After graduating from Middlebury College with a major in Geology, Rob headed west. Following a couple years in Colorado, he suspected his track would eventually lead him either back to Geology or woodworking. Before heading down one of those paths, he took a detour to Vermont where he washed kegs at Otter Creek Brewery. While at Otter Creek, he happened upon the beers of Belgium. In these inventive and surprising brews, Rob saw an opportunity to give American beer drinkers an experience they’d never had before. So he left steady pay and founded Allagash Brewing Company in 1995. The brewery has since grown from a one-man operation into one of the Top 50 Craft Breweries in the U.S. (by sales volume) and has earned a spot on Maine’s Best Places to Work list for seven years running. Rob is the Past Chair of the Brewers Association trade group and received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer in 2019.

In 2011, Luke Anderson was a math teacher at a public high school, and having yet to step foot in a dispensary in his life, he never imagined a future where he would be the Co-Founder of a cannabis brand, disrupting the industry with the first sessionable thc drink. Fast forward eight years however, and in 2019, Luke joined his good friend and former Bain & Company colleague - Jake Bullock - to co-found Cann Social Tonics, a sessionable cannabis-infused beverage line that does just that! While attending Stanford University where he received his B.S., Luke’s true passion for the beverage space started to shine through; in between classes, Luke crafted smoothies as manager of the campus Jamba Juice. Luke would routinely create off-menu drinks pairing juices and frozen fruit that he found to be even more delicious than those consumers could order, making this side job something Luke constantly looked forward to. After graduating he spent two years teaching math as a part of the Teach For America program, he was thirsty for a change - and joined Bain & Company as an Associate Consultant. During those two years he became obsessed with data, consumer trends, and how to spot winners in different retail categories. His ongoing desire to be involved in the beverage industry space continued to grow, so much so that after receiving his M.B.A. at Harvard, Luke returned to the consumer packaged goods practice at Bain & Company, specializing in helping large and complex organizations behave more like startups, rapidly innovating their products and services. Although Luke had great interest in the beverage space, Cannabis had never been his thing - until this year! Luke co-created Cann to be showcased as the first cannabis product for someone new to the cannabis category, like Luke was, that is delicious and easy to digest, both physically and mentally. Residing in Venice, CA, Luke is making it his mission to share how Cann is the perfect option for a new wave of cannabis consumers looking for a guilt-free social buzz. Luke focuses on highlighting how Cann is not just for those exploring cannabis, but to anyone who is looking to moderate or reduce their alcohol consumption.

As Vice President of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice, Danelle leads industry thought leadership and best practice solutions to beer, wine, and spirits clients, industry groups, and the media. She is committed to leveraging Nielsen’s breadth of resources to provide an integrated and holistic understanding of consumer behavior and retail trends across beer, wine, and spirits. Danelle has 20+ years of marketing experience, and has been with Nielsen for 16 years. She has experience working across various clients in the food, beverage, and consumer goods industries, with the past 9 years focused on alcohol.  Prior to joining the Beverage Alcohol Practice, Danelle led Nielsen’s business at Molson Coors in Chicago. Danelle received her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, and her BA in International Studies and Economics from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

Phillip Bates is the Production Coordinator at Night Shift Brewing, a regional craft brewery based in Everett, MA. His career in the brewing industry began in 2015 while he was attending graduate school, when he was hired as the doorman at Night Shift's taproom. After two years of working in the taproom and upon completion of his MBA, Night Shift hired him into his current role, where he is responsible for inventory management, raw materials procurement, demand planning, and business intelligence functions.

Dominic Engels is Chief Executive Officer of Stone Brewing, the 9th largest independent craft brewer in the United States by volume and 3rd largest by revenue. Engels joined Team Stone in September of 2016 from The Wonderful Company, where he held multiple leadership positions over more than 11 years. Most recently, Engels held the position of President at POM Wonderful where he was responsible for leading the global pomegranate business, including POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice. Prior to his role as POM President, he lived in Waterloo, Belgium, where he ran the European and Middle East region for POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and Wonderful Pistachios. Before the European post, Engels held the position of Vice President of Global Marketing/General Manager of Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, where he led the launch and development of The Wonderful Pistachios brand - now a billion dollar retail brand. He started his career at the Wonderful Company advising on mergers and acquisitions as Director of Corporate Development & Strategic Marketing. Prior to Wonderful, Engels’ career included operational and managerial roles in the golf industry (Armour Golf, Spalding / Top-Flite), management consulting (McKinsey & Co.) and retail (The Gap). Engels is a graduate of Dartmouth College where, convenient for his new role at Stone, he studied German culture and society. He earned his MBA in finance, strategy and marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Engels spends his weekends with his wife and three boys on the sidelines of club soccer games by day and with a few glasses of Stone Ruination 2.0 Double IPA Sans Filtre or Stone Enjoy By IPA by night.

Graci Harkema, former Diversity & Inclusion Director of Founders Brewing Co., is a Diversity & Inclusion Consultant with graci LLC. She specializes in equity and inclusive leadership training within beverage, technology, and Fortune 100 industries. She is dedicated to driving inclusion and integrating diversity to ensure an open and safe work environment. She helps evolve strategies to attract and engage a diverse and inclusive workforce and workplace. Graci is committed to empowering employees to perform to their potential as their authentic selves. She partners with clients to help them achieve successful business results by maximizing talent and inclusion strategies. Graci is passionate about serving her community by volunteering her time on LGBTQ non-profit boards and committees in Michigan. She is recognized as a “40 Under Forty Business Leader of West Michigan” by Grand Rapids Business Journal and has her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Grand Valley State University.

Chris Cramer has been a pioneer in the craft brewing industry for more than 30 years. When Chris and his college buddy, Matt Rattner, co-founded Karl Strauss Brewing Company in 1989, it was the first new brewery to open in the City of San Diego since Prohibition. Since then, the Karl Strauss locations have grown to include a main production brewery, a tasting room & beer garden, and ten brewpubs throughout Southern California. Karl Strauss is one of the top 50 craft breweries in the United States, while still only distributing in its home state of “Karlifornia”! Chris is the current Chair of the California Craft Brewers Association and a community activist who has personally championed many business and legislative reforms that helped pave the way for San Diego to become the world’s capital for craft beer. He takes particular pride in having introduced many Californians to their first craft beer, and his passion for continued innovation ensures that many new fans will have that same opportunity for years to come.

In late 2017, Colucci took over marketing the No. 2 U.S. brewer’s innovation portfolio. She’s been busy. She led the successful April 2019 launch of Cape Line Sparkling Cocktails, which ranked among the category’s top ten growth brands for 14 weeks, according to Nielsen. She also spearheaded the launch of MoVo wine spritzers and the push behind a La Colombe branded hard cold-brew coffee drink for fall.  A year earlier, she spearheaded the successful national rollout of Arnold Palmer Spiked, another innovative co-branded product.   If that seems like a lot in a little time, it’s because she’s worked to make the brewer more agile, in one case cutting 10 months off the usual timeline for a national launch. Prior to joining MillerCoors, Sofia spent seven years at PepsiCo in a variety of roles, including leading innovation for its North American Nutrition portfolio, which includes brands such as Tropicana, Quaker and Naked Juice. The Canadian-Uruguayan Colucci began her career at Toronto-based Maple Leaf Foods. She’s fluent in Spanish and her out of office interests include music, food, fitness and travel.

Jeff Heck co-founded Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta, GA in 2011. The company began when a small group Bible study started homebrewing in Jeff’s garage socially, and has grown to a two (soon-to-be-three) taproom operation distributing across the Southeast, with nearly 50 full-time employees. In his role as CEO, Heck oversees all aspects of Monday Night’s operations and strategy, with the aim of fulfilling the company’s purpose of “deepening human relationships over some of the best beer in the country.” A native of Cincinnati, OH, Heck graduated from Harvard University and spent over 10 years in private equity and corporate M&A before co-founding Monday Night. He and his wife of 15 years have four children and live just a mile from the brewery in Atlanta.

Since moving from the UK in 2004, Adam was blown away by the diversity and quality of the brews in the Pacific Northwest. As a home brewer, Adam and Grace poured their beer at the 2010 PNA Winter Beer Taste and won First Place in the People's Choice. Then the brewing bug took over and Adam continued to hone his craft and he won several more awards, including a Silver Medal at the 2012 National Homebrew Competition, and attended UC Davis. This all led to the desire to share his brews with more people and the opening of Reuben's Brews in August 2012.