After a 30 year accounting career, Valerie Miller left her position as the C.F.O. for a Non-Profit to become Co-Founder and Cheesemaker for Orland Farmstead Creamery. Valerie taught herself how to make cheese in her home when her daughter’s 4H goat project was producing more milk than her family could consume. Eventually she began teaching home cheesemaking classes through the local recreation department. During this time, a dairyman from a nearby town contacted her about teaching him to make cheese. He had built a cheese plant on his dairy and needed help getting his company up and running. Four months later they formed their partnership and Orland Farmstead Creamery was born. Due to unforeseen circumstance, the dairy and cheese company were closed in 2020. Valerie has been a member of the California Artisan Cheese Guild for many years, and is excited to now serve as the Executive Director.

Born in Phoenix, raised in the Wasatch Mountains of northern UT, and currently residing in Southern California for the last 20+ years, Candace has had a love affair with cheese her whole life. While going to school for sound engineering, her life changed when she was put in charge of the cheese section of a local store and her budding cheese career began. Currently she works for Beehive Cheese heading up their California sales. On her off time she enjoys surfing her local break, hiking and traveling with her husband and dog.

My name is Karen Sims, I am an ACS Certified Cheese Professional®. My career has spanned over 30 years in distribution and the retail industry. I currently work for Tony’s Fine Foods, located in West Sacramento as an Inside Category Specialists, focusing on Cheese and Specialty items. I grew up in Marin county where I spent most of my life until taking my role with Tony’s over 14 years ago. My passion for cheese developed early in my career and has led me down an amazing path that I continue to grow and enjoy every day.

Agriculture degree in hand Jane pondered the question; how do I combine my love of all thing’s food with my passion for agriculture? The answer was and always will be CHEESE! After graduation Jane sought to immerse herself in cheese. From that time on, she was introduced not only the world of bloomy rinds, cheese wires and affinage but also to the most amazing community of people, the California Cheese peopleand her cheese life exploded! She first dipped her toes into the proverbial fondue pot back in 2011 as the first intern at the Cheese School of San Francisco. She then hopped over to Maui for some time on a goat dairy. Upon returning to Oakland, CA she landed a job as a cheese monger (and eventual cheese department manager) at Market Hall Foods. Five years at Market Hall were spent filling her brain and belly with all things cheese! Days passed quickly behind the counter where she shared tasty morsels with customers and regale them with the stories behind the cheese. The cheese counter is where she first learned about Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company (PRFC) and their story. From then on, she was hooked, even using Toma on stage to introduce herself at the 2015 Cheese Monger Invitational! She yearned to work for a dairy and creamery and have her own part in the cheeses’ story. In 2017 she joined the PRFC team, where she has been fortunate to help with sales, lead farm tours and tastings, serve as part of the quality assurance team, logistics and operations and is now the Direct-to-Consumer manager. Jane and her husband live in Petaluma and are part owners of Civilization Brewery in Santa Rosa. To this day Jane’s favorite thing about cheese, is swapping tasty tidbits, finding a perfect pairing with a California wine or beer and sharing the stories and histories of California’s rich cheese tradition.

Brandon Wood worked at Whole Foods Market from 2009 to 2022, ten of those years spent behind a cheese counter. He has written, traveled, studied, read, grown, and developed in and for cheese. From Cheese Camp, to multiple CMI’s to getting his CCP certificate in 2016, and tons in between. On February 11th, 2022 Brandon opened his own cheese shop in Livermore, CA called the Cheese Parlor. Cheese is literally now his life!

Kate Walker, a newcomer to the cheese industry, hails from a deep-rooted farming background in South Georgia. Growing up on a 640-acre farm, she gained early experience in agriculture through her family’s peanut buying business. Since relocating to coastal Northern California 28 years ago, Kate has forged a diverse career. Notably, she founded a ghee company sourcing organic butter from Rumiano Cheese, later joining Rumiano to expand their product line. Her commitment to ethical food production aligns with Rumiano’s values as a vertically integrated ghee company focused on true grass-fed dairy. Alongside this role, she contributes to the organic offerings at the local North Coast Grower’s Farmers Market. Kate cherishes her involvement with Wild Rose Farm, where she admires their pioneering cultivation of quinoa, showcasing her passion for innovative agriculture. Embracing California’s natural beauty, she indulges in outdoor activities and appreciates the region’s artistic landscape.

Alyssa Gilbert is the owner and founder of Ollie’s American Cheese + Provisions, an artisan cheese shop and catering company located in Downtown Oakland that specializes in 100% American-made cheese + charcuterie. She has dedicated herself to continuing her education of the American artisan cheese industry, and is currently preparing for the ACS CCP exam in 2024.

Alyssa was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She now lives in Oakland with her husband and two very cute dogs, Cash + Cooper. When she’s not behind the case slinging cheese, she enjoys playing volleyball, cooking with friends + family, and a good game night.

As the Marketing Manager at Cowgirl Creamery, Kaya has a strong background in communications, marketing, public relations, events, and trade show management. In addition to her role as Marketing Manager for Cowgirl Creamery, she has the privilege of representing top specialty cheese companies including Roth Cheese, Emmi USA, and Kindred Creamery. She has more than 20 years of experience in communications and marketing, specializing in public outreach, sustainability, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She has previously worked in food and beverage, journalism and at trade associations. 

Kaya holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the American Cheese Society and the California Artisan Cheese Guild. She enjoys spending time with her family, youth sports, travel, cooking, baking, recipe development, and gardening. 

In 2014, Alli Keyser-Marti began her cheese journey, exploring the world of milk, salt, enzymes, and microbes. With a culinary career that started in her teenage years, she has managed Cowgirl Creamery’s original Pt Reyes shop and overseen the Oliver’s Market Stony Point cheese department. Alli was awarded an American Cheese Education Foundation Scholarship to attend the 2022 American Cheese Society conference in Portland,where she successfully completed the CCP® exam. She was also selected as a 2024 ACS Official ConferenceCheesemonger, and is traveling to Viseu, Portugal to volunteer for the World Cheese Awards in November 2024. Alli has pursued this passion from her backyard in California to small farms all over France, rural Ohio, roadside stands in Sardinia, and ferries in Croatia. When not volunteering, she skillfully pairs cheese with olive oil or apple tastings at Gold Ridge Organic Farm in Sebastopol.

An avid world traveler with an entrepreneurial spirit, Christy Khattab joined Cypress Grove after realizing that her career wasn’t quite satisfying her appetite — literally. Now, almost a decade later and serving as the marketing director, Christy’s training expertise, management skills, and team-building mentality come from global experience: retail marketing manager in Cairo, cafe consultant and owner in California, a stint in high tech, and Director of Alumni and Engagement at a university. Since her very first day beginning at the Annual ACS conference, Christy has been committed to the industry and continues to bring her robust experience, enthusiasm for cheese and passion for artisan foods to Cypress Grove, a pioneering and award-winning Northern California specialty cheese producer. She not only shares the cheese love with consumers but her two daughters are bonafide cheese fanatics, too. 

A California native with deep roots in the North Bay, Leigh treasures the remarkable food culture and natural beauty that has surrounded her throughout her life. Her family’s tradition of cooking has always centered around celebration and togetherness – a joy she continues to share with her own children, now young adults, who have discovered the same happiness in cooking together and gathering around the table.

Leigh’s love for artisan foods led her to Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., where she serves in Marketing & Communications. Over the past four years, she has connected with fellow cheese makers, vintners, and food artisans throughout California, helping bring together the community through specialty food and wine events. Her earlier work in craft brewing and specialty coffee cultivated her appreciation for the care that goes into creating something special. When not chatting about cheese or planning events, Leigh can be found hiking North Bay trails, enjoying live music, or hosting game nights where local cheeses and wines always take center stage. Whether sharing food with loved ones or working with fellow artisans, she remains passionate about California’s vibrant food and wine community.

With a career spanning diverse industries and coasts, Luciana has cultivated a passion for fostering connections and embracing new challenges. Her journey has led her from startups to Fortune 500 companies, always driven by a love for exploration and shared growth. After two decades in the corporate world and a meaningful chapter of caregiving, she found herself drawn to the vibrant and collaborative world of artisanal cheese.  Her cheese odyssey began at Market Hall Foods, where she honed her skills as a cheese monger. Now, as the monger/director at Gus’s Community Market, overseeing five locations in San Francisco, she continues to nurture her passion for exceptional cheese and community building. Having served on the Guild’s Board from 2018 to 2022 and contributed to the Executive Council, she has developed a deep appreciation for our cheese community. Her commitment to supporting its growth remains unwavering, and she is eager to bring her experience and enthusiasm back to the board.

Rob Graff is a cheese monger and the Director of Events at Venissimo Cheese in San Diego as well as the founder of Cheese & Libation Expo. Rob is a husband, father, PTA member, and art lover who spends his free time reading, running (sometimes at the same time!), and hanging with his family. Rob grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to San Diego to go to college in 1998.  After graduating, Rob took a job with a distribution company in San Francisco. He spent a couple of years learning the business before returning to San Diego. Interested in learning about cheese, Rob took a job at Venissimo in 2008. It was meant to be a bridge back to the corporate world but turned into much more.

In 2009, Rob started Venissimo’s Academy of Cheese (AoC). Over the next several years, he led dozens of intimate tastings as well as large corporate events. Over the last decade, Venissimo has collaborated with hundreds of other San Diego businesses – breweries, wineries, distilleries, etc. – anything and everything that you can pair with cheese!

In 2017 Rob helped launch Veni Voyages, customer cheese trips. This was largely built on the trust of the Venissimo brand and the Academy of Cheese program. To date, Rob has taken groups to Northern Italy, Southern France, Normandy, Sicily, the Alps, Paso Robles, and Northern California.

Rob established Liquid City in 2019 with the purpose of advancing the artisan cheese industry in Southern California via two large cheese events – a trade-focused event called Makers Night and a consumer-focused event called Cheese Expo. Rob rebranded this event in 2024 which is now called Cheese & Libation Expo. 2025 will be the fifth installment and every year gets bigger and better.

Today, Rob continues to oversee Venissimo’s Academy of Cheese and Veni Voyages while also producing the annual Cheese & Libation Expo.

Julia Lowry is the Quality Compliance Manager for Clover Sonoma, a leader at the forefront of the dairy industry in
Northern California. She first developed a love of artisan cheese behind the counter at Saxelby Cheesemongers in
New York, and eventually moved into production, becoming a cheesemaker for Meadowood Farms in Cazenovia,
New York and Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station, Calif. Today, her work at Clover includes food safety
program management, new product development, and regulatory compliance.
Julia believes that you can’t make good cheese without good milk, and Clover makes the best milk! As a past
volunteer with the CA Artisan Cheese Guild, she is excited to represent fluid milk processors and looks forward to
learning from each of the board members.
A San Francisco native, Julia now lives in beautiful West Marin with her husband Dylan (who works for Point
Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.) and dog, Dash. Her favorite local cheese is Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk, and not
just because she used to make it!