At the end of last year, I interviewed Jamal Robinson on the starting line of an ambitious project—creating a scholarship and endowment for people of color to pursue an education in brewing. After struggling to rally initial support and advocacy around a Black Is Beautiful beer earlier in the year, Robinson, the director for sales and marketing for New England Brewing Co. in Woodbridge, Connecticut, was inspired by conversations reframing how we define “community”: a word that runs deep in craft beer, but rarely with any real interrogation.
In collaboration with the Connecticut Brewers Guild, Robinson launched the project on the cusp of 2021, focused on near-term impact as well as long-term value. And by the end of this year, it has already delivered massive results on both fronts.
Combined with final sales from the brewery’s Black Is Beautiful beer, the endowment fund hit $65k this year. One of the main fundraisers was an all-inclusive beer fest called The Change in the Air Fest, held in October; it was a sold-out success. “We took the Barrel & Flow model and brought it here to Connecticut, featuring local Black and Brown musicians, artists, food vendors, and small businesses mixed in between the beer stations,” Robinson says. “First time I’ve seen such a diverse crowd at a beer fest besides at Barrel & Flow. We are going to now evolve CITA Fest into its own 501c3 that I’ll chair.”
The tangible benefits of those efforts are being felt right now. “With the help of Athletic Brewing and Two Roads, we put four Black students through the Sacred Heart University brewing science program this first year. Two of which are Black women. All in all a really successful first year,” Robinson says.
I’ve known Robinson as an impressive salesperson, and a solid emotional and intellectual leader in his professional roles, which are rare enough traits. But it’s his capacity for building community and equity-based opportunism (with the potential for generational value) that have me in awe. For a guy that was already doing more than many, Robinson has found another dimension entirely.
Words,Michael Kiser