Tom Danowski – President & CEO

Tom is a proven general manager and operating executive with exceptional experience from iconic global companies including Coca-Cola, Starbucks and the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. He has been in his role with the Oregon Wine Board since 2011. Tom has successfully served as a chief marketing officer and as COO with P & L responsibility for divisions of publicly-traded and private-equity owned companies. His background enables him to build out and lead teams that quickly connect marketplace insights to strategic imperatives and deliver business results.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Tom graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oregon and has also completed executive education programs at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Marie Chambers – VP Finance and Operations

Marie joined the Oregon Wine Board in December 2013.  Marie brings a breadth and depth of experience in finance and business planning from her previous position at Kiewit Infrastructure West, Co., one of North America’s largest construction, mining and engineering organizations.  Marie grew up in Medford, Oregon and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Christina DeArment – Trade Relations and Education Manager

Christina graduated from DePaul University with a B.S. in marketing and began her career as a marketing manager in Chicago. After catching the wine bug, she embarked on a circuitous journey through the wine industry which included wholesaler administration, wine retail, restaurant hospitality and production by working the 2014 vintage at Adelsheim Vineyard. During this time she became WSET Level 3 certified. In February 2015, Christina was thrilled to merge her wine and marketing experience when she joined the Oregon Wine Board.

As a part of the OWB team, Christina leads the charge in the on-going development of the Oregon Wine Resource Studio, partnerships with key wine trade organizations and trade engagement within the Oregon Wine Month, Oregon Wine A-List Awards programs and events across the country. Her strengths include strategic partnership development, project management and digital strategy. Her biggest weakness is Willamette Valley Gamay noir.

Stacey Kohler – Executive Assistant

Stacey joined the OWB in October 2017. She has over 15 years experience working as an Executive Assistant in both the public and private sectors.

Stacey is a native Oregonian and graduated from Portland State University with a B.S. in Psychology. She is new to the wine industry and is looking forward to becoming a connoisseur. Stacey is an avid reader of true crime novels. She lives in West Linn with her husband, and on weekends she can be found in the bleachers at baseball fields watching one of her four boys.

Kai McMurtry – Assistant Manager, Consumer Marketing

Kai joined the Oregon Wine Board in November 2016 to focus on consumer and tourism marketing. His experience in craft beverage, luxury products and community engagement have prepared him to best serve Oregon wine drinkers, makers and gatekeepers. He’s worked the off-premise sales floor, hosted educational tastings, navigated the three-tier distribution system, built brands from the ground up and wrestled with the perfect word choice.

Kai has lived and worked on both U.S. coasts but never felt more at home than he does here in Oregon. In his personal time he enjoys bicycles, hikes and classical music. Kai lives with his wife and their dog Frankie in NE Portland.

Lydia Mullany – Accounting Manager

Lydia joined the Oregon Wine Board in April 2016. Lydia is a strong problem solving and innovative accounting professional with more than 20 years of experience.  Previously, she held accounting positions in various sectors, where she managed an array of accounting services for clients consisting of corporations, small businesses and non-profit organizations. Lydia strives to learn new ways of doing things and takes on challenges that are sometimes out of her comfort zone. Lydia leads by example and is one that rolls up her sleeves to get the job done by finding solutions.

Sally Murdoch – Communications Manager

A career-long devotee to media relations and writing, Sally joined the Oregon Wine Board in July 2017 to form the connective tissue between the region’s wine producers and media members, and to in turn help extol the virtues of Oregon’s outstanding wineries and vineyards.

Sally spent the first half of her 20-year career managing PR efforts for iconic sports brands adidas, Taylor Made Golf, DC Shoes and Nike. She then dove into a decade of PR for Pacific Northwest beverage brands, finding their marketing to operate at a similar breakneck pace. Working with journalists, TV producers and distributors, Sally dialed up brands’ heightened sense of place by telling the stories of craft beer pioneers and innovators, while helping them position their Northwest craft brands for broader exposure. She worked for Widmer Brothers Brewing, Goose Island Brewing, Kona Brewing Company and Coronado Brewing. Recently, she delved into dairy by helping launch a Sunshine Dairy and Moonstruck Chocolate drinking chocolate collaboration.

Sally’s emphasis on regional rock stars and mining the gems of what makes the Pacific Northwest a perfect storm for premium beverage production makes her savvy on what piques global interest in them. An Oregon Duck and native Portlander, Sally is an avid tennis player and competes on numerous teams. She lives with her chef husband and 10 year old daughter, an aspiring comedienne.

Bree Stock, MW – Education Manager

Bree, a Master of Wine specializing in wine education development, joined the Oregon Wine Board in April 2017. Bree is Australian-born with over two decades of international experience in the wine industry in  Canada, the US and Australia. Her wine career began in Canada with sommelier and buying roles in Vancouver and Nova Scotia. In Australia, she has held key account sales and brand management positions with Australia’s family owned DeBortoli Wines and was director of sales and buying with The Spanish Acquisition, a premium Spanish and Portuguese wine importer.

An independent wine industry management consultant since 2008 specializing in education program development and sensory training and certified WSET educator since 2008 and Master of Wine since 2016, she lectures across all levels of the WSET certification and produces wine education programs for both trade organizations and consumers in Canada, the US and Australia. Extensive travels and wine judging through the wine regions of the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, the US, South Africa, and Australia have informed her market presentations and writings for wine publications Alquimie, Hardie Grant and Gourmet Traveler Wine, as have consulting vintage positions in Australia, Austria, Georgia, Portugal and Oregon.

Jess Willey – Director of Strategic Insights & Industry Relations

Jess joined the Oregon Wine Board in May 2014, shortly after moving to Oregon from New York City. Her marketing experience includes seven years at Unilever, a global consumer packaged goods company, managing food and beverage brands in the U.S. and the U.K.  Most recently, Jess was a brand manager for wine and spirits importer Palm Bay International, managing marketing and promotional programs for a portfolio of Italian, Portuguese and Chilean wine brands.

Jess studied engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She has also completed the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 and Level 3 programs, completing both with distinction.

When not working to promote Oregon wine, Jess can be found at live music shows, exploring other countries, hiking in the hills, and getting acquainted with her newly adopted hometown of Portland.