Go Fund Bean

Go Fund Bean was established to support, uplift, and defend hourly coffee professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one year, we gave emergency financial aid for unemployed baristas, began a virtual education program, helped people establish needed mentoring relationships, paid for groceries, and created Stay Grounded, an initiative to provide mental health support to struggling frontline cafe workers by giving them vouchers for Talkspace. All of that was done by passionate volunteers. We’re applying for The Elevate Prize so we can continue the programs we’ve begun and expand our mental health program to help more people heal emotionally from COVID-19. Additionally, many baristas are still struggling financially because of the COVID recession, so we would run another round of grants with more recipients to help people get back on their feet. We would use the grant to set up an emergency fund for baristas that are affected by natural disasters, like the one in Texas earlier this year. This grant would enable us to hire people so we can meet the needs of baristas without relying solely on volunteer work. Our mandate is to support, uplift, and defend, and The Elevate Prize would empower us to do that.

As someone who started out in the specialty coffee industry 10 years ago as a barista my goal and passion in this industry is for the lowest paid folks at this end of the supply chain, the hourly coffee worker, to have a voice and a network of people to reach out to. While I've had the privilege and opportunity to manage folks and oversee coffee programs, as well as compete as a barista competitor on the national stage, my most meaningful experiences in this industry have come working behind the bar, and I think that it should be sustainable to work in this industry at any level. 

I founded GFB in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, largely because I realized that folks were making 30-50% of their money in tips, and they were missing out on that while shops closed. 

The greater coffee community is important to me, as I've sat on the board of DMV Coffee, a Washington, DC local coffee community that ran social and educational events. I also sat on the board of the Barista Guild of America, and currently sit on the board of the US Chapter of the SCA as a Social Accountability Coordinator. 

Go Fund Bean’s mandate is to support, uplift, and defend hourly coffee workers. We were born at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis as baristas were being laid off in droves because of mandatory shutdowns. We began by promoting the virtual tip jars baristas were creating to support themselves until unemployment came through, however, it quickly became obvious that this entire economic model wasn’t sustainable. Go Fund Bean pivoted to becoming more of a safety net for hourly coffee workers, offering programs to aid their mental health, help buy groceries, establish mentoring relationships, and help pay bills with emergency financial aid. We are working to create a more equitable industry for one of the lowest-paid parts of the coffee supply chain by supporting baristas now and elevating them for the future.

While there are other organizations that help service industry workers (Guy Fieri’s The Fund comes to mind), they often don’t meet the specific needs of baristas. Many baristas in fact don’t qualify for programs like Fieri’s because they don’t meet technical program requirements. Similar to how the majority of coffee coverage and news is given to general food writers and therefore subject to generalizing, coffee professionals are having to go to organizations that usually don’t understand the nuance of the coffee industry and are therefore unprepared to help them.  

Go Fund Bean is run by former baristas who all have worked in the industry for 8+ years and continue to work in the industry. Hourly coffee workers sit on the board, and so we know intimately the unique struggles of being a barista. Additionally, instead of giving only money, we are creating programs that provide direct impact. We’ve provided access to mental health treatment as well educational opportunities that baristas might not otherwise have access to. We plan to provide free access to labor attorneys and a program that addresses the unique health issues that come from stationary standing work.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted in an extreme way how service workers are paid the least but expected the most of. They were labelled ‘essential’ at the same time that people were trying to deny them a liveable wage. They have experienced rage and assaults on top of falling wages as customers emotionally cope with this pandemic. Our grants made it possible for baristas to keep making their bills, helping them to bridge the gap and survive this pandemic without bankruptcy. We provided mental health care vouchers through Talkspace and recipients said it “saved lives” as they struggled through working in service during an international crisis. Our virtual classes have empowered baristas to step in during crises, taught them how to better market themselves and their businesses, and inspired people to pursue new certifications to help their careers. 

The hourly coffee professional is the least protected person on the consumer side of the coffee supply chain. Our impact is helping these people feel safe, feel empowered, and feel like their contribution is appreciated.