Roots Funds offers scholarships, mentorship and job placement to diversify wine industry

May 1st, 2023

The Roots Fund is a nonprofit working to help people of color pursue careers in wine-related fields. Ikimi Dubose-Woodson, the CEO and co-founder of The Roots Fund, and Aaron Monu, the co-founder of Wines for the Culture and a Roots Fund Scholar, talk with Rose about a new scholarship fund for metro Atlanta residents. (Photo courtesy of The Roots Fund)

Ikimi Dubose-Woodson is the CEO and co-founder of The Roots Fund, a nonprofit that’s working to help people of color pursuing careers in wine-related fields. She says you can find billboards in Black communities that market alcoholic beverages like Hennessy and Cîroc—but in those same communities, you’re not likely to find wineries or wine shops.

Data suggest that there are more than 1100,000 thousand wineries in the U.S., but just over 130 of them are Black-owned.

On Monday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Rose Scott spoke with Dubose-Woodson and Aaron Monu, the co-founder of Wines for the Culture and a Roots Fund Scholar.

They talked about the lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in the wine industry and a new scholarship fund for metro Atlanta residents that is designed to educate, expose and provide mentorship to to people of color seeking to break into the field.