The steps between being a server and escalating the ladder to become a beverage director sometimes are not just having excellent service and hospitality skills and the know-how. Yet more than the how, the knowledge is imperative and doesn’t entirely come from the day-to-day floor experience.
Therefore investing in your wine career and getting knowledge of specific regions is essential. There are some courses of wine and spirits well known in our niche, but the tuition sometimes exceeds our financial possibilities. In other words, the Wine courses are often out of our budget. You can learn from many free resources, but if you want to certify your knowledge and advance your career, you need to get that knowledge certified and have credibility.
We have found 5 organizations that might help advance your Wine Career by providing scholarships to complete these wine and spirits classes. Our advice will be to constantly apply to their available opportunities as they have different programs throughout the year.
You might find it interesting that our Founder, Martha Cisneros, was looking for opportunities to advance her career in wine. So with little hope, she applied one late night to the Introduction Sommelier Course Scholarship through the Court of Master Sommeliers of America, and she got it.
Court Master Sommeliers of the Americas
Court of Master Sommeliers offers the Americas Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination Scholarship. The scholarship is open to any student, restaurant, hospitality, or beverage education professional within the US identifying as BIPOC+ and over the age of 21.
For more information on how to apply, check https://www.mastersommeliers.org/press/court-master-sommeliers-americas-launches-online-introductory-sommelier-course-and-exam
AHIVOY Oregon
Pacific Northwest is home to one of the fastest-growing wine regions in the USA: Oregon. Currently, many wineries are employing and hosting internship opportunities. AHIVOY is a non-profit organization that aims to strengthen the Oregon wine community by empowering vineyard stewards through education. AHIVOY makes scholarships for the Wine Industry Professional Training possible through generous donations, fundraising events, and grants.
The Wine Industry Professional Training program is designed to further technical grape and wine knowledge while creating awareness of the wine industry’s potential career, entrepreneurial, and leadership opportunities.
The training aims to support current vineyard workers who desire to expand their chances in the wine industry. It is a non-credit training that serves as a potential pathway to credit programs throughout the state at institutions serving the wine industry. This training is a partnership between AHIVOY, Chemeketa Community College, Linfield University, and many Oregon wine industry partners. To apply check
http://ahivoyoregon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AHIVOY-Application-20232.pdf
Battonage Forum
The Bâtonnage Mentorship Program was designed to stir our conversations about equality into actions that create equity. This program creates a practical, positive, inclusive course wherein individuals who have traditionally been overlooked or spoken over achieve equal opportunities, equal representation, and especially equal leadership positions within all sectors and tiers of our industry.
For more information on the mentorship program and deadlines, check https://www.batonnageforum.com/mentorship-program-overview
Women of the Vine and the Spirits
Women of the Vine & Spirits Foundation, Ltd. provides scholarships and awards to help women advance their careers in the food, wine, spirits, brewing, hospitality, or viticulture industries through education, leadership, and professional development. In addition, they aim to foster gender diversity and talent development across the industry.
Check more information on their diverse scholarship programs and deadlines at https://www.womenofthevine.com/cpages/wotvs-scholarships
Roots Fund
The Roots Fund Scholarships were designed to help people of color get all the education and support in the wine industry. In addition, their programs can help someone looking for wine knowledge and those breaking into the industry. The scholarships cover certifications, college tuition, travel, language services, and books to study wine.
To apply and confirm eligibility, check https://www.therootsfund.org/scholarships
Try amiga!
To break the glass ceiling and have the knowledge to perform and excel in the wine industry so we can carry on and move up the ladder if that’s your wish.
We have been asking for Latinas wine club to offer any career advancement support; at the moment, we do not. Hopefully, in the future, we can create some fundraising opportunities and provide scholarships for you to go ahead and your wine career if you want to pursue one. If we come across new resources, we will share them in our newsletter. Stay tuned for the latest news by getting into the know here.