EP09: How to Turn Beer into Food with Jacquie Berglund

In 1990 Jacquie traveled to France and earned a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy. She was critical in bringing together government officials who were once at war with one another to find ways to use the market to address issues facing their countries. After some realizations that real impact was happening at the grassroots level she decided to explore her entrepreneurial side. Moving back to Minnesota in 1997, she was hired by an old friend as Marketing Director at their new bar. At the same time she was volunteering at the local homeless shelter. This is when she had her “ah-ha” moment. She would leverage the robust beer market to address the homelessness problems in the area. And in 2000, the social enterprise, Finnegans was born. She was the sole employee until 2009 and on average has grown 30% or more annually. In 2010, they shifted focus to fighting hunger. 100% of profits go to the FINNEGANS community fund and are used to buy food for the hungry Through beer sales and other fundraising opportunities, the FINNEGANS Community Fund has donated more than half a million dollars and counting to community projects, while raising significant awareness about local hunger issues.