Emily Porter
With a career spanning over 22 years, Emily Porter has established herself as a dedicated wine business educator and strategist. Currently, she plays a dual role at Sonoma State University, both for the Wine Business Institute (WBI) and the SSU MBA Programs. Emily, an alumna herself with an Executive Wine MBA achieved in 2021, now applies her extensive industry knowledge to recruit and mentor the next generation of wine business leaders.
Before her tenure at SSU, Emily's diverse experiences ranged from vineyard labor in Australia to wine sales in San Francisco and beyond. Her career began at Frog’s Leap Winery in Napa, where she discovered her life’s calling in the business of wine. This revelation propelled her through notable roles in sales and distribution, representing esteemed names such as E&J Gallo, Wine Warehouse, and Trefethen Family Vineyards across the West Coast.
Her diverse experiences and accomplishments make her a well-rounded professional with insights into multiple facets of the business of wine and is eager to serve with the women of Bâtonnage to foster the next generations.
Elise Spangenberg
Since joining DAOU in May 2013, Elise has served as Controller, head of People & Culture, and now Senior Vice President of People, responsible for Human Resources, Business Transformation (process development, knowledge management, and internal communications), Systems & Technology, and Compliance & Regulation. Drawing on her accounting background and HR expertise, Elise leads DAOU’s people strategy to build an organization focused on high performance, exponential growth, scalability, and a vibrant, inclusive culture.
As a wine industry veteran, Elise previously worked for Conway Family Wines. Elise holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a minor in Marketing from Miami University. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
Jaime Araujo
Jaime has over 20 years’ experience in the wine industry, in the USA, Europe and Asia. She has run her own businesses since 2004 and has done almost every job needed during the start-up periods of her
Monica Bielka-Vescovi
Monika is an international wine educator, judge, journalist and university lecturer currently holding the WSET Diploma. Monika has mentored WSET students, taught accredited courses up to the WSET Diploma level and lectured for over 10 years in the USA, UK, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary.
She is the founder and honorary President of the Polish Women and Wine Association, and Ambassador of the European Association of Sommeliers. In 2017, Monika was awarded the best female entrepreneur award by the Law Business Quality Magazine, and in 2019 she received the Polish Women of Wine Award.
Her hospitality experience as beverage director and wine trainer at the five star Six Senses Resorts and Spas in Asia, and fine dining management in Memphis TN, Broomfield & Boulder CO brings a wealth of practical experience to her classroom. Monika has many years of wine buying experience and has created several award winning wine lists for her clients. At present she fulfilles a role of Director at NVWA Educaton Center.
Monika loves to study and continues her wine journey as a student of the Institute of Masters of Wine, Stage 2.
Cari Focht
Cari Focht is a Certified Specialist of Wine with over 15 years of experience in managing and selling an extensive portfolio of wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages on a national scale. Having worked across diverse facets of the wine business, including sales, brand management, supply chain, and importing, she brings a comprehensive understanding of the industry.
Her enduring passion for the industry has manifested in various forms throughout her career. In the beginning, she was driven by a thirst for education, diligently pursuing every available exam to deepen my knowledge. Subsequently, she was motivated to relocate to another market, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to advancing my career. Now, she is focused on running a portfolio in collaboration with industry leaders at a national level.
Based in Chicago, Illinois, Cari is dedicated to working with national chain accounts in both on and off-premise channels. She is also keen on expanding her network to connect with new wine and beverage customers in a more modern and forward-thinking manner, aligning with the evolving landscape of the industry.
Jennifer Locke
With extensive global experience in the fine wine sector, Jen joined Crimson Wine Group as its Chief Executive Officer in December 2019. She brings to the company inspirational leadership skills and an industrywide reputation for delivering results and leading high-performing teams in a collaborative and innovative style. Prior to joining Crimson, Jen was Senior Vice President of U.S. Luxury and Direct-to-Consumer Sales, Americas, at Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), a publicly traded global wine company, based in Melbourne, Australia. A Northwest native, Jen previously was Director of National Wholesale, Export and Direct-to-Consumer Sales at Willakenzie Estate and was Pacific Senior Regional Sales Manager at Chalone Wine Group. She began her hospitality industry career more than 20 years ago as a wine buyer and training manager at several fine-dining restaurants in Seattle.
Kendra Kawala
Kendra is Maker’s President and Head of Sales. Kendra leads Maker’s investor relations, sales partnerships, and wholesale strategy, and is responsible for spreading the gospel of premium canned wine and getting cans-in-hands all over the US. Kendra built her early career as a healthcare management consultant at Huron Consulting Group where she specialized in operations, innovation, and B2B sales. A Chicago native, Kendra was inspired to enter the wine industry after moving to California for Business School and getting a front row seat to wine’s complex industry dynamics and the thousands of independent makers perfecting their craft. Kendra gets excited about creating change in an old school industry, and building out a world-class sales team to change wine for the better. Kendra’s excited about paying it forward by helping women enter the wine industry and establish themselves, start their own company, or build out a go-to-market playbook. You can find her @kendrakawala on Instagram or Twitter and Kendra Kawala on LinkedIn.
Maeve Pesquera
Maeve Pesquera is a wine industry executive, educator and innovator with more than 30 years of experience in prestige hospitality, strategic marketing, culture creation and business development. As DAOU’s Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Maeve has helped steer the global growth and recognition for America’s fastest growing luxury wine brand. In addition to her role at DAOU, Maeve holds board and leadership roles in numerous industry organizations, including the California Wine Institute and the PASO Robles CAB Collective. Maeve’s visionary ethos has made her an in-demand mentor and speaker at wine industry forums nationwide and she is frequently asked to speak on several topics of expertise, including executive leadership and business operations; company culture creation; beverage and hospitality programs; marketing and public relations; consumer-centric brand building; and mentoring the next generation of women leaders in the wine and spirits field.
Kelsey Phelps
Kelsey grew up in the wine industry, learning from her grandfather as she shadowed him in the vineyards and back-of-house as he built his iconic business. Kelsey inherited Joe’s entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic, and practiced law in Silicon Valley before following her heart to pursue a career in wine. Kelsey founded her own company, SEPPI Craft Wines, so that she could create and share her values, philosophies, and fun-loving personality with like-minded wine enthusiasts. Every vintage is a collaboration between Kelsey, who acts as creative director, and her talented contributing winemaker. Kelsey selects the vineyard sites, selects yeasts, and approves blends before making aging decisions, including how long wines stay en tirage. Since her transition to winemaking, Kelsey was named a finalist for the WSET/IWSC “Future 50” industry leaders award. She is a Level 1 accredited sommelier with both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, and an active member of Women of the Vine and Spirits. Kelsey believes in working hard, but that success is meaningless without joy, fun, and a little lighthearted humor along the way.
Eva Bertran
Eva Bertran was raised in Barcelona, Spain, to a wine merchant family that goes back generations.
After earning her MBA at ESADE, she moved to Sonoma, California, in 1987 as part of the original team that launched Gloria Ferrer Winery. For over 30 years, Eva formed part of the management team of both Gloria Ferrer Winery and the Ferrer family import company, Freixenet USA, where she launched and grew brands both boutique and high-volume brands from over 20 of the best-known appellations in eight countries, spanning Old and New World.
Over those three decades, Eva oversaw the winery’s operations and developed great teams to lead in Marketing, Communications, DTC, Sales, and Finance. She traveled extensively as an ambassador to sales teams, distributors, trade organizations, and the public at events and tastings. In 2019, she founded a business consulting company, Eva Bertran Consulting LLC, that assists domestic and import wineries and trade associations with strategic planning, business development, and sales plans.
Eva has served on the board and as President of Sonoma County Vintners, Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers. She was member of various committees in those associations as well as the California Wine Institute and Carneros Wine Alliance. She worked closely with Foods & Wines from Spain, SOPEXA (France), Wines from Argentina, and Wines from Italy. She also serves as member of the Program Development Committee for the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.
Eva is fluent in English, Catalan, Spanish, French, and Italian, and has traveled to over 50 appellations around the world.