Paul Lightfoot, General Manager

Patagonia

Paul Lightfoot (he/him) is the general manager of Patagonia Provisions, Patagonia's food and beverage division. Founded by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Provisions brings food to market to fight the environmental crisis.

Paul is the chair of the board of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, which administers the Regenerative Organic Certified® standard, a revolutionary new label for food, fiber, and botanical ingredients and products. Regenerative Organic Certified® is based on three pillars that require farmers to use practices that ensure healthy soil, pasture-based animal welfare, and fairness for farmers and workers.

Before joining Patagonia, Paul was the founder and CEO of BrightFarms, which builds and operates high-tech greenhouse farms to eliminate time, distance, and costs from the produce supply chain. Before BrightFarms, Paul was a technology entrepreneur and transactional attorney.

Bart Watson, Chief Economist

Brewers Association

Bart Watson (he/him) is the chief economist at the Brewers Association (BA), a position he has held since 2013. Prior to his position with the BA, he was a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Iowa. He holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where, in addition to his dissertation, he completed a comprehensive survey of Bay Area breweries one pint at a time. Bart is a statistics geek, beer lover, and Certified Cicerone.

Jack Dyer, Co-Founder & CEO

Topa Topa Brewing Co.

Jack Dyer (he/him) is one of the co-founders of Topa Topa Brewing Co. based in Ventura, California. Topa Topa was founded almost seven years ago by Jack and his brewmaster Casey Harris, who both had a strong desire to make a product that they could use as a force for good in the world. Jack got started in the craft brewing industry when he and his business partners decided they’d had enough of their old jobs and wanted to create something. Topa Topa was the result of a collective desire to make something great and build a community around it.

Mary Guiver, Global Principal Category Merchant, Beer

Whole Foods

With over 18 years in the grocery retail landscape, including 15 years of category management in beverage alcohol, Mary Guiver's (she/her) dynamic background at Whole Foods Market Inc (WFM) provides a unique blend of retail insights. As the principal category merchant for beer, she continues to enhance the WFM program with a continued focus on craft beer and innovation categories, with a steadfast commitment to consumer demand, supplier partnerships, and industry-leading quality standards. With a keen eye for trend evolution and a collaborative approach to chain retail, Mary can highlight a range of trends being adopted within one of the top specialty retailers in the market.

Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster

Brooklyn Brewery

Garrett Oliver (he/him) is the brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, the author of the bestseller The Brewmaster’s Table, and the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer. He has been brewing craft beer since 1989 and is a veteran of over 1,000 beer dinners and tastings in 17 countries.

An original board member of Slow Food USA, he later went on to become a Councilor of Slow Food International. In 2014 Garrett was the recipient of the James Beard Award as the country's top drinks professional. In 2020 he founded the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF), a 501(c)(3) grant-making non-profit organization that funds scholarships for technical education in the brewing and distilling fields for people of color.

This year Garrett is embarking on a series of beer collaborations featuring the ancient African grain fonio, which has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years. Fonio requires no fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides, it is highly resistant to climate change, and it makes brilliant beer.

Garrett is 400 years old and lives in Brooklyn, New York.