Women In Beer welcomes first mentees to mentorship programme

The first Women In Beer (WiB) mentorship programme has seen 12 women enter and sign up in a move that marks the beginning of the initiative.

The WiB group saw over 45 applications from all over the UK for the first edition of its mentorship programme — a move that will mean that women working in all aspects connected to beer from many parts of the industry will be paired up with a mentor.

Speaking about the progressive move for the industry, Amelie Tassin, founder of Women in Beer and the WiB Mentorship said: “It’s been both exciting and a bit overwhelming to see so many candidates applying to the programme. I think it’s incredibly important for women to be able to learn and take inspiration from other women in the industry. It’s been a real joy to see this project coming to fruition”.

Joining the first round will be: Holly Lewis (brewer at the Hanging Bat Brew Co. and Barney’s Beer); Elizabeth Townsend (co-founder at Kerroo Brewing Company); Lucy Simons (co-owner of The Abdication micropub and co-founder of Let’s Beer); Eddie Doyle (brewer at Full Circle Brew Co.); Jessy Dendle (marketing and engagement assistant at Cloudwater Brew Co); Rosie Roberts (marketing and sales freelancer); Megan Swinn (area sales manager at Mondo Brewing Company); Noora Koskinen-Dini (brewer/taproom manager at Six Hills Brewing); Lucy Stevens (head brewer and co-founder at Closet Brewing); Rachael Bull (brewery and taproom operation manager at Phantom Brewing Co); Lindsey Cruden (co-founder at Gan Yam Brew Co) and Sian Thomas (brewer at Mad Dog Brewery Co).

Through the coming year the 12 women will benefit from dedicated mentoring time as well as free access to a series of webinars and events. Those events will be provided by the WiB Mentorship Gold Sponsors to give the mentees the opportunity to learn more about the industry and make precious contacts.

Sponsor for the WiB Mentorship, Lallemand Brewing technical sales representative Alix Blease explained: “Assisting women working in the beer industry to get support and mentorship for their projects and creative endeavours will only lead to expanding their career opportunities in the future. Lallemand will additionally be supporting this venture with web seminars and sensory training, which will help advance the technical education of not only the mentees, but also the WiB community members.”

Tassin highlighted how, despite the forward moves the programme has made, continuous support is needed and revealed that a second session of the programme with 12 additional spots is aiming to open in March 2024.

She added: “The mentorship scheme has secured enough funding to cover the costs for the first six months of the programme, however it has still a long way to go to reach the whole year’s mark” and noted that “If you’d like to become a sponsor of the programme, you can contact the organisers at hello@womeninbeer.co.uk or become a Patreon for as little as £4.50 per month.”