Sam Baker is Partner of Oles Morrison Rinker Baker LLP with extensive experience in construction and government contracts. Active in the local community, Sam is a founding member of the University of Washington Construction Industry Advisory Council, past Chairman of the Seattle Police Foundation Board of Directors, and current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Auction of Washington Wines. Sam has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including Inductee, National Academy of Construction, 2014; Super Lawyers, 2003 – 2017 and was the first attorney inducted in the University of Washington Construction Hall of Fame. Sam is a former officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a degree in Building Technology and Administration. He received his J.D. from the U. of Montana, a B.S. from the U. of Washington, Construction Management, and bar admissions from the Washington State Courts, U.S. District Court, Eastern District, WA, and the U.S. District Court, Western District, WA.

Ted Baseler is President & CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, where he has been for 30 years. Ted is the architect of the company’s expansion throughout WA, winery acquisitions in CA and OR, and the development of an imported wines portfolio including wineries from Italy, Spain, Chile, France and New Zealand. Throughout his career, Ted has been committed to community service holding board positions at Washington State Wine Commission, Wine Market Council (Napa-based), Auction of Washington Wines and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Ted has earned gubernatorial appointments to the WSU Board of Regents where he has served since 2006. Recently, he led the campaign to build a world class enology and viticulture institution at WSU, raising $23 million in private and government support. Ted also founded Ste. Michelle’s scholarship program benefiting students in need which has granted more than $3 million in scholarships in recent years.

Bob Betz is founder/consulting winemaker at Betz Family Winery, which he established with his wife in 1997, and focuses on Rhone and Bordeaux varieties from selected Columbia Valley vineyards. The path to starting their own winery began in the early 1970s when the two spent a year in the vineyards of Western Europe. Bob then worked with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for 28 years. Over the past 43 vintages Bob has worked across industry disciplines: vineyards, winemaking, education, quality management, sales and communications. He has enjoyed helping develop the international reputation of Washington’s wine industry, presenting the state’s wines to audiences across the globe. A graduate of the U. of Washington’s honors program in zoology, Bob also holds the Master of Wine degree, awarded by the Institute of Masters of Wine in London. Bob currently consults on winemaking strategies, sensory analysis and blending for Betz Family Winery, Col Solare and other wineries.

Frank Blethen is publisher of the Seattle Times/seattletimes.com. The Seattle Times is one of America’s last independent and locally owned newspapers and is in its 121st year of Blethen family stewardship. The Times is a values-based journalism/community service family business, known for its strong local coverage and its aggressive investigative reporting. The Times has won ten Pulitzer Prizes and has been a Pulitzer finalist 15 other times since 1990.

Frank is a member of the fourth family generation. Currently, there are eight members of the family's fourth and fifth generations active in the journalism company's management and governance. He is a strong advocate for independent journalism, family owned businesses, and a long time active participant in the national grass roots movement in opposition to newspaper and media ownership consolidation. In 2011, in recognition of Frank’s leadership on behalf of quality journalism, he was the first publisher to be awarded the American Society of News Editors’ News Leadership Award.

Dick has been involved with many industry organizations, and currently serves on the Washington Wine Commission board, the Wine Research Advisory Committee, Auction of Washington Wines board, National Grape/Welch's board and is past president of WA Wine Growers and Past Chairman of Wine Yakima Valley board. Dick is a graduate of U. of Puget Sound and is the recipient of several distinguished industry awards; the "Walter Clore Award" from the WA State Grape Society; "Grower of the Year" Eric Hanson memorial award from the WA Assoc. of Wine Grape Growers; "Honorary Grower Chair" for Auction of Washington Wines; "Industry Service Award" from the wine grape growers and the "2007 Grower of the Year" Wine & Spirits Magazine.

Phyllis Campbell is the Chairman, Pacific Northwest for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Previously, Phyllis served as the President/CEO of The Seattle Foundation and President/CEO of U.S. Bank of Washington. Phyllis has a proven track record of board service, both in the for profit and non-profit sectors, including the Diversity Advisory Board (DAB) of Toyota and, US-Japan Council, global advisory board of Women Corporate Directors (WCD), board member of Auction of Washington Wines, among others. Phyllis is the recipient of numerous awards, including: “First Citizen” of Seattle/King County, the Lifetime Achievement Award by Seattle Business Magazine and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vision from the Mountaintop Award, and was recognized by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as a “Top 100” Director. Phyllis holds an M.B.A. from the U. of Washington's Executive MBA Program, a B.A. in Business Administration from WSU, and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the U. of Washington, as well as Stanford University’s Executive Management Program. Phyllis also holds honorary doctorates from Whitworth and Gonzaga.

Stacy Lill is Founder/CEO of Cashmere Partners, focusing on corporate Networking, Marketing, as well as Wine Industry Education & Development. Stacy is Founder & Brand Ambassador of O Wines, and Founder of the All Wines: Opportunity for Success Scholarship Program. Stacy’s career includes 23 years of Sales & Marketing experience for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Ernst & Young. Stacy has received many honors including the Cystic Fibrosis Breath of Life Award, Women’s University Club Business Woman of the Year, and the Puget Sound Business Journal Woman of Influence Award. She serves on many boards, including Cystic Fibrosis Leadership Council, Seattle’s World Trade Center, Auction of Washington Wines, and is a Seattle University Regent. Stacy is a graduate of U. of Washington.

Cameron Myhrvold is a founding partner with Ignition, helping to start the firm in 1999. Mr. Myhrvold invests in software and infrastructure companies and especially big data, mobile and social solutions for the Enterprise. He worked as a top executive at Microsoft for more than a decade and previously co-founded a start-up software company that he sold to Microsoft. While at Microsoft, Cam mainly worked on operating system products. He was most recently the vice president of the Internet Customer Unit, where he was responsible for building business relationships with network operators and a broad range of telecommunications providers. Prior to that Cameron created the Developer Relations Group at Microsoft, which evangelized Windows and Microsoft’s other operating-system technologies to independent software vendors and third-party developers. This effort eventually became a 320-member team with an annual budget of $65 million, and was responsible for revenue of over $400 million. It created a community of 44,000 independent software vendors to develop Windows software. Cameron is an avid wine lover and is part owner of vineyards on Red Mountain. He also a long-time supporter of Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Deborah Nash is a former technology industry executive. From 1993 - 2003, she held various executive positions at Microsoft Corporation. Previously, she worked in Hardware Manufacturing and Development for IBM Corporation and served as executive Director of Worldwide Manufacturing for the AS/400 systems. Nash was twice named one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She holds a Bachelors of Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an honorary Doctorate of Sciences from the U. of Arizona. She received the Joseph Mayo Petit Distinguished Service Award from Georgia Tech in 2014, and was named to their Engineering and Greek Halls of Fame in 2016. Nash has served on many boards including the Blethen Corporation, The Georgia Tech Foundation, the YWCA of Seattle, and is currently a board member of Auction of Washington Wines, Saint Simons Land Trust, and the Board of Visitors of Frederica Academy.

Born and raised in Switzerland, Winemaker Jean-François Pellet is a third-generation wine grower. Working alongside his father, Jean-François always knew what he wanted to do with his life: make world-class wine. Jean-François supplemented his experience by earning degrees in enology and viticulture and interned in Switzerland, Germany and the Napa Valley. After graduating, his experience and reputation for meticulous winemaking brought him to the attention of Heitz Cellars in the Napa Valley, where he worked for four years before being recruited by Pepper Bridge Winery. His success at Pepper Bridge allowed him to join the Amavi partnership and to apply his winemaking skills to different grape varietals, particularly Syrah and Sémillon. In addition to being a winemaker and manager, Jean-François is a founding member and current vice-president of the Walla Walla Valley's sustainable agriculture organization, VINEA.

Michael Towers, a former executive of Washington Mutual Bank, first became seriously interested in wine after attending a Winemaker dinner with Duckhorn Vineyards at the Columbia Tower Club. He like what he tasted so much, that he became one of the primary investors in the Duckhorn Wine Company and acted as a Director for over a decade. During his years on the board, Duckhorn expanded from producing 10,000 cases to over 120,000 cases of wine per year as well as adding several brands such as Paraduxx, Goldeneye and Decoy. During this time, his knowledge of the wine industry grew exponentially as did his personal wine collection. In 2007, Duckhorn was sold and Michael refocused his efforts on a new winery, Ambassador Vineyard, located in Washington State’s Red Mountain American Viticultural Area (AVA). Retired from Washington Mutual since 1995, Michael enjoys travelling with his wife Pamala. Together they have been to many exciting and exotic locations such as Mt. Everest, Tanzania, Zambia and just about everywhere in Europe. When he is not travelling he spends his time skiing in Sun Valley or relaxing at his second home in the Napa Valley.

Steve Warner has served as President & CEO of the Washington State Wine Commission since 2012. Steve came to the Commission from Merck & Co., Inc., where he was the Managing Director based in Romania. Prior to that, he held General Manager and marketing positions and led teams while living in Seoul, South Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; and several domestic markets. Steve graduated from West Seattle High School before serving in the United States military’s Special Operations Command, first as a Sergeant in Pararescue and then as a Lieutenant Commander in U.S. Navy Special Operations. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in biology, Steve holds an MBA in international business and finance from Rutgers University.