We have two amazing members of the Board of Directors wrapping up their term with Pink Boots Society! I wanted to make sure to give them the proper shout-out they so deserve. Both of these Directors have played significant roles in helping to shape and grow the organization. Pink Boots Society will forever be indebted to them for their time and dedication.
Let me start with Anita Riley! She is famously quoted with saying “Y’all, I just wanna make it rain!” Anita tackled our scholarships during her term, and with her help, we were able to increase our national scholarships by double in both years she was at the helm, as well as helping our chapters to offer scholarships on the local level. So in her words, she “made it rain.” With Anita’s help, we reviewed several opportunities to help streamline our process, ultimately leading to our newly launched platform. Survey Monkey Apply. She did this all while she was on a work rotation every four weeks so I know putting in the time and energy was a challenge, but so far all things are pointing to a successful launch. This program will not only benefit our membership when they apply for scholarships but also the workload our volunteers put in on the back end to execute the scholarships. The hope is it will help with volunteer burnout.
Because of Anita’s drive and ambition for seeking to spread education, she spearheaded an idea that helped fund the first annual Biere de Femme Festival (an all-female beer festival hosted in North Carolina). How did she do this, you might ask… she wrote a freaking book! The book is phenomenal and showcases women in beer all over North Carolina. The proceeds from the book were the foundation used to build the annual festival. It takes a serious badass to pull that off! It’s been a pleasure working alongside Anita and I hope she knows how much she has helped curate and round out our Scholarship Program.
Next is Cat Wiest! You may remember her from CBC in Denver as Hydra La Mar, where she dominated the arm wrestling event. I first met Cat probably when I first met Jen Jordan at our 10th Anniversary Celebration in San Diego. I then was lucky enough to award her a pair of Pink Boots as she’s a Pink Boots scholarship recipient (UC Davis Ext. Intensive Brewing Science for Practical Brewing). I knew at that time she had a passion for the organization but also for beer as well as women in beer. Cat has been a force for positive change within Pink Boots Society. It was her personal mission that we adapt our language to be more inclusive outside our cisgender verbiage. She’s been the backbone to help us change our narrative to be a voice for the voiceless as well as be aware and find ways to become better allies. With our Board being full of brewers by trade, a lot of the tasks we ask them to take on are new; this was the case with Cat. We tasked Cat with our social media and communications and although this was not her wheelhouse she jumped right in and gave it all she had and learned as she went. She did this all with vigor and grace! With her assistance, we began to have a larger focus on Instagram, which helped us to have a larger focus on our membership. The energy and zest for the brewing industry Cat has is unparalleled, and during her time on the Pink Boots Society Board she made sure she continued to drive her career and was awarded the Siebel/WBA scholarship through the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation!
Both of these ladies have left permanent positive marks within the organization as well as on me. I’m lucky to have learned, laughed, and grown with you ladies and wouldn’t have had it any other way!
We also had a board member MJ “That Damn Mary” Anderson, who served one year with us. MJ’s exuberance for Pink Boots Society as well as her exuberance for life is infectious. She’s so freaking positive that it makes others around her smile and feel like we can tackle any challenges we face. She’s helped me to DREAM BIG when it came to my aspirations for the organization. She has helped to develop the beginning process of our Philanthropy plan that will guide the organization’s sustainability. Due to unforeseen circumstances out of her control, her focus needs to be elsewhere at this time. Sue Rigler, Collaboration Brew Day extraordinaire, will fill MJ’s remaining one-year board term. We’re lucky we have dedicated volunteers who have a deep understanding of how the organization runs to easily bring in Sue. Her time on Collaboration Brew Day has been invaluable and has helped grow it to where it is today.
Thank you to all of these amazing, talented women for continuing to shape and drive our mission. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today! Let’s all raise a glass and give them all a giant CHEERS!
-Laura Ulrich