A former professor of Communication Studies, Dr. J Jackson-Beckham dedicated her academic career to the study of American beer. Today, she helps craft beverage organizations develop practices that drive success, build communities, and empower individuals. She is an author, speaker, vocal advocate for the craft beverage community, homebrewer, and Certified Cicerone. In 2018, Dr. J was named the Brewers Association's first-ever Diversity Ambassador. In 2020, she was named Imbibe Magazine’s Beer Person of the Year. Today, Jackson-Beckham leads the Brewers Association's social impact efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion, member and community engagement, high-ROI philanthropy, and association accountability.

Paul Gatza is the Senior Vice President of Professional Brewing Division at the Brewers Association. Paul’s origin in the beer community started when he took up homebrewing in 1990. He worked on the bottling line at Boulder Beer and would sneak over to the brewhouse when opportunity allowed. He owned a pair of homebrew supply shops in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado from 1994 to 1998. He served as director of the American Homebrewers Association for seven years and is in his 23rd year as Brewers Association director. Paul is ranked as a National Beer Judge by the Beer Judge Certification Program. Paul is also a former judge director of both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup, before moving to the judge panels for these elite competitions.