The Craft Maltsters Guild has awarded five individuals with scholarships to attend the 2024 Craft Malt Conference in Davis, California, for in-person and virtual attendance.
This scholarship was created to provide online educational opportunities to individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, and disabilities.
The recipients of the in-person scholarships are Angelo Ruiz and Don Tse. Angelo Ruiz is an avid homebrewer and is the elected Beermeister for his homebrewing club. Beyond homebrew, Angelo is a professional in the industry looking to gain knowledge on malting and more specifically, malted maize. Don Tse is a freelance writer interested in expanding his knowledge on the craft malt industry to better his writing on the topic as well as converse with craft maltsters to help them tell their own stories.
The recipients of the virtual scholarships are Lee Dongwook & Katherine Olson – shared, LaShand Poteat, and Rodney Zinyemba. Lee & Katherine are farmers and brewers looking to bring the Craft Malt Revolution to South Korea. Lee & Katherine hope to learn from people in the industry so that they can help local farmers in their area sell grains to create high quality malt. LaShand Poteat is a taproom manager and an active member of Pink Boots Society. LaShand is looking to be the first female of color in North Carolina to obtain her Level Two Cicerone, as she prepares for her test in July. Rodney Zinyemba is a part time student at Heriot-Watt University while also working as the Quality Analyst at AB-Inbev.
In addition to in-person or virtual conference participation, all scholarship recipients will receive a complimentary one-year Individual Membership with the Craft Maltsters Guild. With this membership, recipients will be able to continue their craft malt education throughout the year by accessing our extensive video and webinar archive, as well as attending upcoming educational webinars and joining in discussions on Guild member forums about craft malt-related topics.
Read more about the past Craft Maltsters Guild scholarship recipients:
Maany Ramanan: Innovating an Inclusive Future in Malting
Jessi Flynn: Elevating The Sorghum Industry of Rwanda
DEI In Action: Craft Malt Conference Reflections From Kayla Stinnett