The Pink Boots Society membership includes great professionals—biologists, chemists, brew masters, sommeliers, store managers and clerks, specialised on-trade or beer-related establishments… A union that gives strength to a female sector that has low visibility and that, at times, gets forgotten in the brewing industry.
The Pink Boots Society is a non-profit association of women focused on helping, supporting, training and inspiring women who work in the brewing industry. It is making it possible for more and more women to compete for the best positions in this sector, thereby facilitating the inclusion and visibility of women, who can contribute to strengthening this sector, one with many opportunities for growth, through their talent and experience.
What are its objectives?
The mission of the Pink Boots Society is to use training to help, support, encourage, educate, and inspire women working in the brewing industry.
It does fundraising to be able to offer training to its members in the form of scholarships. Funds are raised in different ways: through actions like Collaboration Brew Day, where beers are brewed collaboratively with the association and some of the profits go to this project; the sale of merchandise; or, directly, by sponsorship agreements with the training organizations themselves, which then provide some of their courses free of charge to the Pink Boots Society.
Who is it aimed at?
It is aimed at women who want to specialise in the beer sector professionally.
They can be students or professionals already working in the sector. In the latter case, it is not necessary to be a “brewmaster”, as the Pink Boots Society membership includes workers in tap rooms, the chain of production, marketing, sales, stores, as well as scientists and engineers.
For professionals, the only condition is that at least 25% of their incomes must come from the fermented alcoholic beverages industry. The Spain chapter, however, is currently focused on the brewing industry.
Sign-up link: https://my.pinkbootssociety.org/_joinrenew/membershiptype.aspx?id=join
Where did it start and where is it active now?
The Pink Boots Society is a non-profit association founded in 2008 in the United States by Teri Fahrendorf.
The PBS currently has 3,000 members worldwide, in 68 chapters or small local groups. It is the only association in the world that works to promote the advancement of women in this sector through training programmes and providing a very diverse network of professional contacts that operates worldwide.
In Spain, it has existed since 2016 and has 50 members (and growing!) led by Karolina Simal, its president. It is an initiative that champions the role of the women working in the Spanish brewing sector, and also is a way for us to connect, share experiences and help each other.
What are its activities? What are the next ones?
The Pink Boots Society is active all year, holding visibility actions, participating in a variety of events, carrying out fundraising projects and, of course, carrying out training actions.
One of its main projects is Collaboration Brew Day, which is held worldwide to coincide with International Women’s Day. Since the pandemic, it has been expanded to the whole year and involves brewing beers to collaborate with the association through donations from its sponsors. In 2022, a total of five collaborative beers were made at the following breweries: Aqvelarre (Lugo, Union of Cova da Serpe and Augas Santas), Yakka (Murcia), Cierzo (Zaragoza), Cervezas Bochs, FDL Project and Saez&Son (Girona) and Yesta (Torquemada).
In 2023, thanks to the success of its previous editions, the Pink Boots Society already has six breweries interested in participating in Collaboration Brew Day.
The Pink Boots Society participates in all the main industry events, in addition to events where women and their professional development are highlighted. Additionally, it has a communication committee that promotes and strengthens the visibility of the association and its members.
The fruit of all this work is training as a vehicle of growth, with courses like “Sommelier Course” (Sabeer), “Craft Beer and Microbreweries Specialisation Course”, (University of Alicante), “BJCP Training Programme”, “I’m Cicerone, Eh!” (Hijos de Rivera), “Inclusive Communication for Brewing Professionals Course” and “Enjoy Speaking in Public” (Waitala).
Click these links for further details and to contact us:
- International website | https://www.pinkbootssociety.org/
- Collaboration Brew Day 2022 | https://www.pinkbootssociety.org/pink-boots-brew2022/
- Facebook España | https://www.facebook.com/PBSEsp/
- Instagram España | @pinkbootsocietyspain
Comments