Kathline Chery, is the winemaker and co-owner of Kalchē Wine Cooperative. She is the creative & tactile force behind their multi fruit co-ferments, and hybrid grape wine focus. She entered the field as a vegetable farmer a decade ago, with special interest in culturally specific ways of preserving the harvest. Along the way she learned winemaking techniques and has been influenced by the styles and fermentation practices of the global majority.

Casey Baxter has 20 years of beer/cider sales experience at both the distributor and supplier level. He is the National Key Account Director for the newly formed Blake’s Beverage Company that includes Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders, and Avid Cider. Casey has been with Blake’s for 3 years and most recently spent time with Founders Brewing & Vermont Hard Cider. He is also a proud member of the data committee for the American Cider Association.

Michelle McGrath joined the American Cider Association as CEO in July of 2016. Her rich history includes non-profit management, membership development, supporting farmers and value-added producers, grassroots lobbying, teaching and more. Michelle grew up on a Christmas tree farm in the Sierra Nevada Foothills near the famous Apple Hill marketing cooperative. Today she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two young sons. Michelle has a master’s degree in Ecology from University of California, San Diego and a certificate in sustainable business from Pinchot University. She was recognized by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as one of 40 Tastemakers Under 40 in 2018 and as a SevenFifty Daily Innovator in 2019.

Eleanor Leger and her husband and partner Albert founded Eden Ice Cider Company in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont in 2007. There they produce specialty ciders, including ice ciders, aperitifs, and naturally sparkling hard ciders from 100% locally-grown apples. Eden’s specialty ciders are distributed in 18 states and the District of Columbia. It is the first cidery in the US to received the Slow Food ‘Snail of Approval’ for being good, clean and fair. Their ciders have won numerous gold medals and 90+ point ratings, and have been recognized in The Art of Eating, Food & Wine, Edible Manhattan and “The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine”. Eleanor & Albert grow over 40 varieties of apples at their holistically managed farm, where they live with two border collies, and occasionally receive visits from their two grown children.

Laura Cherry is the owner of Dragon’s Head Cider located on Vashon Island, WA. Laura has a background in banking, consumer product management, and IT project management, but became fascinated with apples and fermentation and subsequently left the virtual world behind in 2010 to start Dragon’s Head Cider with her husband, Wes Cherry. Laura and her amazing co-workers currently tend to an 8 acre orchard of cider apple and perry pear trees, and ferment between 25,000 and 40,000 liters of cider and perry each year. Dragon’s Head Cider is sold through a tasting room on Vashon Island, to cider club members around the country, to wholesale customers in the state of Washington, and through farmers markets in the Puget Sound region.

Levi Danielson owns Raw Cider Company. Fermentations are his creative outlet. He walked away from his career in biomedical science and healthcare to pursue cidermaking professionally in 2018. After a short stint working for cidermakers in Portland, Oregon, he moved to France for a season to work on an organic farm producing cider. He WWOOFed it! Producing French cider and visiting some of the best cidermakers (and some winemakers) in the world has shaped his perspective and approach to cidermaking which he will continue to hone for the rest of his career.

Amanda Stewart is an Associate Professor of Food Science & Technology at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, USA. Dr. Stewart addresses challenges in applied food and beverage fermentation science through an integrated research, teaching and extension program. Cider chemistry and cider fermentation are a major focus of her research, and she has been a regular speaker on cider science at regional and national conferences. Dr. Stewart holds a PhD in Food Science, MS and BS degrees in Agricultural & Biological Engineering and a BS in Biochemistry, all from Purdue University. Prior to academia, she worked in the wine industry in Oregon and New Zealand, and in engineering for sustainable development.  Dr. Stewart is a proud member of the CINA teaching team since early 2020.

Dana Elliott is a Key Accounts Manager for 2 Towns Ciderhouse and lives in Sequim, WA. Dana has been in the beverage industry since 1999 and previously worked for a Northwest Craft Brewery before joining 2 Towns Ciderhouse almost 5 years ago. Dana enjoys the high speed pace of Key Accounts and works hard to stand out from the competition. Dana loves spending time in the garden and has been a beekeeper for 10 years.

Natalia Wszelaki a.k.a Cider Explorer is a cider blogger, cider expert and international cider judge, who has years of experience in evaluating and judging cider from all over the globe. Her previous judging experience includes Cider World (2018-2023), World Cider Awards (2020), International Natural Cider Competition Madeira (2023) and Nordic International Cider Awards 2023. Recently, Natalia in collaboration with Alistair Morrell of Cider is Wine also kicked off a series of Instagram Live Sessions called ‘Not-from-concentrate’ discussing important cider-related topics. Natalia is on a mission to explore cider from all European countries, share an honest opinion on cider, promote cider culture and raise awareness about quality/craft cider.

Matthew Crompton is the Regional Director – North America for CGA by NIQ and is responsible for the
implementation of CGA’s on premise services in US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Since joining CGA Strategy in January 2010, Matthew has risen through the CGA by NIQ ranks becoming an expert in all things On Premise. Matthew has managed and provided consultancy for some of the largest Bev Al manufacturers across Europe including Diageo, Anheuser Busch and William Grant & Sons. In January 2014, Matthew became part of the joint venture between CGA and Nielsen which has helped bring the first ever truly robust on premise measurement service to the US. Matthew comes to the US, having also helped launch services in other territories such as France and Germany. Matthew now heads up the US On Premise Solutions team, providing first-class insight into an often perceived dark market. Matthew is originally from the north of England and has embraced American life at every opportunity since relocating to Chicago in August 2015.