement goals.
Applications for the 4th Cohort of the program opens on January 23, 2023. You can learn more and apply at https://theurbangrape.shop/pages/wine-studies-award.
“The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color is unmatched in its ability to forge a pathway for BIPOC into the wine industry. The program has given me an educational foundation to understand that every bottle of wine tells a story and that foundation, coupled with the deep industry work experience gained from the internship component of the program, opened me up to the vast opportunities within wine,” says Suhayl Ramirez, Director of Consumer Engagement, Trois Noix Winery, and graduate of The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color. “The program effectively changed the course of my entire professional life. This partnership with Jackson Family Wines is an exciting point of expansion for the program and I look forward to the impact it will have on future cohorts entering the wine industry.”
About Jackson Family Wines
Jackson Family Wines is a family-owned, vineyard-based company with a penchant for exploration. Founder Jess Jackson placed his faith in farming and a meticulous expression of wine with his first landscape-changing vintage in 1982, an ethos that chairman Barbara Banke, the Jackson family, and our employees continue to uphold to this day. The Jackson family’s collection of 40 wineries spans significant winegrowing regions, from California, Oregon, Washington, Canada, France, and Italy in the northern hemisphere, to Australia, Chile and South Africa in the southern half of the globe. Vineyard ownership and sustainable practices remain key to consistent quality and artisan winemaking underscores a steadfast commitment to making wines of character and integrity. Jackson Family Wines is an Equal Opportunity employer. For more information about Jackson Family Wines, please visit www.jacksonfamilywines.com.
About The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color
Founded in 2020 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Urban Grape, one of the country’s most successful Black and woman-owned retail stores based in Boston, The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color uses the three-pronged approach of education, paid work experience, and mentorship to break down barriers to the beverage industry, to create opportunities for career advancement, and to prepare BIPOC students for long and prosperous careers in the wine industry. The goal of the program is to create career-focused opportunities for its participants to grow generational wealth while increasing diversity in the wine industry. To learn more, visit https://theurbangrape.shop/pages/wine-studies-award
