It seems hard to believe that only six months ago we celebrated the arrival of a new year, and a new decade. We, as the newly appointed orchestrators of Bâtonnage Forum, couldn’t anticipate what was to come: a global pandemic, a recession, and now a culmination of violent acts against Black people that has caused many to finally stand up and take notice.

The raison d’être of Bâtonnage is to educate wine industry professionals and supporters about the unique challenges and opportunities that women in the field face (especially those who have traditionally been overlooked or spoken over) and to propose pragmatic solutions for charting a positive, inclusive course forward. As the event and community has developed, Bâtonnage has also become a platform for voices that often go unheard and a support channel for those who need it most.

Given the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on individuals and the businesses in the food and beverage industry, we are proud to have named Southern Smoke as our charity partner, to contribute to their work providing financial assistance to individuals in the food and beverage industry.

That important partnership continues, but in the wake of recent murders of Black people by police, we have made a targeted commitment to support Black voices, and to that end, Bâtonnage Forum will make a significant financial donation (a portion of the proceeds of Batonnage://Connect) to Race Forward, a nonprofit racial justice organization founded in Oakland. The mission of Race Forward is straightforward and necessary: to catalyze movement building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, Race Forward builds strategies to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture.

Race Forward combats systemic racism and charts an inclusive path forward by the following methods: research (because evidence of systemic racism matters), media (providing an award-winning, daily news source called Colorlines, developing a highly skilled multimedia team, and appearing in interviews), and practice (training, consulting, organizing the Facing Race National Conference, creating action-oriented campaigns, and much more).

The Bâtonnage Forum began as a grassroots, collaborative effort to engage in important discussions around women in wine. We recognize the importance of inclusivity in the effort to create a level playing-field for all in the food and beverage world and beyond. Covid-19 forced us apart physically, but opened the door for Bâtonnage to include more people, more voices, from more walks of life. Please join us in supporting Race Forward, and let’s WORK to make each day better than the last. There are two ways you can help - register for Bâtonnage://Connect and/or make a separate donation directly to Race Forward.

We cannot and will not try to say it better than the President of Race Forward, Glenn Harris—please read his message and contribute to this worthy, relevant, and necessary organization.

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