LEARN MORE
About American Cider Association
The American Cider Association is an organization of cider and perry producers in the United States. Our mission is to grow a diverse and successful U.S. cider industry by providing valuable information, resources and services to our members and by advocating on their behalf.
Meet Our Team
Monica Cohen
CEO
Monica Cohen (she/her) is the CEO of the American Cider Association (ACA), where she leads efforts to enhance the cider industry through innovation, advocacy, and strategic industry partnerships. With a strong background in the food and beverage sector, Monica is focused on driving growth and delivering increased value to the Association’s members.
Before joining ACA, Monica was a long-tenured executive at Dairy Farmers of America – a 20+ billion-dollar global food and beverage agricultural cooperative with 20,000 employees, a broad customer network, and a diverse product portfolio. She is a thought leader and consultant invited to speak to audiences on innovation, culture and strategy.
Monica divides her time between Kansas City, MO, and Rancho Santa Fe, CA. In her free time, she enjoys golf, travel, sampling cider (of course!) and time with her husband, Barton and grown children, Conner and Kennedy.
Miranda Bradeen
Membership & Engagement Coordinator
Miranda Bradeen (she/her) manages the organization's member database and recruitment efforts. Along with this, Miranda works closely with the rest of the team to develop valuable benefits to foster long term relationships with current and future members. Miranda holds a unique perspective as she and her husband are actively planting an orchard and starting their own cidery business, just north of Spokane, WA.
Miranda has a long history in the beverage and hospitality industry and a passion for helping people feel seen and heard. A sommelier by trade, she spent most of her career working with wine, however after walking the Camino de Santiago del Norte through Spain in 2021 she fell in love with all things cider. In her free time, Miranda enjoys the outdoors, pickleball, and spending time with her husband, Scott, son, Henry, and daughter, Dromi.
Jennie Dorsey
Director of Education and Program Development
Jennie Dorsey (she/her) leads initiatives to advance cider education, professional certification, and industry training programs. With a deep passion for cider and a strong background in sensory education, Jennie is dedicated to fostering knowledge, expertise, community and growth within the cider community.
Jennie Dorsey is a founding member of Pomme Boots Society for women in the Cider Industry and has held numerous positions since she first entered the Cider Industry over a decade ago. Jennie began her journey in the coffee industry where she was a nationally ranked competition barista and trainer specializing in sensory analysis with a focus on food pairings. The skills honed in competition led her on the path of beverage discovery, where she fell in love with cider and its unmatched pairing possibilities. Jennie is a working member of the Cider Certification team, and she was given the distinguished award of Cider Server of the Year in 2018 by the ACA. She is passionate about food and beverage of all kinds, cinema, and vintage lifestyle, and she can always be spotted by her brightly colored hair.
Ellen Husch
Administrative Support & Trade Show Manager
Ellen Husch (she/her) has been part of the American Cider Association since 2014. She manages all logistics for the annual conference, CiderCon®, including developing the registration system, ticketing, name badges, and tracking attendance.
Beyond registration, Ellen oversees every aspect of the trade show, a vital component of CiderCon®. Her responsibilities include recruiting vendors, designing the layout of the floor plan, and ensuring the cider truck is readily accessible to all attendees.
Ellen also manages the conference app, keeping it updated with the latest schedule, speakers, sponsors and maps.
Ellen is a proud mother of five daughters. She's a Colorado native, who after travelling much of the United States is thrilled to live back in the mountains. She enjoys hiking, disc golf, cooking, reading, and, naturally, savoring different ciders. When not busy with CiderCon®, Ellen works at Billings Artworks, the makers of the Grammy Award.
Jenn Martell
Government Affairs and Program Manager
Jenn Root Martell (she/her) leads the ACA’s Congressional efforts on Capitol Hill and works to strengthen industry partnerships, advance regulatory initiatives, and oversee the implementation of the ACA's grant funding strategy. She also contributes to CiderCon®, supporting speaker recruitment, preparation, and curriculum development.
A Virginia native, Jenn has a background in international program management and nonprofit grant writing. In 2015, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she co-founded and operated South City Ciderworks, a small commercial cidery, for over seven years. Before joining the ACA, she supported Trout Unlimited’s California office, specializing in grant proposal development and conservation program management.
Now based in Maine, Jenn enjoys exploring the local cider community and spending time outdoors with her family.
Woodley Smith
Communications & Volunteer Manager
Woodley Smith (she/her) is responsible for social media, website development, newsletters, and blogs for the ACA. In addition, she has spent the last several years coordinating volunteers for CiderCon®.
Woodley fell in love with agriculture growing up on the family farm in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington State. Since 2005, Woodley and her family have been making small-scale hard cider on their farm and recently expanded their orchard to include more distinctive cider varieties to make available to local cidermakers. She started working for the American Cider Association in the summer of 2017 as the Volunteer Coordinator for CiderCon® and her role expanded to include managing communications in 2020. She is thrilled to be involved with an organization that not only draws on her professional skills, but engages her personal interests as well. She has a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Food Systems and speaks fluent Spanish.
Gabe Cook
Licensed CCP Educator
he/him
Gabe Cook is The Ciderologist – an award winning cider expert changing the way people think and drink cider. He has more than fifteen years’ experience within the global cidery industry, working in the UK, New Zealand, Norway, the US and beyond. Gabe has worked for all sizes and types of cider maker, from traditional farmhouse producers, all the way up to the world’s largest. He has even managed to present a bottle of cider to the Queen (RIP). As well as providing world class consultancy to cider makers and cider sellers alike, Gabe has written two books – 2018’s Ciderology (Octopus) and 2021’s Modern British Cider (CAMRA Publishing) – as well as countless articles for regional, national and trade media. His authority on the fermented apple is confirmed by his role as Chair of Judges for the International Cider Awards, and most crucially as the creator of Europe’s only cider sommelier (pommelier) training.
Lee Reeve
Licensed CCP Educator
he/him
Lee Reeve is internationally regarded as the leading authority on cider in Asia and is a noted speaker regarding its cider scene, market, and industry. He is the owner/operator of inCiderJapan, a promotion & marketing consulting company that imports and distributes world-class ciders to Japan. Lee is also the creator and organiser of the Japan Cider Cup Tasting Competition & International Cider Event.
Lee has been a regular contributor to CiderCraft and Malus magazines, and when he’s not judging ciders or teaching others about cider, there’s a reasonable chance he’s somewhere making cider.
Kyle White
Accounts Payable & Operations Support
she/her
Kyle has been working with the American Cider Association since 2017. She owns a consulting business that provides administrative, financial, and internal communications support. She has over 18 years of nonprofit experience, working in a variety of roles, and currently maintains a portfolio of clients where she does everything from bookkeeping to financial, project, operational and HR management.