“Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold,” explains Kayla Garcia, the organization's president and CEO. “We have programming at our Colfax and Federal location, as well as outreach programs serving 2,000 girls from kindergarten to college.”
Throughout the school year, Girls Inc. sends out fleets of vehicles to pick up girls around the city of Denver, bringing them back to the center for a snack before starting programming every day at 4:30 p.m. In the summers, it also offers options like the multi-year STEM program Eureka!, college preparation courses, healthy sexuality education, and Leadership Out Loud, a multi-year, hands-on leadership program teaching girls the skills they need to advocate for themselves.
An estimated 85 percent of the girls who participate are BIPOC, and Girls Inc. awards $50,000 to $100,000 every year in college scholarships.
So where does coffee fit into all of this? “It really came from the girls," explains director of social enterprise Kait Berreckman-Corrado. "[In 2015], it was their idea to set up a table outside the center to sell coffee to parents dropping off or picking up their kids.”
Instead of a one-off event, the girls took it further by reinvesting the profits from that summer into a coffee cart at Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales library at West Colfax and Irving Street. Girls Inc. needed little to no persuading in supporting the venture, and quickly worked to formalize the program, and that’s how Strong, Smart & Bold Beans was born. “They learn employment and entrepreneurship working as baristas,” Garcia says. “They learn all the elements of employment and social enterprise. ... When customers purchase coffee and merchandise, it all goes back to Girls Inc.”
Girls Inc. worked with the local and woman-owned Copper Door Roasters to source the beans, and initially relied on Copper Door for support and education. In 2018, Strong, Smart & Bold Beans moved out of the library and into the STEAM on the Platte development, at 1401 Zuni Street. In June, Berreckman-Corrado, a longtime coffee professional, joined Girls Inc. and now leads the program.
Strong, Smart & Bold Beans is structured as an employment program hiring ten to fifteen girls a year ranging from 14 to 24 years old. Berreckman-Corrado estimates that the combined hourly wage and generous tips equal about $19 per hour in pay.
Soon after opening the coffee shop on Zuni Street, the idea for a coffee truck started brewing. “It was a way to expand employment opportunities," explains Berreckman-Corrado. "The shop hours are limited, whereas with the truck, we can do earlier mornings, evenings, weekends. This opens up the opportunities to our younger high school girls."
After receiving grant funding from Mile High United Way’s Women United Initiative and the Daniels Fund, Girls Inc. started designing the truck, dubbed Espressa, and planning the logistics, with input from the girls every step along the way.
The Strong, Smart & Bold Beans coffee truck officially launched in June 2019, but then the pandemic hit. Girls Inc. put a pause on the program and put the truck in storage.
But following a two-year hiatus, Berreckman-Corrado was ready to restart the program. After replacing some of the equipment, such as the generator, and tuning up the ’98 GMC, it was ready to hit the road once again. Its first event back, in November, was Women Build Week with Habitat for Humanity. With Berreckman-Corrado supervising, two baristas served up drip coffee, cold brew and tea to the all-female volunteer crew. “First of all, they were excited to have coffee,” Berreckman-Corrado says, laughing. “People are always surprised and delighted to see Girls Inc. out in the community. We had a really vibrant welcome.”
The Strong, Smart & Bold Beans coffee truck at the November 2022 Habitat for Humanity Women Build event.
Girls Inc
In that way, the Strong, Smart & Bold Beans coffee truck is a mobile expression of the mission of Girls Inc. The brightly colored truck provides fuel both literally and metaphorically, serving up a sense of strength and inspiration to the girls who work on it, and spreading the story and mission of Girls Inc.
Girls Inc. does not currently have plans to commit to a regular route. Instead, it's focused on catering and events. The truck is available to reserve for company gatherings and special occasions at boldbeanscoffee.com/espressa-the-coffee-truck. Follow @strongsmartboldcoffee and @girlsincdenver for updates and for more information on upcoming pop-up events for International Women’s Day in March.
