Seven new recipients have joined the ranks of scholarship winners from the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF), an organization Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver founded in 2020 to further the careers of Black, Indigenous and people of color in the brewing and distilling industries.
Since 2020, the MJF has awarded the Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for brewing and the Nearest Green Scholarship Award for distilling to 36 honorees.
The latest cohort of recipients includes:
- Sally Ayala, a brewer at San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo Beer Company and Karbach Brewing alumna and third-generation American who can trace her roots to Mexico and Spain;
- Jose Hernandez, a first-generation Mexican-American brewer at Sunnyside, Washington-based Varietal Beer Company who joined the beer industry after 10 years working in wine;
- Fritzi Lara Lino, innovation brewer at Escondido, California-based Stone Brewing and a first-generation Mexican-American whose beer industry career began six years ago and includes a stint at hard kombucha maker Boochcraft;
- Sophia Missaghi, a first-generation Iranian American and head brewer at Anoka, Minnesota-based 10K Brewing, who finds recipe inspiration in traditional Persian cuisine;
- Maria Shirts, head brewer at Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Tin Roof Beer and education lead for the New Orleans Pink Boots chapter, who immigrated to the U.S. from Brazil in 2019;
- Devin Wagner, a descendant of the Apsáalooké (Crow) Nation and photojournalist turned brewer and distiller;
- And Robert Young III, assistant brewer at Augusta, Georgia-based Savannah River Brewing Co. and founder of Tapped 33 Craft Brewery and a Black U.S. Navy veteran whose travels as an Arabic linguist introduced him to beer globally.
“I am so honored to have the incredible opportunity to continue to change the face of the industry and open doors for other people of color,” Ayala said in a press release. “The MJF Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship will give me the formal education I need to be well-rounded in my profession and be able to give back to the industry through education.”
Recipients can use their scholarships to enroll at several industry educational institutions. In July, scholarship winner Rafael D’Armas graduated from the World Brewing Academy’s master brewer program, a first for the MJF.
“Now that we’ve had a few classes of recipients complete their technical education and apply it to their careers, we’re starting to see the sustained impact that we’ve always intended these scholarships to have,” Oliver said in the release. “Our recipients are establishing themselves as leaders in their fields, and being recognized as such by their peers, partners, and trade media. I’m excited to add these next seven recipients to The MJF network.”
In addition to donations from individuals, industry donations to the MJF ramped up in 2023, with “significant funding” from the following companies: Allagash Brewing, Athletic Brewing, Boston Beer Company, Briess, BSG/Rahr Malting Co., Firestone Walker Brewing, Haas, Hopsteiner, Lallemand, New Glarus Brewing, Other Half Brewing, ProBrewer, Russian River Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, and Yakima Chief Hops.
The Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) provides free one-year memberships to all winners, according to the release.
The MJF’s next round of scholarships will be awarded in February 2024.