Wow, can you believe 2022 is just a month away! Despite the pandemic, it's been a big year for The Vinguard and our collective community. We had three inspiring days of WINeFare: Bottles Without Borders, which over 400 people attended. The Vinguard also oversaw the revision of the Wine Industry Equity Pledge (WINE Pledge) created by a coalition of wine, mental health, social justice, and legal professionals. More than 60 wine businesses and professionals signed and are taking steps to making the wine industry more eco-friendly, and their workspaces more equitable, diverse and inclusive.

As an organization whose mission is to uplift and amplify diverse women and non-binary voices and create equitable power structures in the wine industry, our work is ongoing. In 2022, we will embark on two new endeavors, The Wine Industry Workplace Handbook, which will serve as an employee handbook, social justice, best practices guide, and The People’s History of the Wine Industry blog project.Written for different industry sectors, the Handbook will provide workers, managers, and owners tools to grow as wine professionals and instill a work culture that prioritizes belonging, safety, inclusion, diversity, and equity and creates a more welcoming experience for wine professionals and customers. The People’s History of the Wine Industry Blog project will tell the stories of the unsung heroes, including enslaved Africans and their descendants, Chinese immigrants, Indigenous people, and others whose work made the wine industry what it is today.

To begin working on these projects, and pay for WINeFare 2022, we need your support. The Vinguard has very little overhead; more than 95% of the funds we raise go towards labor. Please consider helping us with a tax-deductible contribution. You can make a monthly or annual donation. In addition, we will list all donations of $250 or more in the WINeFare 2022 program and donations of $500 or more on our website.