Linda is the Director of North Coast Winemaking for WX Brands (14th largest US wine producer). She is responsible for production of all Bread & Butter wines, one of the biggest and fastest growing US wine brands. Prior to joining WX Brands, Linda held Head Winemaker and Director of Winemaking titles at prestigious wineries such as Jamieson Ranch Vineyards, Swiftwater Cellars and Gundlach Bundschu. In 2018, Linda was named the North Bay Business Journal’s Napa Valley Winemaker of the Year. A southern California native, Linda earned a degree in Enology from UC Davis. She is involved and has held leadership roles with organizations that champion the advancement of women’s careers in wine.
Steve Hansen is a Managing Director and Equity Analyst with Raymond James Ltd. covering the transportation, chemicals, and agribusiness industries. In 2020, he was ranked as the number two stock picker in Canada for the Diversified Industrials category by StarMine. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Hansen was employed as a stock analyst with Morningstar covering the paper & forest products sector. Mr. Hansen holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of British Columbia. Mr. Hansen also holds his CMA designation and has the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Gabe Kalmar has been an entrepreneur for the past 30 years with extensive experience in biotechnology research and commercialization. He has negotiated and maintained hundreds of business partnerships, and has been a mentor to over 30 technology companies. Gabe has been engaged in strategic consulting activities with several early and mid stage biopharma and technology companies, overseeing business development, planning and executing financings, implementing operations and technology development and providing merger and acquisition planning.
Tom Urban mentors early stage ventures as an advisor and investor. He has extensive experience in investment banking, working for Goldman, Sachs & Co. as well as in the agricultural biotechnology industry and forestry genetics. Tom began his professional career with Goldman, Sachs & Co. After two years with Goldman, Tom left to join Pioneer High-Bred international, as the Country Manager of Romania. After the purchase of Pioneer by E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Tom headed their worldwide cereals seed business in Paris, France. In 2002, Tom returned to the U.S. as a Director in the DuPont strategy group, focusing on DuPont's agricultural portfolio. Tom received his undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Michele Wallcraft is a passionate and creative sales driven professional with an extensive track record (+20 years) in direct sales, business development and integrated marketing for both startup and Fortune 500 technology companies. Michele is currently an Executive in Residence at entrepreneurship@UBC and loves mentoring, training and coaching sales teams. She has a keen interest in new concepts, social impact, and chocolate and owns/operates a boutique shared workspace in Vancouver.
Jeff Kuypers has a degree in chemical engineering and is a Senior Operations executive with more than thirty years of experience working in the manufacturing and technology industries. Jeff has held several and varied positions requiring business vision and strategy development, significant customer interfacing and operations expertise. Jeff has a solid track record of building engaged teams who have consistently exceeded market and customer expectations. Jeff is currently living in Vancouver and is mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs with a focus to help businesses and people reach their aspirations.
Paul Mabray has been a powerful change agent in the wine industry for over twenty years. He has been at the forefront of all major digital trends for the wine industry, working with WineShopper.com and Wine.com when they entered the wine-digital space. He founded two companies that significantly changed the digital US wine landscape, first by introducing winery e-commerce with Inertia Beverage Group that transformed into WineDirect.com pioneering winery e-commerce and then again introducing social media and social customer relationship management with VinTank.com. He is considered the wine industry’s foremost futurist and thought leader, harnessing the power and potential of digital tools and methodologies to move the industry into the future.
