Governance
Wine Communicators of Australia operates as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee according to the rules contained in its Constitution. When joining WCA, all members are required to formally acknowledge their agreement to abide by these rules.
National Board
WCA is governed by a National Board, whose members are elected by the WCA members at the Annual General Meeting held in November of each year and are drawn from each of the States in which WCA has a Chapter (New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria).
Our current Board Members are:
With experience in senior roles in fashion, marketing, change management and adult education, Marni is a consultant, advisor, educator, mentor and facilitator, passionate about developing the business acumen of industry professionals by creating customised executive education programs and advisory services.
A strong advocate of industry needs being met through education, Marni is committed to content that is accessible, practical and can be readily applied by individuals and organisations. Having worked with a diverse client base, including Coopers, Yalumba, Caltex, Department of Defence, Myer, Red Cross, Repco, and Toyota, Marni has expertise in leadership and culture, finance, negotiation and communication, consumer trends, supply chain management, marketing, governance and strategic planning.
Lynda held the role of Executive Officer (EO) for Wine Communicators of Australia between August 2016-2020 where she was instrumental in developing the inaugural Wine Industry Mentor Program partnership with The University of Adelaide, re-invigorating the Wine Media Cadetship for aspiring young people I the field of wine media and communications and bringing the Wine Media Conference to Australia.
Lynda left Wine Communicators of Australia’s EO position to focus her attention on her Outsource Marketing Consultancy business, Purple Giraffe, founded in 2014.
Lynda is the winner of the Fabulous Ladies of Wine, 2018 Wine Marketer of the Year and a 2019 Telstra Business Woman of the Year, Small Business Category Finalist.
For the last 14 years, Angus worked for Pernod Ricard Winemakers as the Global Brand Communications and Heritage Director. He has a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) from Sydney University and a Diploma from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET). He also was a graduate of the first intake of the wine industry’s Future Leaders Program. He is currently a Vice President of the NSW Wine Industry Association.
A passionate supporter of industry education, Rob and Tucker Seabrook established the Australian operations for the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) in 1991 and today is an Australian Ambassador for the world’s largest wine & spirit education organisation the UK based Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) plus also working with the Oceania Board of the highly respected worldwide Court of Master Sommeliers.
More recently, Mel has returned to her agricultural roots managing external communications for Treasury Wine Estates. Winemaking may be steeped in tradition, but Mel is excited about the opportunities to show how the wine industry is progressing whether that’s through innovation, eCommerce, or sustainability. The stories behind the wines are just as important as the wines themselves.
Ali is a non-executive Board Director for the Australia Day Council of South Australia and Wine Communicators of Australia.
Alex is the CEO and Founder of Smile Marketing, a growth marketing services business which provides end-to-end project management, marketing strategy development, digital marketing, social media, design, event management and customer experience programs.
Alex’s work is focused on consumer and service-based brands in wine, beer, agribusiness, technology and financial services. He also works in the trade and investment space in major export markets including USA, UK, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. and other emerging markets.
He has had significant involvement working with government and the private sector on such national and regional challenges as Productivity, Leadership, Innovation and Strategic Growth.
Previously Stephanie was the Country Manager for Wine Intelligence Aus/NZ and has held senior global marketing roles with Kobrand Corporation NY, Rathbone Wine Group and Yabby Lake. Stephanie has a Bachelor of Arts (Marketing and Media), Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the University of Melbourne (MBS) and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Wines.
She re-joined the family business at the beginning of 2015 in the role of Marketing and Public Relations Manager and also travels interstate and internationally as a Henschke brand ambassador.
Justine is a member of a number of committees and boards, including the Australia’s First Families of Wine Marketing Committee and Next Generation Committee, the Eden Valley Riesling Committee and is a national board member of Wine Communicators of Australia.
Annabel previously worked at BGWA, Wine Australia, PIRSA, Adelaide Hills Regional Development and a number of wineries, always looking for ways of creating value and “wow” experiences for wine drinkers, guests and visitors and helping the wineries to deliver these.
Annabel studied Wine Marketing at Roseworthy Agricultural College in the 1980’s, completed an MBA, majoring in strategic marketing, graduating in 2000 and recently achieved a career goal of being awarded the WSET Diploma in Wine. She also led the BGWA team that received the Wine Communicator of the Year 2019, as well as Best Wine PR Campaign and Best Wine Website at the Wine Communicators of Australia Awards in November 2019.
Chris is an experienced professional public speaker and presenter who has worked in all forms of broadcast media, across global sponsorship platforms including Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival and the Australian Open tennis. Chris represented Australian wine around the world as a communicator, educator and media spokesman for more than five years as the global spokesman for Jacob’s Creek wines.
He was also awarded a scholarship at the prestigious Len Evans tutorial held annually in the Hunter Valley which is regarded by wine writer James Halliday as “the most prestigious wine school in the world” As the only sommelier selected to take place in the 2017 Wine Australia Future leaders program he worked alongside winemakers, grape growers, marketers and legislators mapping the future for the Australian wine industry. As a writer his published featured articles have appeared in the Halliday Wine Companion Magazine, Australian Financial Review’s Life and Leisure section, the Australian Financial Review’s Luxury magazine, Australian Traveller Magazine, Australian House & Garden, Delicious Magazine, Time Out and he was wine columnist for luxury title, The Robb Report. In 2018 he signed with publishing house Murdoch Books and released his first book ‘This is not a Wine Guide’. The same year Chris was appointed as Group Wine Director for QT Hotels and Resorts working across their properties in Australia and New Zealand.