Stevie is the visionary and founder behind Bâtonnage as well as co-owner of the acclaimed restaurant MAMA Oakland and Bay Grape wine shop in Oakland, California. Along with her husband and business partner Josiah Baldivino, Stevie was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers.

Stevie originally began working in hospitality during high school and college to pay her way through the University of Southern California. After graduating magna cum laude, Stevie traded her apron for a laptop and a career in food, wine and travel writing. Post editorial-era (including published pieces in Wine & Spirits, SF Chronicle and Wine Enthusiast), Stevie managed communication, media, marketing and brand strategy for Corkbuzz Wine Studio, Crush Wine & Spirits, and the Guild of Sommeliers before launching her own brands focused on community and education in the wine and hospitality industry. You can follow her on Instagram at @steviestacionis, @baygrape, and @mamaoakland.

Christy Frank is a seasoned wine professional with over 20 years of experience in all tiers of the US wine trade, ranging from large, global drinks firms to small, boutique distributors to on- and off-trade retail. She has a passion for wine backed by a deep understanding of market context, history and politics. She has a broad contact base throughout the NYC and national wine scene including store buyers and sommeliers, writers and press agents, distributors and importers. Having sold her flagship shop, Frankly Wines, in NYC, she currently ping pongs between work at her shop, Copake Wine Works, and work for Wine Australia and the Feiring Line newsletter. You can follow her on Instagram at @christy.frank.wine.

Additional IAF: Sales & Marketing

Emily is a "Jill" of all trades in the Michigan wine industry. She earned a degree in Enology & Viticulture from Lake Michigan College in 2016, and found a love of Viticulture and southwest Michigan terroir. Currently running the state's only wine non-profit, Michigan Wine Collaborative, she also founded a small marketing and consulting firm specializing in wine marketing and woman/BIPOC/LGBTQ+ owned business projects called Winemi. In addition, she holds a buying position at Harding’s Market, a boutique market in southwest Michigan. Here Emily has curated a selection of premium, small production wines and a unique merchandising system incorporating Michigan wines into imported areas to allow customers to discover classic styled wines made locally.

Additional IAF: Viticulture, Sales & Marketing

Erin Drain has engaged with her love of food, wine, and travel since her time as an undergraduate at The University of Chicago, where she studied anthropology, Iberian linguistics, and food culture. Finding a way to turn those passions into a paycheck led her to seek a part-time job in an independent wine shop back in 2007, where she quickly became the manager and wine buyer, thus kicking off a lifelong wine career which has also included freelance writing, education roles, and sales. She now proudly works as Head of Marketing for Olé & Obrigado, an award-winning US importer of artisanal Spanish and Portuguese wines. She is completing the Spanish Wine Scholar Program, is a Certified Sake Professional, and a Cicerone Certified Beer Server. She lives in Chicago, where in her free time she serves on the board of two nonprofits and spends a lot of time in the kitchen. You can follow her on Instagram at @erindrain.

Additional IAF: Sales & Marketing

Helen was born in New York City. She started working in the restaurant industry while in college in Madison, WI. Her involvement at L’Etoile and the fine dining and farm-to-table driven experience inspired her to continue growing in the food and wine industry. She moved to Los Angeles and worked at Craft as a manager for two years before signing on with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo in July of 2009. She is now a partner at Jon & Vinny’s in Los Angeles, and the owner of Helen’s, the gem box retail wine shop nestled in the back. Helen is the Beverage Director for not only Jon & Vinny’s, but for all associated restaurants in the group: animal, Son of a Gun, Petit Trois, and Trois Mec & Kismet. She also hosts wine classes and has a curated wine club, and was titled Best New Sommelier by Food & Wine in 2016. You can follow her on Instagram at @helenjohannesen.

Additional IAF: Hospitality

Kelli A. White is the Director of Education for the Pacific Union Company in Napa Valley. Most recently, she was the Senior Staff Writer for the educational nonprofit GuildSomm, where her work earned her two of the coveted Louis Roederer International Wine Writing Awards. Prior to that, Kelli worked as a sommelier for nearly a decade between New York City and Napa Valley. In 2013, Food & Wine magazine named her one of the top sommeliers in the country. In 2015, she published her first book, the acclaimed Napa Valley, Then & Now, and she recently contributed to the latest edition of Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson’s World Atlas of Wine. She is a coveted speaker, has lectured on wine all over the world, and has appeared in the documentary Somm II: Into the Bottle as well as SommTV. You can follow her on Instagram at @kelliwhitewine.

Additional IAF: Hospitality

Lauren McPhate is the Director of Sales with Tribeca Wine Merchants, a New York fine wine retailer with a focus on terroir-centric wines from the world’s best producers. She got her start in the wine trade in Hong Kong, eventually landing at Ginsberg+Chan Wine Merchants Asia. During her time as the Communication and Events Manager, Lauren worked a harvest in Burgundy, attended her first En Primeur campaign, judged for the China Wines Awards, and completed the WSET Diploma, where she earned the Wine Australia Scholarship for excellence in Asia. After seven years abroad, Lauren decided to return home to the U.S. to join Tribeca Wine Merchants and to pursue her goal of becoming a Master of Wine. In 2017 Lauren was awarded the first ever Constellation scholarship for highest overall score in North America on the MW Stage 1 assessments. You can follow her on Instagram at @fishgutswine.

Additional IAF: Sales & Marketing

Maia Parish is the owner of wine events company, The Wine Suite, and creator of Tales of a Wine Mistress Live Show and Blog. Her award-winning events, Night in Wakanda, and tastings are featured at national festivals and trade-shows. She has been published in Wine Business News, Loam Baby Volume 6: Women in Wine Issue, The Somm Journal, and Denver Luxury Magazine. Maia is a Wine Judge for the Denver International Wine Competition and the Drink Pink Vino International Festival. Ms. Parish also owns and operates Parish Media LLC, which provides social media start-up creation and education, passive income opportunities, and event management. Maia is working on her CSW certificate with the Society of Wine Educator and plans to open a full-service Wine School in the future. You can follow her on Instagram at @thewinemistress.

Additional IAF: Sales & Marketing, Hospitality

Simi Grewal is a co-founder and Certified Sommelier of DECANTsf, a woman-owned wine bar and bottle shop in Soma, San Francisco. She specializes in managing the financial side of the business as well as co-curating the wine program with Cara Patricia. Simi's heart has always been in the food industry; at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, she created an interdisciplinary degree that focused on “The Business of Food.” After graduating, she worked in NYC restaurants before moving to Napa to attend the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. After graduating from the Accelerated Wine & Beverage Program, she worked at Eleven Madison Park (NYC), The Village Pub (Woodside, CA) and Birba Wine Bar (SF) before opening DECANTsf. Simi holds a Certified Sommelier credential from The Court of Master Sommeliers, as well as a Certified Wine Professional (CWP) and Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) through the Culinary Institute of America and Society of Wine Educators, respectively. You can follow her on Instagram at @simi1612.

Additional IAF: Hospitality

While she didn’t grow up around wine, a whole new world opened up to Stacey after studying abroad in Tuscany during college. Upon scrapping political science plans, she moved to New York City, where she got a job as a hostess in the Flatiron District. She fell hard for the excitement of the restaurant floor and pursued her passion for wine. After managing the wine list at Momofuku Ma Peche, she moved on to Corkbuzz Wine Studio. In 2013, after passing the Advanced Sommelier exam, she moved to Portland to start a family and be closer to the Willamette Valley. After managing several wine lists in the city, Stacey started as the wine director for the bar at Park Avenue Fine Wines in 2017 and was promoted to partner in 2019. She owns Parallel Food & Drink, a food- and wine-centered catering company with her husband, Joey. You can follow her on Instagram at @stacey_gib.

Additional IAF: Hospitality

Suzanne Denevan-Brown is a seasoned industry leader with a proven track record of turning concepts into results. She has an MBA, WSET Level 3 certification and is a Certified Sommelier. Passionate about food and wine, Suzanne has extensive sales, Retail, and Brand Marketing experience. Currently a Senior Brand Manager at EJ Gallo, the largest US winery, Suzanne has a front row seat to the industry and a powerful voice for creating positive forward progress. You can follow her on Instagram at @sdenevan.

Additional IAF: Sales & Marketing

3 Parks Wine is a boutique wine shop in Atlanta, GA established in 2013 with the hopes of creating a comfortable, welcoming, and quaint space to purchase wine. Owner Sarah Pierre opened the shop after a notable career in restaurants. She focuses on small production, family-owned and operated, organic, biodynamic, and natural wine producers. Sarah has received coverage in print and broadcast including CNN, Thrillist, Eater Atlanta, Mailchimp, Atlanta Journal Constitution, and many more. 3 Parks was also voted Atlanta Magazine’s 2020 “Best Wine Shop - Readers Choice” and Wine Enthusiasts 2020 “America’s 50 Best Wine Retail / Best Wine Clubs in America”!