Creating Change from Within

In 2022, with the goal of promoting more diversity and inclusion in brewing, Maine Beer Company and its co-founder Daniel Kleban ’04, established the USM “Brewing Up Opportunity” internship/scholarship program with a gift of $100,000. Dan’s hope is that “our collaboration with USM will create an access point into the craft beer industry, cultivating the next generation and changing the narrative of who makes up that community.” The program provides a USM student with a paid summer internship at the brewery plus a scholarship award of up to $5,000 per year when the internship is completed. 

Dan has a special appreciation for the unexpected circumstances that can derail a student’s path to a college degree. His personal campaign gift of $75,000 established the Ann Kleban Memorial Scholarship Fund. The scholarship, honoring his mother, benefits students who have encountered a family emergency that makes them unable to pay their tuition. 

At left: Daniel Kleban ’04, Co-founder, Maine Beer Company; Billy Kwizera, 2023 Brewing Up Opportunity Intern; and Jonathan Kalloch, Engineering Director and Billy’s internship supervisor at Maine Beer Company.