Jordan Aftanas

Director of Wellness, TedX Portland
Strategic Wellness Coach

TOPIC: RECALIBRATE

Jordan Aftanas is a Director of Wellness + Consultant who supports individuals and organizations to implement strategic wellness in their everyday life.

She began her career at one of the most prestigious advertising firms in the world, Wieden+Kennedy, where she worked as a Brand Strategist for national and global brands such as AirBnB, TurboTax and Samsung.

While working in the high demand environment of advertising her passion for holistic health grew as a way to navigate this world without completely burning out. To expand her knowledge, she traveled around the world immersing herself in holistic health studies in places such as India and Dominican Republic. With a desire to tie all her passions together, she became a Certified AYL Master Life Coach.  She then decided to transition her career in Advertising to launch her wellness coaching and consulting business. 

She has parlayed her strategic experience and infused it with her in-depth exploration of holistic personal development. She shares her wealth of knowledge and varied experiences to support organizations and individuals in transforming their relationship with health and wellness. She currently works as the Director of Wellness for TEDxPortland. She also serves as a consultant for incredible organizations such as Wieden+Kennedy and Knot Springs supporting them to create programs and events that help their employees and communities alleviate burnout and become more compassionate and skillful leaders while also cultivating cultures that normalize and celebrate an elevated prioritization of health and wellness.

With over 10 years of experience, Jordan has become a leader, speaker, facilitator and is inspired to be an agent of change where her work stands for something that is far beyond herself. She is here to create a ripple effect in this world by spreading wellness far and wide. 

chevonne ball

Owner/Operator of Dirty Radish Travel & Wine

TOPIC: RE-EVALUATE VALUE

Chevonne Ball is a certified sommelier and French Wine Scholar who has worked in the hospitality industry for over twenty years. She launched her company, Dirty Radish Travel and Hospitality Consulting, in 2017, which produces bespoke immersive travel experiences in Beaujolais and the Willamette Valley. Ball has been named one of Wine Enthusiast's 40 under 40, and her work exemplifies her passion for food, travel, culture, hospitality, and wine.

JANIE BROOKS HEUCK

Managing Director, Brooks Wine

TOPIC: RE-EVALUATE VALUE

To look at the impact Janie has made on the Oregon wine industry, one would never guess that she originally had no intention of running a winery. But when her brother Jimi, the founder of Brooks Winery, passed away unexpectedly in 2004, Janie assumed responsibility for the business operations he started.

A decade and a half under her guidance, Brooks Winery is now one of the most esteemed establishments in North American winemaking, including recognition by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one of the Top 100 Wineries in the World. Known for social responsibility and a heightened sense of hospitality, Janie hopes to leave a legacy of being “selfless and kind” and her achievements are testament to her priorities.

She has a resourcefulness — particularly in times of change or downturn — that elevates Brooks Winery and its partners into new ranges of stewardship and success. In fact, Wine Industry Advisor named her one of Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2021, for “taking on challenges and [being] committed to giving back.”

In 2020 she reinvested energy and winery talent into collaborations, and was proud to retain most staff at a time when many were forced to lay off swaths of the workforce. When the wildfires caused Brooks Winery to forgo a 2020 vintage release, Janie realized that this would impact grower partners who counted on selling their grapes to Brooks Winery. In response, Janie established Brooks Grower Relief Fund, a multi-month commitment to revenue sharing on a portion of bottle sales, enabling these growers to enjoy earnings on any vintage of their single vineyard wines sold direct to consumers.

Janie is known for her energy and kindness, and her ability to roll up her sleeves for Brooks Winery and the Willamette Valley. It’s a place that she loves for many reasons, but there is something particularly striking about the way the sun touches the land. “I love how the sun rises east of the Cascades, backlighting the mountain range,” she says. “And the sunsets where the very last thing lit up in the day is sunlight on Mt. Hood.”

Under Janie’s direction, Brooks Winery became a Certified B Corporation and partnered with 1% For The Planet to dedicate a portion of revenues to regenerative agriculture and climate balance. In 2021, Brooks became a member of Ecologi and plants trees in the rain forests to help our climate for future generations. Brooks has continued to farm their 20 acre Estate Vineyard biodynamically since 2002 and are Demeter Certified in both the Estate vineyard and the winery.

As for daily pleasures, Janie can be found hiking or at the beach in her free time. She enjoys spending time with her two adult children and her husband who she has been married to for 33 years.

Noël Burgess

Freelance Writer & Content Creator

TOPIC: RE-SHAPE

Noël Burgess is an East Coaster living in Northern California wine country. His goal is to promote diversity and inclusion in wine, food, and travel with a focus on the places, the product, and most importantly, the people!

shari dunn

CEO & founder, ITBOM Consulting

TOPIC: RE-IMAGINE LEADERSHIP

Shari Dunn is the CEO/ Principal of ITBOM, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in institutional and organizational coaching around equity, leadership, change management, women in leadership, and workforce development. ITBOM consults with companies as diverse as fortune 500’s, State Agencies, and medium to small-sized businesses. Shari is a former non-profit CEO, attorney, journalist, and foundation funder. Shari was the Co-VP of Power of Attorney Foundation, a sub-grantee of the former Atlantic Philanthropies. She has been quoted in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Non-Profit Quarterly, and more. She is also an adjunct at the University of Portland in the Pamplin School of Business and serves on the Oregon Talent and Workforce Development Board. Her approach is outside the traditional human resources paradigm and is meant to help institutions with a systemic redesign to bring workplace equity. Shari has been awarded Executive of the Year and one of the Women of Influence by the Portland Business Journal, amongst many other awards and honors.

Robbie Hanson 

Author, Speaker, Facilitator

TOPIC: RE-EVALUATE VALUE

Robbie worked his way up from washing dishes in one of the smallest towns in southern Oregon to leading at some of the most iconic companies in the Pacific Northwest. This journey has given him the ability to view workplace situations from all sides. Robbie is able to quickly identify where disruptions occur and how to build the bridges that reconnect the broken pieces of a business, making it stronger, more productive, and more profitable.

Caroline kristof 

Co-Founder, Kristof Farms

TOPIC: REINVEST

Caroline Kristof, the first female Kristof in eight decades, runs the Seattle office of Laurel Landscapes, a rapidly-growing, sustainable landscape design company based in Denver. She focuses on building native, pollinator-friendly habitats and soil health in urban ecosystems. She manages that business as she also runs Kristof Farms as general manager, overseeing partnerships, sales and marketing efforts of Kristof Farms cider and soon Kristof wine. She grew up in NY and Yamhill, OR, and graduated with a degree in History & Literature from Harvard College.

dr. jennifer lincoln

OBGYN and Executive Director of Mayday Health

TOPIC: RECOMMIT

Jennifer Lincoln, MD, IBCLC is a board-certified OB-GYN who is passionate about helping girls, women and those assigned female at birth understand their bodies and feel empowered to advocate for themselves. She practices as an OB Hospitalist in Portland, Oregon and also serves as the Executive Director of Mayday Health, a health education nonprofit that spreads awareness about the availability of abortion pills in all 50 states.

With a community of over 3 million followers on social media, Dr. Lincoln enjoys using her platforms to educate and bust the (many) myths surrounding vaginal and reproductive health. She educates with warmth and approachability, giving audiences accessible, science-backed advice, demystifying sex ed and breaking down stigmas to eliminate the feelings of shame many experience about their own bodies.

Her book, Let's Talk About Down There: An OBGYN Answers All Your Burning Questions Without Making You Feel Embarrassed for Asking (Andrews McMeel, Sept 2021) is a shame-free, illustrated handbook for people with vaginas. It’s like the health class you wish you had – think evidence-based, myth-busting sex ed that tosses shame out the window. Her podcast Let’s Talk About Down There (Podcast Nation) follows a Q&A format that allows callers to get their most burning questions answered by an expert in reproductive health.

Dr. Lincoln is the medical director of pregnancy and a founding team member at Bundoo.com, which publishes articles on pregnancy, pediatrics, and parenting. She is a medical advisor on prenatal and breastfeeding content at The Wellness Network, an online distributor of evidence-based health, wellness, and patient education content.

Dr. Lincoln founded the website ThreeForFreedom.com to act as a hub for mail-order birth control, emergency contraception, and abortion pills after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision leaked in May 2022. She regularly contributes to media such as TODAY, Good Morning America, Buzzfeed, Newsweek, Parents magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Yahoo! and more. Dr. Lincoln received her undergraduate degree from Washington College and her Doctor of Medicine from Tulane University School of Medicine before completing her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health and Science University.

She is the secretary for the Society of OB/GYN Hospitalists. She is married to a pediatrician, and together they have two young boys. They live in Portland, Ore. For more information please visit drjenniferlincoln.com.

Miguel Marquez Garcia

Beverage Director, Republica & Co.

TOPIC: RE-SHAPE

Mexican Immigrant, restauranteur from the crib, storyteller. WSET Diploma Student, Advance CMS Student.

meg ordaz

Director of Consumer Sales​

TROON VINEYARD

TOPIC: RE-EVALUATE VALUE

Meg Ordaz is an experienced director of consumer sales who has dedicated 10 years to working with Troon Vineyard. She loves interacting with people from all over the world and is passionate about hospitality. In her free time, she enjoys attending a play with her mother, going to baseball games with her husband, and spending quality time with her two adult children. Her commitment to volunteerism is exemplified by her involvement in several organizations, including being the Vice President of the McMinnville Downtown Association and co-chair of the programming committee for Women in Wine Oregon. Meg is devoted to making an impact and creating a better future.

Tonya Pitts

Sommelier, Wine & Food Consultant, Speaker, Writer

TOPIC: RESPECT

An industry changemaker, Tonya Pitts is a wine professional who catapults wineries and winemakers into the mainstream. She is also a leader for diversity and inclusion in the hospitality, food and beverage industries. Tonya is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International. Her career has been shaped by women chefs and restaurant owners. As Sommelier & Wine Director for One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, Tonya curated a wine list with a bold style and flavor profile, including offerings by women, Black and Latino winemakers.

Since 2011, Tonya’s wine programs have received Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator.

Tonya is an active philanthropist and mentor. She established Women in Wine to improve representation in the industry. She also holds a professorship with the University of San Francisco, working with students on food and wine pairings. And she joined Wine Unify as an ambassador, advisory board member and mentor to people in the BIPOC and LGBTQ communities who are pursuing careers in the industry. Tonya is a core committee member of Batonnage Forum Mentorship Program, a board member for United Sommelier Foundation, Winebow’s Women in Leadership Wine Symposium and Teneral Cellars, who are dedicated to empowering and elevating women.

Tonya has been a five-time judge for the San Francisco International Wine Competition, a speaker at Culinary Institute of America Summit for Beverage Professionals, and an advisor for Areni Global, the Fine Minds4Fine Wines think tank in Europe. Her media appearances include CBS This Morning, CNBC, ABC 7 News “Sips with Spencer” (video clip), Daily Beast, Wine & Spirits Magazine, Somm Journal, Tasting Panel, Wine Stream, Wonder Women of Wine and Wine Spectator.

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Her recent appearances include judging for TEXSOMM and Wines of Loire Valley, and she was a recent nominee for Wine Director/ Sommelier of the Year 2021 for Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Also, Tonya has a Honoree Legends Award for Sommelier of the Year 2021 with the Hue Society for the Wine & Roses Festival..

ANNA Maria Ponzi

Oregon Wine Leader. Speaker. Author. Owner of amponzi & company.

TOPIC: REFLECT

Anna Maria Ponzi has dedicated her life to Oregon wine and to enhancing her community. She
helped plant one of the earliest vineyards as her pioneering family established one of the first
wineries in the Willamette Valley. Having the rare opportunity of working in every aspect of the
wine business, she has served the industry in myriad ways, most importantly, as an early
ambassador for Oregon wine both nationally and internationally. The success of her work is
evident through the now more than 1000 wineries in the state and the industry’s nearly $6 billion
contribution to the Oregon’s economy.

As an industry innovator, her early international travels and more recent visits to some of the
nations’ most prestigious wineries and culinary venues inspired her to reinvigorate Oregon’s
wine landscape. She envisioned and set in motion the transformation of the local wine country
into a world class visitor destination with the valley’s first seated wine tasting experience and a
regional wine bar.

After a decade as CEO, and growing the garage operation into a global brand, she completed
one of the largest winery acquisitions in the state with the sale of Ponzi Vineyards to Societe
Jacques Bollinger of Champagne, France in 2021.

She is a published author of Pinot Girl, a mother of two, a wife, a devoted daughter, and
committed to providing a voice and championing change for the betterment of others, most
specifically for underserved youth, women and farm workers.

She remains active in her community through numerous organizations, including Travel Oregon,
Women in Wine, OWA, Salud, and her newly established non-profit “Anthony’s Circle” which is
committed to increasing the high school graduation rate of foster youth in the state school
system.

Her session, “The Four-Ounce Pour” illustrates her lifelong philosophy on living a life of balance
and intention, and how it can provide a path towards serving community and championing
change. As she launches her ‘next chapter’ she seeks to share this model with others while
continuing to support her community through personal involvement and active leadership.

kate schwarzler

Owner, Indy Commons

TOPIC: REDEFINE

I create the conditions that help people and communities to grow and thrive.

Whether you’re a community or an entrepreneur, you need a clear sense of vision and the roadmap to get there, you need confidence in your own ability to succeed, and you need the right mindsets to embrace change. When these things come together, real transformation can happen.

With this in mind, I’ve developed three different models for helping people and communities to realize their true potential and chart their own course forward. Through Indy Commons, Indy Idea Hub and Creo Solutions, I provide the space, the tools and the custom solutions that ultimately create the right conditions that help people and communities to thrive.

I started Indy Commons to create a coworking space for rural business owners and entrepreneurs to gather and access the resources they need to succeed and turn their dreams into thriving businesses. In addition to shared office space, the community at Indy Commons has a commissary kitchen, micro-market, and event space. Indy Idea Hub is a non-profit that supports the growth of the business ecosystem in Polk County through education and programming. I am passionate about creating livable and sustainable communities for rural areas and focus on livability issues such as developing thriving main streets, building entrepreneurial ecosystems, placemaking, and parks and natural spaces through my consulting business, Creo Solutions.

tali reed

Founder, Boards and Bottles with Tali

TOPIC: RE-SHAPE

As a creative problem solver who spent the past decade in social work facilitating the reunification of families, Tali took her passion and love for intentional mentorship and community-building to search for solutions to complex situations such a disparity in the wine industry.

She works closely with wine organizations and nonprofits to create scholarships , innovative programming, and plan events to help create space for women & BIPOC communities entering the wine industry. She is committed to bridging a gap between communities in the industry bringing awareness to the influence that wine carries in the world and uses that as a guide for her work.

Tali founded Boards and Bottles with Tali, an event-planning business, where she marries her love for storytelling and wine to create aesthetic and relationship-driven events. Whether hosting 10 people or 600, Tali is passionate about bringing diverse groups of people into a room. She believes there is fire that's ignited when you get a diverse group in the room bringing smiles, conversation and enjoying wine.

Tali runs the blog connecting her dots, sharing her love for wisdom and her  journey through life and healing to connect women to find self-love, purpose and redefine their stories.

MARLI WILLIAMS

CEO, Marli Williams Speaking, Training & Coaching
EMCEE

Marli Williams is a transformational leadership speaker who has worked with organizations such as Nike, United Way, and Yelp, among many others. She helps incredible people and organizations stop waiting for permission and start taking bold action to be the leaders and changemakers they’ve always wanted to be through the power of play and cultivating joy everyday. Marli is the founder and director of Camp YES!™, a transformational summer camp experience for women. Her ultimate mission in the world is to help others say YES to themselves and their big crazy dreams (and have fun doing it!).

sheryl wudunn

Co-Founder, Kristof Farms

TOPIC: REINVEST

Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive, an entrepreneur and best-selling author. She co-founded FullSky Partners, a consulting firm focusing on double-bottom line ventures mostly in healthcare and technology. She also helps run Kristof Farms, a young vineyard and cider apple orchard in Oregon. Along with her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, she has written a series of best-selling books together as well as appeared in television documentaries of those books. Their latest, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, explores the great challenges and opportunities for America’s working class.