The $1 million fund will support three key focus areas in the Baltimore region’s Black community: economic justice, community empowerment, and equal representation. The contributions will support six different entities[
— The Guinness Open Gate Brewery will fully fund the Visit Baltimore Education and Training Foundation for the next year, and plans to support it for the next five. Visit Baltimore will facilitate the end goal of creating at least ten hospitality career pathways with a focus on Baltimore’s Black community.
The 600-hour paid apprenticeship aims to result in employment upon completion by Visit Baltimore or a partner organization. It was created to promote career interest in the hospitality and craft beer industries among minority students (21+), with a focus on introducing paths at the management level.
The apprentices will shadow at Visit Baltimore, Guinness Open Gate Brewery and another local tourism entity in a three-part immersive learning experience. Applications are currently open; eligible candidates must be 21 years of age or older.
— Reginald F. Lewis Museum, the brewery’s support will champion underrepresented artists to inspire the next generation.
— Job Opportunities Task Force, which works to eliminate educational and employment barriers for low-wage workers by transforming the systems and policies that create and perpetuate those barriers, will benefit from a series of special release beer collaborations.
— Maryland Food Bank previously benefitted, along with the Baltimore Action Legal Team, from a $1 million donation to the Baltimore Community Fund. The brewery’s culinary team also baked and donated over 16,000 loaves of bread to the MDFB’s Middle Mile program, to assist with COVID relief efforts.
“Our team has spent months researching ways to do the most good with these funds, consulting local advisors and building a strategic framework to pay it forward, as both a neighbor and champion of change in the Baltimore region, delivering meaningful impact and sustainable support for the Black community,” said Jennifer Hudson, Director at Diageo Beer Co.