Courageous Conversations: Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Peoples @ Intelli & Beyond

6/23/22

Good day, Intellis,

As we near the close of Pride Month, we wanted to announce that Thursday, June 30^th @ 12:00 pm CDT we will be hosting a moderated event/discussion celebrating LGBTQIA+ Peoples in Coffee. All Intellis should receive a calendar invitation to the event shortly after this email. Our own Izaiah Hunter, People & Culture Coordinator, has graciously offered to moderate the discussion, and we have the added pleasure of featuring Carl Hament, Barista (Broadway Coffeebar), Joni Wright, Shift Leader (Austin Coffeebar), and Angela Balira, Shift Leader (Broadway Coffeebar) on our panel to share their experiences, insights, and expertise. You can read more about our panelists, in their own words, below.

As we reflect every day on our mission and commitment to make extraordinary coffee an agent of change, we look forward to the opportunity to discuss and consider how we can cultivate and nurture a welcoming and inclusive community for those who identify as LGBTQIA+ at Intelli, within specialty coffee, and across the country. Most LGBTQIA+ people are healthy, thriving members of society, despite widespread discrimination. The strength and courage of sexual and gender minorities who actively resist structures and definitions that fail to include and respect their experience is inspiring. Their resistance and their joy are a mirror that expands our understanding not only of LGBTQIA+ people but all people.

We sincerely thank our panelists for their time leading this discussion and look forward to seeing our community celebrate the achievements, histories, and contributions of LGBTQIA+ Peoples in coffee.

Cheers, and happy Pride Month!

The People & Culture Team

Angela Balira (She/Her)

Retail Shift Lead, Broadway Coffeebar – Chicago, Illinois

Hi! My name is Angela, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I’m 25 and I’ve lived in the Chicago area since 2019 with my partner, Maria. I love watching cartoons, creative writing, and my cat, T’Challa. I’ve been with Intelligentsia since September, but I’ve been serving coffee since 2016. Between you and me though? I prefer tea.

Carl Hament (He/They)

Barista, Millennium Park Coffeebar - Chicago, Illinois

Carl Hament (he/they) is a bisexual trans barista from Florida. He has been working in the Chicago coffeebars since 2019.

Joni Dorian Wright (She/They)

Retail Shift Lead, Shoal Creek Coffeebar – Austin, Texas

Joni was born in England and immigrated to the US permanently in 2018. They have been with Intelligentsia since March 2022, and in coffee for 6 years. They also work as a drag performer by the stage name Rita Lynn, and as a freelance makeup artist.

Joni defines as a bisexual, non-binary trans femme. She has been out as queer since 2010, and out as trans since 2015. In previous positions, she developed a workplace transition plan, trained staff on being trans in the workplace, and rewrote nondiscrimination policies to be inclusive of misgendering and deadnaming. She is a strong believer in t4t (trans 4 trans), essentially meaning her line is always open to trans and gender-curious individuals who would like to ask questions or find community.

Izaiah Hunter (They/Them)

People & Culture Coordinator - Los Angeles, California

Izaiah was born and raised in Los Angeles, and spent nearly a quarter of their life living in NYC as a wide-eyed transplant. They identify as Black, queer, non-binary and transfeminine, and are figuring out how to more unapologetically and fully embrace these identities in our current political climate.

While living in NYC they defined themselves primarily as an artist through work exploring issues of gender, race and sexuality in the form of prints, sculptures, and lyrical poetry. They have performed their poetry in drag venues under the stage name Sigourney, and have collaborated with several trans and queer-identified performance artists in New York City exploring the intersections of identity, power and privilege. They were first trained to work in specialty coffee by other trans POC, and they hope to always pay that generosity forward through their work on the People & Culture Team, and to support Intellis in their personal and professional journeys.

Outside of art and coffee, Izaiah is passionate about social justice and advocacy, and one day hopes to continue their education in clinical psychology, organizational psychology or occupational art therapies to be able to more directly support BIPOC and Queer peoples lacking access to compassionate mental healthcare and/or community support.