photo taken by Faema USA
Our Mission
Glitter Cat Barista is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit.
Glitter Cat Barista is reimagining the coffee industry through competition, community engagement and events, and hospitality programming. Glitter Cat provides support, training, access to resources, and mentorship for marginalized hospitality professionals including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, and persons of marginalized gender.
Our Values
✨Fierce Belonging ✨ Opportunity Center ✨ Trustful Transparency ✨ Remarkable Creators ✨ Chaotic & Colorful, Queer Energy✨
Our Programs
Glitter Cat Barista started in 2018 with all-expenses-paid coffee competition training bootcamps which provide intensive world-class training and community building for aspiring competitors of varying skill levels to compete in the US Coffee Championships circuit. We are excited to be expanding these bootcamps beyond to competition sphere and are being renamed - Career Development Bootcamps.
The past three years have been paired up with immense growth where Glitter Cat continues to host community events, launched our own virtual and socially distanced competitions in 2020 (the DiGiTiTiON and SNiFF-i-TiTiON), and is currently in the pilot year for the Anti-Racism Hospitality Overhaul project.
Our Vision
At Glitter Cat, you’ll find we are constantly striving for all marginalized persons to find community in coffee through competition. Glitter Cat is a safe space to be your true-self, fiercely supported, and see pathways illuminated for further career development.
There are no guarantees of competitive glory by becoming a Glitter Cat, but what a Glitter Cat is likely to find is a community both within their cohorts and among the wider organization.
If you have felt that you don’t belong or who have been told to keep quiet, you’re encouraged to apply, follow along, or sponsor, and find your place in the ranks of the great, the glorious, the misfits …
“Glitter Cat is not just training; it is a community of folks who believe in you, and believe in sharing positive energy throughout this industry.”
- Kristina Jackson
14th place at U.S. Brewers Cup Championships
8th place at Qualifier
Glitter Cat Brewer 2020
“This space amplifies community for those who desire it and enhances technical skill for those who come with a willing attitude towards learning. Glitter Cat is whatever you make it.”
- Anthony Ragler
6th place at U.S. Barista Championships
4th place at Qualifier
Glitter Cat Barista 2019
“Glitter cat is the t*ts”
- MiMo
2nd place at U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Qualifier
Glitter Cat Good Spiriter 2020
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