2020 Welcome Mentors

Our mentors include leading wine professionals, sommeliers, winemakers, and beyond. They volunteer their time to provide leadership for the next generation of diverse voices in the wine community. Explore below our incredible mentors.

Expertise: Wine & Beverage ManagementTonya Pitts has been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, and a Wine Director and Sommelier for well over 20 years. Her food and beverage experience has largely focused within the San Francisco Bay A…

Expertise: Wine & Beverage Management

Tonya Pitts has been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, and a Wine Director and Sommelier for well over 20 years. Her food and beverage experience has largely focused within the San Francisco Bay Area and Saint Louis, MO. She has worked with several high profile chefs, including the late Chef Judy Rodgers of Zuni Cafe; Chef Jeremiah Tower of Stars Restaurant; Chef Loretta Keller of Stars Café; Bizou Restaurant and other notable establishments in the Bay Area.

She is currently working with Chef Mark Dommen of One Market Restaurant. In addition to her role at One Market, she has dedicated her career to philanthropy, mentorship, and amplifying the voices of those who are not heard. She has been featured in numerous industry publications, is a Certified Sommelier, and continues to educate herself through the Court of Master Sommeliers and Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

Tonya Pitts Expertise: Wine Management

Specialty: Wine Sales & Wine WritingA California native, Lucy has spent over a decade documenting the wine industry through the lens of food justice. She was introduced to wine while working on a bottling line before completing her first harvest…

Specialty: Wine Sales & Wine Writing

A California native, Lucy has spent over a decade documenting the wine industry through the lens of food justice. She was introduced to wine while working on a bottling line before completing her first harvests in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Lucy attended Wellesley College and Oxford University where she began blind tasting, eventually competing on an international level. Her passion for Californian wine brought her to Napa where she’s worked in sales, hospitality, private collections, and production. She passed her WSET Level 3 with distinction.  

Lucy currently works for Mayacamas Vineyards and writes for online wine retailer SommSelect. She is also the lead writer for Wine Unify.

Lucy Anderle Expertise: Wine Sales & Writing

Specialty: Wine Consulting & EventsAlicia Towns Franken is a Boston-based sommelier and event planner with over 25 years in the hospitality industry. Alicia got her start at Back Bay Restaurant Group’s Grill 23 & Bar. During her tenure as Wi…

Specialty: Wine Consulting & Events

Alicia Towns Franken is a Boston-based sommelier and event planner with over 25 years in the hospitality industry. Alicia got her start at Back Bay Restaurant Group’s Grill 23 & Bar. During her tenure as Wine Director, she earned numerous accolades from organizations and magazines including Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe, Les Dames d’Escoffier and Wine Spectator. 

Today, Alicia collaborates on a wine tasting platform called Life in Vino and is a sought-after event planner and wine educator. She participates in seminars, tastings and panel discussions in the wine industry around the country. 

Alicia lives in Boston with her husband and their two children. She is actively engaged in her community serving on the boards of The Esplanade Association, The Learning Project and the Board of Advisors of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Leadership Council of The Posse Foundation.

Alicia Towns Franken Expertise: Wine Consulting & Events

Expertise: Beverage ManagementAnna-Christina Cabrales, like most, fell into wine by accident. Anna-Christina grew up in a large family of chefs, who taught her taste and smell from a young age. Despite having this much culinary exposure and love for…

Expertise: Beverage Management

Anna-Christina Cabrales, like most, fell into wine by accident. Anna-Christina grew up in a large family of chefs, who taught her taste and smell from a young age. Despite having this much culinary exposure and love for the craft, she instead pursued her bachelor’s degree in Economics & East Asian Studies and a minor in Psychology at Rutgers University, and later investor relations at NYU SPS.

After several years as a project manager, Anna-Christina left the corporate world behind and pursued her culinary and sommelier diplomas at the French Culinary Institute, now known as the International Culinary Center. 

Since joining Morrell in 2012, Anna-Christina has expanded the wine list significantly, especially the by-the-glass selection, which at one point listed more than 150 options. Her efforts were rewarded in 2014 and 2019 when the prestigious quarterly, The World of Fine Wine , voted Morrell Wine Bar’s glass list “Best by-the-Glass Wine List.” Since 2015, Morrell has attained the Best of Award of Excellence award from Wine Spectator by growing the bottle list well over 1,200 selections .

Outside of pursuing her Advanced Certification under the Court of Master Sommeliers, and teaching classes at the Sommelier Society of America, she enjoys her time dining and enjoying a glass of Champagne, always. 

Anna-Christina Cabrales Expertise: Beverage Management

Advisory BoardJulia Coney is a Washington, D.C. and Houston, Texas-based wine writer, speaker, and wine consultant. Her wine writing includes stories on wine, winemakers, and the intersection of race, wine, and language. She holds a WSET Level Two C…

Advisory Board

Julia Coney is a Washington, D.C. and Houston, Texas-based wine writer, speaker, and wine consultant. Her wine writing includes stories on wine, winemakers, and the intersection of race, wine, and language. She holds a WSET Level Two Certification in Wine and is currently pursuing her Master Level Champagne Certification with the Wine Scholar Guild as well as WSET Level Three Certification in Wine. Her work has been featured in VinePair, Wine Enthusiast, The Tasting Panel, Plate Magazine, Forbes.com, WineEnthusiast.com, Glamour,  Essence, The Washington Post, and numerous print and digital publications. She has spoken at conferences such as wine2wine, Assemblage Symposium, Culinary Institute of America’s Summit for Sommeliers and Beverage Professionals, and Wonder Women of Wine. 

Most recently, Julia launched Black Wine Professionals, a resource for wine industry employers with the goal to lift up the multifaceted Black professionals in the world of wine.

Julia Coney Expertise: Wine Sales & Wine Writing