…advocates inclusivity for women empowerment

Guinness Nigeria Plc recently empowered nine female bartenders in the pilot edition of the Diageo Bar Academy (DBA) programme in Lagos as part of its diversity and inclusivity strategy for empowering the underrepresented in Nigeria. The Diageo Bar Academy is a scholarship programme that aims to provide world-class bartending training to both men and women, to increase the number of female bartenders in the business.

Viola Graham-Douglas, Chair of the Guinness Nigeria Spirited Women's Network and Director of International Premium Spirits, Reserve & Modern Trade (IRM), said during the graduation ceremony at the Guinness Headquarters that this edition was specifically designed for women as a DBA diversity and inclusion programme to provide more females with viable career opportunities in bartending and the hospitality sector in general.

“Guinness Nigeria is committed to ensuring that our diversity and inclusion programme gives opportunities to all our stakeholders across our value chain. We want everyone to feel included, both inside and outside of our company. We believe that our company will be stronger if our activities reflect the diversity of our customers, communities, and individuals who are bonded by our iconic products.”

She added that “it is important to us; it is part of who we are and what we do. Everywhere we go, we create the most inclusive and diverse culture, shaping market leading policies because it is part of our purpose of celebrating life every day, everywhere”.

In selecting the beneficiaries, Graham-Douglas explained that “they went through a flexible selection process with a focus on key characteristics such as aptitude, enthusiasm for the trade, and commitment to work in the craft after completing the training programme working in hotels, restaurants, cafés, clubs, bars, or other related outlets in the industry”.

Mark Mugisha, Guinness Nigeria's Marketing, and Innovations Director stated that the company is more concerned with the impact of its many corporate social responsibility projects on Nigerians than with generating a profit. He urged all the beneficiaries to be diligent in using the skills they had learned to improve their work and, in the long term, their livelihood.

"In the long run, the DBA is crucial to our diversity and inclusion mission. We promise that the programme will continue beyond this inaugural edition, as we are already harnessing talents for the next level. We are confident that these pilot participants will impress and fully utilize the skills gained from this training in their chosen career," Mugisha said.

The programme is expected to transit into a DBA train-the-trainer programme; a thirty-day duration course in which the participants will be able to pass on what they have learned to others. The completion of the training also comes with a 3-month internship with any of the Guinness Nigeria trade partners.