The Roots Fund is a non-profit organisation created in 2020 to support people of colour in the wine (and recently spirits) industry through education, career placement and mentorship. It was founded by Carlton McCoy, Ikimi Dubose-Woodson, and Tahiirah Habibi, all of whom saw the organisation as a way to help aspiring wine professionals overcome some of the obstacles and challenges they had faced in their own careers. The Roots Fund auction takes place on 28 October 2024 at the Crown Club at New York City’s Barclays Centre.
‘I got into wine, like so many, from the culinary side. I started when I was 15, polishing silverware for the Marriott at the World Trade Center. When I finished college, the culinary programme at Johnson & Wales, I went to work for the Ritz Carlton organisation. I was fortunate to get to travel the world, and set up new businesses globally for them. I’m a chef by training.
‘While I was back in New York, I suffered a serious back injury, and as a result, I wasn’t able to work in the kitchen, even light duty. The timing just worked out. Our front-of-house manager was about to go on maternity leave, and she gave me a crash course on working the floor. I never went back.
‘I hadn’t been exposed to the beverage side, so I had to learn quickly. The other thing I learned quickly was while we were busting our asses in the kitchen, the beverage side was making all the money. I would watch her clear out a wall in the cellar on a good night, and that would clear the restaurant’s books and pay all the bills.
‘The strange thing was, honestly, I didn’t get it at first, wine, I mean. I paid attention to everything I needed to know to sell the wines, but I didn’t like them, in fact I thought they were terrible, pretty much across the board.
‘Then, I’ll never forget, it was one of our Tuesday night team tastings, and we were doing a Bastille Day event in the restaurant that week. We were tasting Burgundies, and a lightbulb just went off. I was captivated, and for the first time, I brought out the note sheets they’d given us that I had never used. I started scribbling my impressions.
‘From that day forward, I told people I don’t drink Chardonnay; I only drink white Burgundy.
‘The Roots Fund really had its beginnings in an online post that Carlton (McCoy) wrote about his experience growing up in the wine business and his wine journey, if you will. That offered the world its first glimpse into who he was as a person. There were some exchanges between him and Tahiirah (Habibi) online, and I knew both of them, and that brought us all together.
‘Carlton wanted to start a beverage scholarship programme, and that notion became the seed for The Roots Fund. He and I have known each other since we were teenagers, meeting as part of a C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) in high school. We both started in the culinary side, in fact, Carlton McCoy is quite the chef.
‘We weren’t sure how we’d do it at first, so we started with crowdfunding, and raised $37,000 in a few days, and thought that we were set with a scholarship fund, and then over 200 people wrote to us asking for funding. Obviously, that amount of money is not going to go very far.
‘As of today, we’ve raised over $2.5m and have had 220 scholars enter the programme. We’re holistically committed to the people who enter; it’s not sufficient to just give someone funding; it’s about that additional support. The networking and peer support between our scholars also help make that possible.
‘At The Roots Fund, we believe inclusivity is a business problem. If the wine and spirits community doesn’t look like the places where we live; it’s bad for the industry if everyone doesn’t want to experience it and doesn’t feel like it’s for them. That’s what our organisation is doing.
‘We want to make it possible for everyone to be a part of this industry. So, although we service communities of colour, this isn’t possible without allies in the industry who want to see it become an industry for everyone.
‘We’ve helped scholars find child care to continue their careers or education. We insist on mental health care; if you’re going into our programme nationally or internationally, you have to see a therapist or psychologist at least twice. It’s not about sending people there but about ensuring we do everything to facilitate success while they’re there.
‘We’ve gotten a lot of support from very established members of the wine industry and, most significantly, from Burgundy, where we have a partnership and scholarship with the Burgundy School of Wine & Spirits Business in Dijon. We have a scholarship programme between American HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and the school’s MBA programme.
‘I talked about allies earlier. About four months in, we got a direct message from someone claiming to be Jeremy Seysses at Domaine Dujac, and I was initially in disbelief. But he and Carlton are friends, and Jeremy has been with us as a board member from the beginning. He just wanted to help; it was, “How can I assist? Can I take an intern? I’ll do anything I can.” Our international programme, Rooted in France and the partnership between the school in Burgundy and our HBCUs, he’s been a big part of all of that.
‘Last year, his time on the board was coming to an end. I remember going into this meeting with him in France, and I flew out there for other meetings, and I said: “Hey, thank you so much for your time on this board.” He said: “You think I’m leaving? No. No way. I want to stay.” So he’s been with us. He truly is our international ambassador. He believes in this work. He participates actively, even donating to the organisation.’
