2026 Speakers

Session Managers

Heather is the Communications Director at the Washington State Wine Commission, where she manages strategic communications, industry outreach and media relations. Heather has been in the wine industry for 10 years, with previous experience at the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and Jackson Family Wines. She began her career as a journalist, working at TV stations in Yakima and Seattle. A UW grad and native of Vancouver, Washington, Heather now lives in Snohomish with her husband and two very busy small children.

An unconventional farmer and ex pro soccer player, Reid brings a different point of view to the vineyards. Starting as an Irrigator at To Kalon vineyard in Oakville California, Reid quickly fell in love with the wonderment of viticulture! Later, Reid joined a vineyard management company in Southern Oregon and slowly began to understand through practice that a change in farming principles and a deep knowledge of native ecosystems can heal land and the people that work it. Now In eastern Washington, Reid spends time creating native planting projects with a Biodynamic focus that intermingles with Hedges 35-year-old vines. Reid harnesses communities of thoughtful loving people that can propel his quest to help others create sustainable vineyards and with great excitement, converting conventional land back to shrub-steppe! His Journey has just begun and he wants to take as many people as possible with him!

Josh has used his college education and relied on some key mentors to benefit the state's hospitality and wine industries for more than two decades. He graduated in 2002 from the University of Puget Sound with a degree in politics and government and earned an executive MBA from the University of Washington's famed Foster School of Business in 2023. Prior to his work for the wine industry, Josh spent seven years representing the Washington Hospitality Association on government affairs. In 2015, Josh took on the role of executive director of the Washington Wine Institute, the statewide trade association for the Washington State wine industry. He is the voice of Washington wine at the state and federal government levels as well as one of our industry's experts on wine-related state laws and rules. In 2025 Josh was awarded the Auction of Washington Wines 2025 Wine Industry Champion. Josh lives in Tacoma with his wife Chelsea Levy and his two boys Liam and Eli.

Kelsey hails from West Richland and serves as the Benton Conservation District's Heritage Garden Program Coordinator. She is actively involved in the Columbia Basin Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society and also works for a nearby native plant nursery where she grows native species. Kelsey loves to connect folks to the local shrub-steppe flora and is currently in the midst of converting her brother's lawn into a native + drought tolerant garden. She's also an avid gardener, loves making compost and thinks everyone should have a worm bin! ;)