Enrollment Opens For Spirits Diversity Initiative

Enrollment is now open for Pronghorn’s incubator and accelerator programs. (Photo: Pronghorn)

Pronghorn announced Wednesday in a news release that enrollment is open for its incubator and accelerator programs. Pronghorn is a Diageo-backed initiative intended to promote diversity and increase the presence of Black people in the alcohol industry.

African-Americans represent 12% of alcohol consumers but only 7.8% of the sector’s workforce and 2% of executives, according to Pronghorn. The company said it will address the employment gap by working with the Black community to fill 1,800 roles within the industry. It also intends to generate wealth and drive acquisitions by serving as a hybrid incubator and accelerator. This will include investing in 57 Black-owned brands while “providing supercharging capabilities that allow brands to leverage industry-leading knowledge and resources to realize their brand’s ambitions.”

Black founders are eligible to submit their spirits brand for consideration at Pronghorn.co. Brands will be selected based on a variety of criteria.

Pronghorn is “dedicated to expanding diversity within the alcohol industry by cultivating and investing in the next generation of Black founders, executives, and entrepreneurs in a sustainable and scalable way,” according to the news release. “The initiative is committed to generating $2.4 billion in economic value for the Black community by 2032.

Pronghorn plans to generate $2.4 billion in economic value for the Black community by 2032, which “will potentially raise the national average hourly salary of Black Americans to $34 per hour within the Spirits industry,” according to the news release.

“We are focused on granting access and removing barriers that have put Black people and other communities of color at a disadvantage when it comes to ownership, investing or just working within the spirits industry in general,” said Erin Harris, co-founder, Pronghorn. “Pronghorn will work to open as many doors as possible to help uplift our communities for the long term. Just like the beautiful animal we chose to name our company after, we are prepared to go the distance to make our vision reality.”

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