Three full-tuition scholarships will be offered to coffee professionals who are currently underrepresented or under-resourced; the deadline to apply is February 28, 2019.
BY CHRIS RYAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Cover photo courtesy of Boot Coffee Campus
Boot Coffee Campus, based in San Rafael, Calif., regularly provides coffee education to students from around the world on topics including roasting, quality evaluation, and barista skills.
The organization is now aiming to make its educational program more accessible with its new 2019 Scholarship Program, announced at the end of December. The program will provide three full-tuition scholarships to people in the coffee industry who are currently underrepresented or under-resourced.
“Our commitment to education is at the core of our mission,” says Marcus Young, director of Boot Coffee Campus (which was founded by Willem Boot). “Boot Coffee Campus actively promotes diversity in the coffee sector and increased opportunities for everyone in the supply chain to thrive through education, innovation, quality improvements, and inclusive business practices.”
The three 2019 scholarships are available to roasters, baristas, and sensory professionals. Valued at more than $6,000, the scholarships can be applied toward a Boot Coffee Campus program, Specialty Coffee Association Coffee Skills Program, or Coffee Quality Institute training and certification program. “It is entirely up to the recipient how they apply the funds,” Marcus says.
Boot Coffee will award one scholarship in each of these three categories:
#ShestheRoaster Scholarship. This scholarship will be offered in collaboration with the #ShestheRoaster organization, which has the mission of promoting and encouraging self-identifying womxn in the coffee industry to become professional coffee roasters. Individuals with no prior roasting experience are encouraged to apply.
Producing Country Scholarship. This scholarship will recognize one individual from a producing country who seeks to raise the quality of coffee, as well as the quality of life, for producers in their community. Boot Coffee Campus explains further in a press release: “When producers, and those in producing countries, have access to quality coffees, and are inspired to seek out opportunities to become professional baristas, roasters, or coffee professionals within their communities, we believe that the quality of the coffee, and the quality of life for producers, improves greatly.”
Social Enterprise Scholarship. This scholarship seeks to recognize organizations around the world doing great work within their communities through coffee; it will be presented to an individual working with an NGO, nonprofit, or Certified B Corporation.
While the formal scholarship is a new program for Boot Coffee Campus in 2019, Marcus says that in the past the organization has extended course discounts on an ad-hoc basis to coffee professionals who have inspired the Boot Coffee staff but who lacked the resources to make training a reality (including Daniel Sibomana of Rwanda, pictured in the featured photo). “Because a strong social mission has always been an important component of my professional work, I wanted to formalize this process through our new scholarship program,” Marcus says.
Applications for scholarships are now being accepted. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2019, and the scholarships will be awarded in March. For a full list of requirements and more information on the application process, visit the Boot Coffee Campus website.
