Chris Swonger, president/ceo, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. and Responsibility.org, has moved to put his stamp on the organizations, naming a new senior leadership team:
- Courtney Armour, Chief Legal Officer,DISCUS & Responsibility.org joins the team Sept. 17 from the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she specialized in antitrust law. Before attending Northwestern School of Law, Armour served as DISCUS state government relations manager.
- Adrian Baxter,Chief Financial Officer, DISCUS & Responsibility.org He has been controller.
Sarah Fitzmaurice, Chief, Resource Planning & Management, DISCUS & Responsibility.org joined DISCUS and Responsibility.org from Smiths Group. She heads operations, human resources and membership.
- Leslie Kimball Chief, Branding & Communications, DISCUS & Responsibility.org had spent the last 18 years leading communication and education programs at Responsibility.org.
- Christine LoCascio, Chief, Public Policy, DISCUS, will oversee federal and state government relations, international trade, regulatory affairs and economics. She had been Senior VP-International Trade at DISCUS, which she joined in 2001.
- Ben Nordstrom, M.D., Ph.D. Executive Director, Responsibility.org
- Eric Reller, Chief, Strategic Initiatives, DISCUS, will lead efforts to address emerging issues facing the spirits sector. He’s been at DISCUS since 2015 in communication roles.
- Dr. Sam Zakhari, Chief, Science & Health, DISCUS, has been at DISCUS since 2012.
Lynne Omlie, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, will continue to serve in this role through mid-September. Omlie will then transition to a Senior Advisor role to support the onboarding of the new Chief Legal Officer, and she will continue to advise the President & CEO. Frank Coleman and Mark Gorman now serve as Senior Advisors, providing strategic guidance to the President & CEO.
“We are grateful to still be able to call on the experience and knowledge of Lynne, Mark, and Frank. These dedicated professionals are titans in the industry having spearheaded win after win for greater market access opportunities that have enabled spirits companies of all sizes to flourish,” added Swonger. “Each will continue to play an important role in support of DISCUS’ mission to drive further market share growth and cultural acceptance for distilled spirits.”