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.

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.

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.

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.

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.