About The Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum

The Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum is powered in partnership by Maryam Ahmed (Founder and Owner of Maryam + Company) and Dr. Akilah Cadet (Founder and CEO of Change Cadet). The Forum was co-founded by Maryam Ahmed and Elaine Chukan Brown in 2020 to help connect inclusive initiatives in the wine industry in order to foster collaborative efforts and problem solving among advocates and leaders.

There are three ways to interact with the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum: 1) Organizations dedicated to equity in the wine industry become annual members and participate in two Forums per year, where we discuss current trends, challenges, and best practices among leaders working to create an equitable and inclusive industry. 2) All wine professionals invited to participate in our Do The Work Series, a three-part workshop program addressing power and privilege, becoming an accomplice, and the anti-racism journey while balancing the nuance of the hospitality industry. 3) Use the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum website as a central location for organizations doing this work, resources developed through the Forum, and a calendar of events for all member organizations (coming soon).

• Assemblage Symposium

• Black Wine Professionals

• Co-Fermented

• Glancy Wine Education Foundation

• Juneteenth Saber Celebration

• Lift Collective

• Napa Green

Bi‑annual Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum

Each February and August, a Forum is held for organizations dedicated to diversity and equity in the wine industry. Each organization is asked to send one leader (on a rotating basis) to attend, in order to encourage equitable participation and representation of organizations. Two Industry Advisors are also invited to attend the Forum. Industry Advisors must have demonstrated leadership in the wine industry as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training. Each Forum offers a facilitated conversation focused on key topics. Key topics are determined by discovery, research, and surveys throughout the year.

DEI Education for Wine Professionals

Our aim is to grow the number of workplaces that are equipped to bring in wine professionals of diverse backgrounds which in turn supports the work of the many organizations focused on creating access to education for diverse candidates in wine. The Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum offers programming specific to leadership development and diversity and inclusion education for wine professionals. To date, our three-part workshop series “Do the Work” and subsequent two-part series “Doing the Work” has welcomed over 200 global wine professionals for training in DEI as it pertains to the wine industry. This series illustrates the power of the connectivity provided by the Forum, both among the participating organizations as well as within the wine industry as a whole.