WGBC Board of Directors
A volunteer Board of Directors made up of nine voting winery members governs the WGBC. Winery Directors are elected by WGBC winery members at Annual General Meetings for three-year terms. The WGBC President & CEO also sits on the board as an ex-officio (non-voting) member.
Adam Woodward, Privato Vineyard & Winery
Angela Lyons, Quails’ Gate Family Estate
Josh Stewart, Arterra Wines Canada (VICE-CHAIR)
Lauren Skinner-Buksevics, Painted Rock Estate Winery
Mark Sheridan, Hester Creek Estate Winery
Mike Dowell, Liber Estates
Paul Sawler, Dirty Laundry Vineyards
Samantha Collins, Mission Hill Family Estate
Vincent Ong, Andrew Peller Limited
WGBC Structure & Governance
WGBC is governed by a Board of Directors that is reflective of best practices in modern corporate governance through a framework consisting of six elements:
- Provide guidance and direction
- Establish standards of organizational conduct (policies)
- Oversee and monitor organizational performance
- Ensure the organization’s financial health and sustainability
- Protect the interests of the organization
- Ensure knowledge of stakeholder expectations, needs, concerns and interest and build effective relationships
The Board consists of nine elected voting winery members who oversee work of the President & CEO (who manages the WGBC staff), and who provide strategic guidance and effective oversight for the organization and industry. The Board ensures that appropriate systems of governance, leadership and stewardship are in place to enable WGBC’s President & CEO to manage and lead the organization effectively.
See link BOD Features.
Wine Growers British Columbia Committee Structure and Functioning
In response to the Watson Review Recommendations for better delineation between Board, Operations, and Member Committees, the WGBC Board of Directors has reviewed and revised the current committee framework. This includes the introduction of new WGBC Committee Operating Guidelines and refreshed Terms of Reference for each of the WGBC Committees below.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Board Committees directly support the work of the Board and are composed of Directors reporting to the organization’s Board.
The purpose of the Finance & Risk Management Committee is to ensure the financial stability of Wine Growers BC by overseeing and maintaining appropriate controls and accountabilities related to finance and risk management. Roles and responsibilities of this committee are:
- To review quarterly and annual financial statements and the annual budget.
- To ensure that proper accounting procedures are being followed within the Society.
- To facilitate timely and accurate reporting of financial information to the Board of Directors and membership.
- To make recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the development and review of financial policies that come forth through Committee discussions or through review of ongoing WGBC operations.
- To monitor and advise on key risks that may arise from or impact the Society’s strategy, including new legislation, industry changes, etc.
Membership:
JOSH STEWART, Arterra Wines Canada (Chair)
LAUREN SKINNER BUKSEVICS, Painted Rock Estate Winery
MARK SHERIDAN, Hester Creek Estate Winery
MIKE DOWELL, Liber Farm & Winery
Member Committees
Member Committees support the work of the organization and sometimes the Board and are composed of mainly members at large. They operate at the request of their reporting body (Board or management) and do not typically make decisions, but rather recommendations.
The Nominations Committee is a member committee supporting the work of the organization, the purpose of this committee is to assist in the recruitment of new Board and committee members in accordance with WGBC Bylaws and the Societies Act to ensure strong, diverse leadership for the Society. Roles and responsibilities are:
- To work with the Governance Committee to review board skills assessments to determine needs for future recruitment of member and independent directors.
- To ensure the Board and committees include diverse regional and demographic representation.
- To nominate a slate of new directors for upcoming elections based on skills and diversity requirements dictate.
- To review the process for Board and committee nominations and appointments and, as applicable, recommend updates as required.
Membership:
LAUREN SKINNER BUKSEVICS, Painted Rock Estate Winery
PAUL SAWLER, Dirty Laundry Vineyard (Chair)
SAMANTHA COLLINS, Mission Hill Family Estate
Recruitment in process for three members at large to join this committee.
Operational Committees / Task Groups
Created as needed to help augment work done by staff, and include invited member wineries to assist and provide input. Operational Committees support the work of the organization, and work with (and sometimes report to) senior management.
The purpose of the Marketing and Communications Committee is to provide input on strategies and plans for positioning and marketing WGBC and its brand titles (i.e. Wines of BC). This committee is responsible for ongoing review and recommendations to enhance the quality of WGBC marketing and communications programming, roles and responsibilities include:
- To provide strategic input into the annual Advocacy, Communications and Marketing Operations Plan.
- To provide direction to WGBC staff on marketing tactics to meet the desired objectives.
- To annually assess the current and anticipated needs related to marketing and communications.
- To propose, as appropriate, changes in programming that better suits the needs of WGBC members while keeping the objectives top of mind.
Membership:
ALEXANDRA WILSON, Blue Grouse Estate Winery & Vineyard
COURTNEY HENDERSON, Andrew Peller Ltd.
JANIK LIVERA, Maverick Estate Winery
JEN ISLAUB, Arterra Wines Canada
JOANNA SCHLOSSER, Niche Wine Co.
KATIE TRUSCOTT, 1 Mill Road Winery
KAREN ADAIR, Monte Creek Estate Winery
KIM LAWTON, Fort Berens Estate Winery
KIM PASQUALI, Iconic Wineries of British Columbia
MYRAN HAGENFELDT, Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery
Completed Task Groups Include:
- BTAP Input & Review Task Group: To provide Wine Growers BC and industry overview and input into BTAP priorities, recommendations to government and provide Wine Growers BC board ongoing updates.
- WGBC Liquor Stores Retail Practices Task Group: To identify specific BC Liquor Stores (BCLS) retail practice priority issues impacting the BC wine industry with recommendation to the WGBC Board of Directors regarding advocacy priorities and strategies.
- BC Appellation Task Group: To bring forward industry recommendations to propose amendment(s) to the Wines of Marked Quality Regulation.
- WGBC Funding Structure Review Task Group
- BC Vineyard Resiliency Task Group
- FY’24 Alberta Task Group
Joint Industry Committee
Development in progress.
Committee Meeting Minutes
The archive of meeting minutes from WGBC committee meetings is available exclusively to full member winery representatives. Please log in to the member portal to unlock this content. For portal support contact Info@WineBC.com.
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