Katie Canfield - Program Lead
Born and raised in California, Katie Canfield earned her B.A. in Spanish and Global Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Her career in the wine industry began during her last year at university while studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. Since then, Katie has lived in Rioja (Logroño), Burgundy (Dijon), and the UK (Manchester), studying and working in various sectors of the wine industry: production (including harvests in Chile, France, and Napa Valley), wine writing, retail, hospitality, and distribution. Since her move back to California in 2014, Katie has led marketing and communications for the international portfolios of Wilson Daniels, Paul Hobbs Wines, and now co-owns PR, marketing, and event agency O’Donnell Lane. Katie holds a M.Sc. degree in Wine Business and WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine and Spirits. She serves on the board of Bâtonnage Forum—a nonprofit organization focused on supporting women in wine—and has served as Marketing & Communications Program Lead for the Bâtonnage Mentorship Program since 2022.
Follow her on Instagram @kt_canfield and @odl_sips.
Florencia Gomez
Florencia is an established wine professional from Argentina, with an expansive career spanning over 15 years in the industry, working in wineries from Napa to Burgundy to Croatia. Now operating from London, her exposure to diverse cultures and winemaking practices ensures a well-rounded approach to industry challenges. Her early hands-on experience and role as Europe's Export Manager equipped her with deep knowledge and strategic acumen - skills she seamlessly applies to mentorship. As the founder of Grand Crew, her marketing agency, she proficiently bridges the gap between traditional wine brands and modern market trends, functioning as a brand ambassador, content creator, and marketing strategist. Alongside her role as a business strategist, Florencia is committed to raising diverse voices within the wine industry. Her strong communicationand leadership skills complement her passion to actas a guide and ally. Florencia's enthusiasm and profound commitment make her a catalyst for positive transformation and an asset for potential mentees seeking to grow, innovate, and make an impact in the world of wine.
Tara Herrick
Tara Herrick is a seasoned marketing professional and wine enthusiast with a passion for helping brands find their voice and connect with their audience. Her journey began when she fell in love with wine during her year-long stay in France. After returning, she completed her studies in Anthropology at SF State in San Francisco.
Throughout her career, Tara's love for wine remained a constant, and she frequently found herself drawn to wine-related projects. In 2018, she seized the opportunity to join a boutique wine marketing agency as Chief Marketing Officer. In this role, Tara works with wineries and wine-related brands to develop marketing strategies that resonate with their target audiences and drive business growth.
Tara's unique background, combined with her deep expertise in marketing and her love for wine, make her a valuable asset to any brand looking to connect with its audience and grow its business.
Heather Bradshaw
Heather is the Communications Director at the Washington State Wine Commission, where she manages strategic communications, industry outreach and media relations. Heather has been in the wine industry for 10 years, with previous experience at the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and Jackson Family Wines. She began her career as a journalist, working at TV stations in Yakima and Seattle. A UW grad and native of Vancouver, Washington, Heather now lives in Snohomish, WA with her family.
Marlena Glenn Blitz
Currently, Marlena is the Director of Partnerships at Provi coupling her client relationship, strategic planning and project management skills. Previous to her role at Provi, Marlena had over seven years of experience at Beverage Media (including two years at SevenFifty) where she combined her love of people and problem solving to wear many hats as “Marketing and Communications Manager.” A true utility player, Marlena has worked concurrently on business and strategy while managing marketing and communications, contributing to editorial, and flexing her commercial savvy. With a passion and degree in theater arts and psychology from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Marlena brings her insatiable intellectual curiosity to every element of the beverage alcohol industry and loves to connect with all three tiers of the trade.
Marilyn Krieger
Marilyn Krieger, based in New York City, is an accomplished PR and communications professional with a specialization in wine. A Fulbright scholar, she developed a passion for wine during research in Italy. After earning her Ph.D. from Columbia University with a dissertation on Italian film, she decided to venture beyond academia as a communications consultant. From 2006 to 2021, she led PR and communications at Winebow, working with wines and spirits from around the world. As part of her mission to foster a more inclusive, diverse, and successful industry for everyone, in 2012 she spearheaded the company’s annual Women in Wine Leadership Symposium. From 2019 to 2022, she served as a dissertation advisor at The University of the Arts for an interdisciplinary project on Prosecco DOCG. Most recently, she oversaw trade media and events at E. & J. Gallo. Marilyn is a long-standing member of the Public Relations Society of America and the New York chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. She is also a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) through the Society of Wine Educators.
Follow her on Instagram @mfkrieger
Michelle Egan
Michelle learned the wine business from the ground up, starting her with her first job after graduating with a degree in Marketing from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. Raised in the restaurant industry in Santa Barbara, hospitality has always been an integral part of Michelle’s DNA.
She joined E&J Gallo Winery as a sales representative, and over the next seven years gained an invaluable foundation in virtually every aspect of the wine industry, including marketing, brand management, and sales strategy.
In 2007, Michelle joined Constellation Brands’. Throughout her 11-year tenure she held a series of increasing responsibilities and ultimately grew to Vice President, Fine Wine Marketing and Direct-to-Consumer. Michelle then transitioned to Realm Cellars as Vice President, Sales & Marketing, where she refined and applied her skills in catering to the luxury consumer market. Most recently, Michelle was Vice President, Marketing & Direct-to-Consumer for Terlato Wine Group’s Family Estate brands including Chimney Rock, Sanford, Rutherford Hill, and Klipsun.
In 2023, Michelle took the leap from full-time corporate roles to establish her own consulting business, Egan Wine Co. She now concentrates her expertise on Marketing and DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) strategy, specializing in collaborations with family-owned and operated wineries that share her values and aspire to achieve sustainable business growth.
Michelle has a tremendous track record as a strong leader with a wealth of knowledge across sales, marketing, and DTC. She is a passionate thought leader who values diversity and giving back to the community. She is currently a Level 1 & 2 mentor with the Bâtonnage Forum where she embraces the opportunity to have meaningful conversations about turning equality into actions that create equity in the wine industry. Michelle has made her home in the beautiful Napa Valley where you can often find her outdoors or wine tasting with her husband, son, and Chocolate Labrador.
Sarah Hoffman
Sarah is co-founder and CEO of Maker Wine, a premium canned wine company on a mission to make fine wine more approachable. Sarah’s passionate about supporting diversity in wine, and her company Maker partners with female and minority-led wineries to can their wines and share their stories. Before Maker, Sarah’s expertise was in scaling high growth start-ups. At her day job she managed user acquisition and multi-million dollar marketing budgets at companies from inception through IPO, most recently in-house at Eventbrite and on the agency side at Right Side Up, a growth marketing consultancy. In her personal life, Sarah’s passionate about creating connection through food and beverage. As an avid homebrewer she started a beer pairing supperclub business, and spent a year traveling the world as a craft beverage writer. These experiences inspired her to want to create a business that celebrates independent wineries.
Virginie Boone
Virginie Boone is a Contributing Senior Editor for The New Wine Review, a new digital media company for wine and whisky fans. A resident of Sonoma County, she was previously the Napa and Sonoma wine critic for Wine Enthusiast Media. She began her career with Lonely Planet travel guides and has written about wine, food and travel for Food & Wine, GuildSomm, Somm Journal, Tasting Panel and others. She is the author of a weekly column for the Sonoma County Winegrowers called “The Good Stuff,” which explores timely local topics in the worlds of agriculture and wine. She is a frequent speaker on California wine, a founding member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Sonoma County, Batonnage Mentorship Program mentor and an author for the Capstone California Education Panel. Boone earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University. Follow her Instagram @virginieboone
Jee Park
Jee Park is an Executive Vice President at Magrino. Magrino is a leading luxury communications agency. She oversees the wine, consumer, and food divisions at the agency. Jee Park brings nearly twenty years of media and communications experience to Magrino.
Her career started in television. She spent nearly 12 years at CBS News as a producer for the network’s morning show where she covered breaking news events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. She also created franchise segments for the network including Williams-Sonoma’s Five-Minute Cooking School, Bobby Flay’s “Boy Meets Grill and the James Beard award winner for Best National or Local Television Food Segment “Chef On A Shoestring”. Prior to joining CBS News, she worked for MTV’s popular reality series, The Real World.
Since leaving television, she has taken her producer skills and applied them to marketing, PR, corporate communications, and culinary event production. She has worked on several national epicurean events including the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, and Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. In 2010, she joined Karlitz & Company as Director of Culinary Marketing, where she led the development and production of luxury events for clients such as American Express and JP Morgan Chase.
From 2011 to 2014, she oversaw Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group's PR and Marketing department as Director of Communications. She was responsible for all external and internal communications for the award-winning restaurant group as well as managing Danny Meyer’s personal media strategy. During her tenure, she oversaw the integration of the digital marketing efforts with traditional media relations to create a holistic communications strategy.
She lives in New York City with her family.
Erica Duecy
Erica Duecy is one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. She is co-founder of Business of Drinks, a podcast and content consultancy, and has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other LinkedInhospitality and drinks tech companies. She also has led digital editorial teams at Architectural Digest and Saveur magazines, among others. Her content, podcast, and video programs have won more than 40 digital and editorial awards. She is a WSET Advanced-certified wine and spirits communicator, wine judge, and author of the cocktail book Storied Sips (Random House), about the real-life stories behind the world’s most famous cocktails. Follow her on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Katie Dailey
Katie Dailey is a Certified Sommelier, bubbly lover, and mom. After earning her degree in Economics at the University of California at Davis, where she also worked internships at small wineries in both winemaking and finance, Katie began her formal wine career with a role in retail sales for Gallo Sales Company. Katie excelled within Gallo, gaining experience over the last decade in Event Marketing, Hospitality and, most recently, as Associate Public Relations Manager.
In one of her proudest career achievements, in 2022, Katie helped launch J Vineyards & Winery’s innovative Shifting the Lens culinary program, which supports inclusivity by showcasing diverse cuisines and unique, personal perspectives from guest chefs in the winery's culinary tasting space, The Bubble Room. Shifting the Lens returned in spring 2023 with a residency from Chef Tu David Phu and will continue in September with Chef Ana Castro’s traditional Mexican cuisine.
Throughout her career, Katie has devoted time to continuing her wine and spirits education, earning her Certified Specialist of Wine, Certified Specialist of Spirits and Certified Sommelier certificates. Katie currently lives in San Francisco with her husband, Michael. Together, they welcomed their son Hudson in March.