The Mission
Glitter Cat will work with retail coffee companies to analyze their hiring and hospitality practices in an effort to create an equitable workspace for all! We are committed to the hiring and elevation of Black coffee professionals and the comfort and safety of Black coffee patrons. This project is managed by Eric J. Grimm and started with Oodie Taliaferro
We are looking for future sponsors & partners in this project.
The Reason
So, your company went on Instagram and posted a black square. You emailed your customers and told them “Black Lives Matter”. You put signs up, you donated to a bail fund, and maybe you even made pledges to do better in certain ways. You think you’ve let everyone know that you’re on the right side of the matter.
You haven’t done enough.
And neither have we. True change for the betterment of a Black workforce and customer base in specialty coffee businesses requires setting attainable, research-based goals and holding each other accountable in reaching them.
Glitter Cat has spent the past two years working at increasing representation in coffee competitions with incredible results. Our standing in the coffee community and increasingly visible platform means we can do more than just make our own goals and promises.
In keeping with our Commitments to Black Coffee Professionals, we’re working on a longterm Anti-Racism Hospitality Overhaul (ARHO) to try and dismantle the systemic oppression inherent in most businesses that most coffee businesses have taken on perhaps unknowingly.
THE FIVE PHASES OF ARHO
Research
We are doing extensive research on anti-racism and are working on applying what we’ve learned to the retail coffee business model. Our goal of the research phase is to compile our own list of anti-racism resources and narrow the broad scope of anti-racist training to specifically focus on the specialty coffee industry. All research materials are paid for through sponsorship of this project. We have also compensated Black coffee consultants to review our plans before we take them to businesses.
Implementation
Our project manager is currently working with two partner companies, Greenway Coffee and Vertex Coffee, to help them develop systems and processes that take what we’ve learned and apply it. We are reworking job postings and hiring practices, career pathing and performance reviews, and we’re even writing a hospitality training program that begins instilling inclusive and anti-racist values to your staff on day one. While our goal is to increase the hiring and promotion of Black coffee professionals, we know that strong policy is the only way to actually hang on to them. By approaching this project from the perspective of both leadership and staff, we aim to create a workspace that is safe and encourages growth for everyone.
Follow-Up
After new procedures have been rolled out to staff, Glitter Cat’s project manager will check in with partner companies at three, six, nine, and twelve month marks to see how the implementation is going. We will measure progress in quantifiable areas, document our findings, then analyze them. We will stay in contact with each of these companies as they strategize and move forward toward an equitable future.
Review
At the one year mark, we will summarize our findings and determine how successful partner companies were in increasing Black representation on both sides of the bar. We will then compensate Black coffee professionals to review and consult on our written summary to ensure that this project and its findings will be of benefit to Black coffee workers and patrons.
Release + Continue
Our summarized findings will be published as our gift to the specialty coffee community. Glitter Cat will create a package of onboarding documents and a hospitality training program that will be available via sliding scale for businesses to use. We will also offer consulting that takes you through our program and builds processes specific to you and your coffee business.
Eric J. Grimm (they/them)
Eric is the current project manager for ARHO and the Director of Positive Outcomes for Glitter Cat.
Bud Taliaferro(they/them)
Bud was the launching project manager for Glitter Cat’s Anti-Racist Hospitality Overhaul and the sitting president of Austin Coffee Collective.
If you have questions, concerns, or want to get involved fill out the form below. Eric will get in touch with you shortly.