Damien Wilson was appointed in August 2015 as the inaugural Hamel Family Chair of Wine Business Education with SSU’s Wine Business Institute. He joined the Wine Business Institute from Burgundy’s School of Wine and Spirits Business, after having established an almost decade-long European professorial career, following his initiation as an academic with the University of South Australia in 1999.

Juliana Colangelo manages the West Coast office for Colangelo & Partners, a wine, spirits and food focused communications agency. She has been an integral member of the team since 2013 and has worked extensively throughout the company on media relations, client and team management and new business development.

Dr. Bill Silver is the President of New Markets for CannaCraft Inc., California’s largest producer of premium cannabis brands including Care by Design, Absolute Xtracts, Gas, Loud and Clear & Satori Chocolates. CannaCraft has been at the forefront of industry innovation and advancement, setting the gold-standard for legal and responsible cannabis businesses. Recently, CannaCraft partnered with Lagunitas to bring HiFi Hops to market. HiFi Hops has quickly become California’s best-selling sparkling cannabis beverage and will soon be available across the country.