The Sip & Empower Foundation was built on a simple observation: the barrier for diverse
makers was never talent. It was the price of admission.

Most industry showcases charge suppliers thousands of dollars for a table. We cover that cost instead, so emerging makers put their own capital into product, staffing and follow-up. In 2025, that put more than 40 makers in front of over 1,185 guests, buyers and distributors.

The programs below extend that same principle past festival weekend.

Micro-grants of $250 to $500

Small beverage brands don’t usually stall on strategy. They stall on a single unpaid line item — a label approval filing, a certificate of insurance, a permit renewal, a deposit on a first production run. These costs are too small for most grantmakers to bother with and large enough to stop a launch cold.

First Pour grants cover one blocking expense so a maker can keep moving.

Who can apply: BIPOC and women-owned wine, spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverage makers across the United States. Festival participation is not required.

How awards work: Recipients are selected by an independent panel of industry peers. Grants
are paid as reimbursement against documented expenses.
Applications open early 2027.

Tuition assistance and certification costs

Financial aid covers tuition. It rarely covers the credential that actually gets someone hired —
and in this industry, those credentials are expensive. Certification exams and program fees
routinely run several hundred to several thousand dollars, and almost no one is funding them
for BIPOC candidates.

The Hospitality Scholars Fund supports students in culinary and beverage programs with
tuition assistance and the certification costs that sit outside traditional aid.

Applications open early 2027.

A festival puts a maker in a room once. Distribution happens in the follow-up.

The Foundation hosts curated tastings and pitch sessions that connect makers to retail and on-premise buyers outside of festival season — smaller rooms, longer conversations, decision makers who came specifically to taste.

Our work started in Chicago and is growing outward, beginning with a Chicago–Detroit maker exchange. Nearly a third of our 2025 festival guests traveled to attend, and the demand from makers outside Illinois has outpaced what a single annual event can serve.

Every program on this page is funded by individual donors, corporate partners and the proceeds of the CLINK & SIP Festival. The Sip & Empower Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.