Join Women for WineSense FLX at New York Kitchen for an introduction to DEI Over Wine. Together we'll experience a taste of this historically sold out three-part series, taught by New York Kitchen’s Beverage Education Manager, Maiah Johnson Dunn (she/her), and Rochester-area DEI Practitioner, Syd Bell (she/her). Maiah and Syd will serve up diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts in actionable conversations paired with real-world examples.
Together, we’ll dissect power and privilege and the importance of context, explore building inclusive spaces, and discuss creating a roadmap for active allyship. Come prepared for honest conversation and good wine. Cohort #2 of the DEI Over Wine three-part series will be kicking off June 26 at New York Kitchen, with Women for WineSense members receiving 10% off the cost of their registration.
About our Speakers…
Maiah Johnson Dunn tells heart-forward stories about New York wine. After a 13-year career in experiential marketing, Maiah transitioned to the wine industry in 2020. Her shift began with Chasing Grapeness, an Instagram account turned wine pairing dinner series focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Following two sold-out dinners, she started writing about wine and never looked back. Her work can be found in (585) magazine, City Newspaper, and Decanter Magazine among others. She is also a contributor to the fifth edition of Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine.
Maiah is a 2023 Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker honoree and a fellow of the Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. She is also a 2023 ATHENA International Young Professional Award finalist and 2022 New York Wine & Grape Foundation Unity Awards Consumer Award recipient for her support of New York wines.
As the Beverage Education Manager at New York Kitchen in Canandaigua, New York, her focus is building a space for everyone to learn about New York’s craft agriculture–wine especially.
The Boston native lives (and loves) in Rochester, New York.
Syd Bell (she/her) is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Practitioner who grounds her work in building trust and community across the Greater Rochester region. She has had an opportunity to educate on DEI concepts and practices for students in a variety of classrooms, including universities, tasting rooms, community spaces, and nonprofits.
Syd serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Nazareth University, as a course developer with RIT Certified, as a co-facilitator of DEI Over Wine at New York Kitchen, and as a facilitator at area organizations and companies. She participates as part of the DEI Leadership Exchange Program through the Greater Rochester Chamber, is the founder of the Rochester JEDI Collective, and serves as the Co-chair for the Friends of 540 and the Chair of the Board of Directors at the Women's Foundation of Genesee Valley.
She has her Master's degree from Nazareth University, is a certified Antiracism Facilitation Fellow through 540WMain, Inc., and had the privilege of being named as a finalist in the 2023 Greater Rochester Chamber Colors of Success DEI Leadership Awards. Syd is honored to do this work in a community that she cares deeply about, and with people who committed to working toward change together.
*Please note if you are a non-member registering for this event and paying with a credit card, you will be charged a small fee for this transaction. This will appear in a separate line item on your credit card statement.*