This month, Kylie Lethbridge, the CEO of Independent Brewers Association (IBA) celebrates five years in her role, and she told Beer & Brewer that while more can always be done, we can celebrate the progress the brewing industry has made regarding inclusivity.
Lethbridge said that she and the IBA team have developed a range of resources including a Code of Conduct and HR Templates to help brewers with their inclusive journey.
“Speaking from my own perspective, I’ve felt nothing but welcome and I’ve never felt there was any kind of perception that I couldn’t do my job because I am a woman. I have always been given time and have never experienced any of those hardships myself, and I really appreciate that, but I also acknowledge that some people have.
“I’ve been with the IBA for five years on March 23, and I know there’s been some bumps along the way and people have said they have experienced some challenges, but we’ve come a long way even in my time. I’m not suggesting that it isn’t tough for women, but I certainly know many of the businesses that we support each and every day are very kind to women.
“I think if we did a survey there would be more women in the industry than we thought there might be and I know that gender pay gaps are still a problem and the availability of jobs for women is still a problem, but I know we are moving in the right direction.”
Part of the IBA process in helping the industry move in the right direction is the development of resources that can help small, independent breweries with the tools to help them run a small business.
“The awareness of MeToo and some of the other moments in that trajectory have made people more aware and have helped put the issue more at the forefront of people’s thinking. As an organisation the IBA we’ve done a lot of work like creating the Code of Conduct, and enforcing the Code of Conduct. We also provide resources and templates to our members, they now have access to a HR service as part of their membership, so they can get one-on-one expert advice to help them to develop policies and help them to run their business.
“This helps them to look at areas like inclusivity and address them, and I know our members are very cognisant of the work that we’ve done in this area. They very much respond to our code of conduct – it is usually displayed front and centre in a brewery. We also have three woman on our Board, out of seven positions and that’s a sign of the evolution of the industry, and we celebrate the women on our Board as well as the women in our team and in the industry.”
And celebrating the women in the IBA team is a focus for the association this International Women’s Day, as Lethbridge told Beer & Brewer.
“We have a lot of women working in the industry doing amazing things and being very well respected we look to celebrate them all the time. This year we thought it was a good opportunity to say ‘you hear from Kylie and the team all the time, but no-one actually knows who we are’.
“We are based in different states and we spend a lot of time behind the desk, and we don’t get out to visit our members as much as we’d to, so we thought it was a good opportunity to say here’s something you didn’t know about the three women that are keeping the IBA ship on track.”
Those three women are Lethbridge, plus Membership Manager Emily Doughty and Head of Industry Development Sabrina Kunz. Kunz is based in Queensland and is currently bunkered down in anticipation of Cyclone Alfred, so there’s a slight delay in getting the IWD information sent out, but as soon as it is ready we will publish it on Beer & Brewer.
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