NEWBERG, Ore — A local nonprofit has launched an internship program to bring diversity to Oregon's wine industry.
Tiquette Bramlett, president of Vidon Vineyard in Newberg, founded the nonprofit Our Legacy Harvested. She said the organization is looking for interns from diverse backgrounds to experience Oregon's wine country.
Bramlett herself is a trail blazer in the wine industry: she is the first Black woman to be appointed to oversee a U.S. winery.
"In a lot of the tasting rooms, I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me, but I knew we were out there. So I said, okay, how can I create that in the tasting rooms that I’m going to?" said Bramlett.
In 2020, she founded her nonprofit to introduce more people of color to the wine industry.
"The whole mission was to cultivate communities for BIPOC individuals that were wanting to come and enter the wine industry at any level," said Bramlett. "We wanted to not only foster this community but also provide mentorships for them so they could really have the opportunity to create their own path.”
Our Legacy Harvested will select six interns with a focus on diversity. Each will get a four-month paid internship to work during the fall harvest in the Willamette Valley.
The interns will be provided a vehicle and housing in addition to training and mentorship, paving the way for a path promoting diversity and inclusion in winemaking.
"I want be able to highlight and amplify that so that there will be people coming up, generations after us saying, 'look at the position she was in, I can go for that.' I think that’s a really important thing to highlight”.
The nonprofit is looking for candidates from across the country who are 21 or older. Applications for the internships are open until mid-March. Visit ourlegacyharvested.com for more information.