It has been nearly three years since the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, killings that sparked a national outcry for conversation, action, and support for the African American Community. Many businesses and organizations across the country were forced to address and acknowledge long standing issues surrounding diversity, inequities, and social justice—in many cases, for the first time. And while many pledged unwavering support and radical change, the question remains, where are they now? Today’s panel seeks to not only acknowledge the long-standing inequities that continue to impact access and success of marginalized communities but how we can move beyond words and into meaningful action.
Moderated by: Cindy Rodriguez, Founding Partner, Adirondack Diversity Solutions LLC
Elaine Chukan Brown, Global Wine Educator, Wine Writer
Kwaw Amos, Owner, Gotham Winery, and NYWGF Board Member
Maiah Johnson Dunn, NY Kitchen, Beverage Education Manager
Cindy Rodriguez, Founding Partner, Adirondack Diversity Solutions LLC
Cindy Rodriguez is the Founding Partner of Adirondack Diversity Solutions LLC, a Human Resources Consulting firm in NY dedicated to improving organizational climates through progressive policies, streamlined procedures, and innovative strategies. With over fifteen years of experience and expertise spanning higher education, nonprofit management, finance, and business administration, Rodriguez brings a unique lens to delivering innovative human resources solutions that promote transparency in policy and procedures, communication strategies and streamline workflows, all while embracing and embedding diversity and inclusion into organizational values, culture, and practices.
Elaine Chukan Brown, Global Wine Educator, Wine Writer
Elaine Chukan Brown serves as a global wine educator, and writer specializing in wine, personal empowerment, and social justice. In 2022, Brown was nominated for a James Beard Award in Journalism, and became an advisor to the Women in Wine and Spirits Awards of China. In 2021, Brown gave the keynote address, “Risk and Self-Doubt as Opportunity,” for the Femmes du Vin event sponsored by the US State Department through the Paris Embassy. The Hue Society also awarded them the Legend Award in Wine Education, and the Women in Wine and Spirits Awards (WINWSA) in China named them one of the world’s 50 Most Influential Women in Wine and Spirits. In 2020, Brown was awarded Wine Communicator of the Year in the world by IWSC and VinItaly, and was named a Wine Industry Leader in the North American wine industry by Wine Business Monthly. In 2019, the Wine Industry Network named Brown one of the Most Inspiring People in Wine, and they were shortlisted for the IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year award.
Kwaw Amos, Owner, Gotham Winery, and NYWGF Board Member
Kwaw Amos is the founder and owner of Gotham Winery, a wine producer he founded in 2015 to rethink how wine was made and marketed to modern wine drinkers. He believed it was about embracing their lifestyle and their wide spectrum of wine preferences.
Kwaw has been actively engaged in the wine industry for 20 years blogging, consulting, and studying wine. He also has over a decade of investment banking experience with financial institutions. He has been a driving force behind New York based meet-up events that bring together everyday people to explore merging their everyday lifestyle activities and wine. His wines focus on these lifestyle themes and emphasize sustainability as an essential component for wine making. For example Gotham produces a Unity series that explores themes of racial harmony and sustainable practices.
Kwaw holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and an B.A. in Religion from Rutgers University.
Maiah Johnson Dunn - Wine Writer, Beverage Education Manager, New York Kitchen
Maiah Johnson Dunn tells heart-forward stories about New York wine.
After a 13-year career in experiential and event marketing, Maiah transitioned to the wine and hospitality industry. Her shift began with Chasing Grapeness, an Instagram account turned wine pairing dinner series focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry. Following two sold-out dinners in 2020, she started writing about wine and never looked back.
Her bylines include 585 Magazine, City Newspaper, Edible Finger Lakes, and the New York Wine & Grape Foundation among others. Her work on New York and Finger Lakes wines can also be found in the forthcoming 5th edition of Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, due to be published in 2023.
Maiah is the Beverage Education Manager at New York Kitchen in Canandaigua, New York, where her focus is building a warm and inviting educational space for everyone. Quarterly, co-teaches a class called DEI over Wine, which breaks down the concepts of DEI into easily digestible conversations over a glass.
In 2022, Maiah was named a New York Wine & Grape Foundation Unity Award recipient for her “enthusiastic support of the New York wine industry and exemplifying the use of wine as part of a happy, healthy lifestyle.” Maiah also serves on the Board of Directors for The Smith Opera House in Geneva.
The Boston native lives and loves in Rochester, New York.