Deborah Brenner is awarded with the SevenFifty Daily Innovator Award for Spearheading 86 Harassment to tackle workplace harassment in the beverage industry
The beverage industry is never static. Growth is not just an economic demand, but also a cultural, social, political, and personal one. And the drinks professionals who are most passionate about their work, whether that’s in the vineyard, behind the bar, or in the brewery, are always looking for ways to do their jobs better—to grow.
When looking for our next cohort of SevenFifty Daily Drinks Innovators, we turned to you, our community, to ask who is doing that well. Which professionals are turning up at their workplace each day and not just looking to improve their own undertaking or bottom line, but also looking to better the industry as a whole? From over 100 nominations, we narrowed it down to just 11, representing every sector of the industry—spirits, wine, beer—and from the fields of distribution, technology, media, and production.
Our criteria were simple: Have they created positive change within the industry and are they on a path to continue to do so? We think the 11 award winners below have done just that, whether it’s by coming up with experimental brews or by challenging systemic injustices in the wine world. Some might be at the start of that journey, while others might have a long career of innovation behind them, but all of their work is worthy of recognition.
Please join us in congratulating our 2024 class of Drinks Innovators!
Deborah Brenner
Women of the Vine & SpiritsAwarded for: Spearheading 86 Harassment to tackle workplace harassment in the beverage industry
When revelations of sexual harassment in the Court of Master Sommeliers broke in 2020, Deborah Brenner knew she had to do something about it. In March 2024, Brenner, the founder of Women of the Vine & Spirits (WOTVS), a global membership organization working to advance and empower women in the industry, launched 86 Harassment. Her aim was to create a sustained, industry-wide initiative to prevent and respond to workplace harassment.
With input from experts and consultants, including RAINN, the largest anti-sexual violence organization in North America, and critical support from partners like Pernod Ricard North America, Brown–Forman, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Republic National Distributing Company,Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, and Spirits Canada, Brenner oversaw the development of a robust set of interactive resources. These include a confidential, industry-specific hotline staffed around-the-clock in Spanish and English and live trainings on harassment awareness, education, response, and bystander intervention. Brenner and her team specifically considered the needs of smaller companies, like craft breweries, wineries, and distilleries, that might not have comprehensive policies, as well as industry members, such as sales reps, who may encounter harassment in the field. All resources are offered to employers and employees free of charge. (Valerie Kathawala)