People
Staff | Trustees
Bruce Phillips, Chair
A 20-year veteran of the food and consumer product industry, Bruce has participated in the successes of a variety of consumer product ventures, from Odwalla to Constellation Brands Inc. Bruce is managing partner of Phillips Family Farming LLC, a premium Oakville winegrape grower and producer of VHR, Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Former president of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers (NVG), Bruce currently also serves on the Boards of the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG).
John Henshaw, Vice Chair
John holds degrees in Forest Management, Forest Engineering, and certificates in Public Administration, and has worked in many roles with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation. He has been the Executive Team Director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment, and managed the Pacific Rim Forest Legacy Program, promoting the long-term integrity of forestlands in the west.
He retired from the Forest Services and became the Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, where he was responsible for conservation, science, and land acquisition. He managed over 40,000 acres of forest preserves, working in partnership with other land managers on five islands. He became TNC’s Director for Land Protection and Conservation Partnerships, and was one of the first Directors of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, as well as Board Chair of the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative. During his tenure, two major land conservation projects were achieved.
John returned home to Napa County in March of 2012 to spend more time with his new granddaughter. Hobbies: Traveling, hiking, tennis.
Mike Fisher, Treasurer
Mike is a wine business advisor and founding partner of Global Wine Partners LLC (GWP). GWP provides financial consulting, merger and acquisition advisory and valuation services to the wine industry. He began his career with Price Waterhouse in San Francisco and also held positions as partner and CPA with Motto Kryla & Fisher and as CFO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. He has lived in Napa Valley since 1978, moving to his current home on Mt. Veeder in 1984. He is also a director of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce.
Ann Taylor Schwing, Secretary
Ann Taylor Schwing is of counsel in the Municipal Law practice group of Best Best & Krieger LLP. Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Ann was of counsel with McDonough Holland & Allen in Sacramento for 24 years.
Ann’s practice focuses on litigation where she specializes in appeals, motions and research and on conservation easements. She divides her time between work for the firm, writing legal treatises, involvement in The Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court, and serving on several nonprofit boards and the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
Ann received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Ninth Circuit in 2004 and the Federal Bar Association Sacramento Chapter award for Outstanding and Tireless Service to the Federal Bar and Judiciary in 2003. She also is a recipient of the Melville M. Bigelow scholarship award for the graduate with the greatest promise as a scholar and a teacher of the law from Boston University School of Law in 1975.
Ann serves on the board of directors of Scribes, The American Society of Legal Writers. She is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She serves as commissioner and secretary for the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, and as an executive committee member and Master of the Bench for The Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court. Since its inception, she has served as a member and reporter for the Judicial Advisory Committee for the Eastern District of California and the Subcommittee on Local Rules. Ann is also a panel member for the Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program for the Eastern District of California.
David Beckstoffer
David is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Beckstoffer Vineyards, owner and manager of some of Napa County’s most historic vineyards. David joined Beckstoffer Vineyards in 1997 after nearly a decade in the corporate world. Since joining the company, his focus on streamlining operations and taking advantage of new technologies has served to help prepare the company for the challenges of the 21st century. Previous to joining Beckstoffer Vineyards, David (M.B.A., Wharton) worked in San Francisco for Bechtel helping structure financing for infrastructure projects around the world. David brings to the Land Trust Board not only his business background, but his previous experience on other local boards such as the Napa County Farm Bureau and the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, where he is a past president.
Greg Bennett
Greg is the Managing Partner of the CPA Firm G & J Seiberlich & Co, LLP, Napa Valley’s oldest and largest local CPA firm. He works extensively with the wine producing and grape growing industries, and leads the firm’s estate and trust planning division. For more than 30 years, Greg has specialized in tax and strategic planning services for small and medium-size businesses and their owners. He has extensive expertise in integrated tax planning, succession planning and estate and transfer tax planning. Greg’s years in public accounting and leadership positions on numerous local Non- Profit Boards adds great value to the existing talented Land Trust Board of Trustees.
Greg also serves as the Vice Chair of the Bank of Napa Board of Directors and is past President for the Queen of the Valley Medical Center Foundation among other professional affiliations.
Linda Cantey
Linda Cantey, PMP, Founder Clarus Consulting, moved to Napa, CA in 2009 and supports several non-profits including NapaLearns, the Vine Trail, the Queen of the Valley Medical Foundation, and the Napa Valley Opera House. She founded Clarus Consulting Group in 1999. Clarus provides project management and process re-engineering consulting to technology driven industries, including aerospace and telecommunications, as well as government agencies. She earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2002 and served as President for the Washington DC Chapter, the largest Project Management Institute (PMI) Chapter with over 10,000 members. She holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado.
Steve Carlin
Steve is a retail real estate developer and specialty-food consultant working on a number of benchmark projects throughout the United States. He is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Carlin Company and Oxbow Public Market in the Napa Valley. His background includes 20 years as Managing Partner with Oakville Grocery Company, a leading Northern California specialty foods retailer; Project Manager responsible for planning, leasing, and opening the highly successful Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco; and licensee / consultant for Napa Farms Market, the landmark artisan food specialty market in San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal Two, and Berkshire Farms Market in Logan International Airport in Boston. He is currently working on new projects in Seattle and Everett WA, in Sonoma CA, Oakland CA, Albuquerque NM, and Culver City CA.
John Coleman
John grew up in Menlo Park, California. He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and following his graduation in 1973 returned to California to attend the University of California, Berkeley where he received an MBA in 1975. Upon graduation he joined Wells Fargo Investment Advisors, a pioneering asset management firm in quantitative analysis and indexed investments and subsequently was hired by Morgan Stanley & Company, where he became a Principal and senior institutional representative in the western states. In 1997 he joined Pacific Growth Equities from which he retired in 2009 as Vice Chairman.
John currently serves as Trustee of Whitman College and is Past President and current Board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley. He and his wife Cathy O’Callaghan live in Coombsville.
Richard Seiferheld
Richard is currently a Natural Resource Volunteer with the CA Department of Fish & Game, where he assists Agency staff with a wide range of assignments including: Inland and Marine Fisheries; Habitat Conservation; Wildlife Management; Hatcheries and Education and Outreach. Richard spent 31 years from 1980 to 2011 as a realtor with Crown Realty, Morgan Lane and Heritage Sotheby's in the Napa and Eastern Sonoma Counties. His career emphasis as a successful realtor was on residential, County agricultural and investment properties.
Richard holds a BA in Economics from Cornell University and has taken accounting and business management classes at NYU Business School. He has previously served on the Board of Directors for the non-profit affordable housing project in St. Helena - Stonebridge Apartments. Richard has also been a volunteer with the Land Trust since 1982 and has served on many committees in a wide variety of roles including: monitoring committee; protection committee; project committee; Chairman of the Linda Falls Permanent Preserve committee and assisting with Land Trust fund raising events.
Jack Stuart
Jack was General Manager & Winemaster of Napa Valley’s Silverado Vineyards for 25 years. He is recipient of the Robert Mondavi Trophy for Winemaker of the Year of the International Wine and Spirit Competition, as well as accolades from the Wine Spectator and numerous other journals. He is Winemaker & Partner of Trivium Wine, a limited production single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from St. Helena.
Jack established Silverado as a national brand known for the quality of its wines. During his tenure, he directed four major winery building projects and developed seven different vineyard properties in Napa and Sonoma counties. His first vintage of Trivium Cabernet Sauvignon was one of a handful of Napa Cabernets in the San Francisco Chronicle's Top 100 Wines.
Active in industry affairs, Jack is past president of both the Napa Valley Vintners and the Stags Leap District Winegrowers Association; he is co-founder of the North Coast Pierce’s Disease Task Force. Jack was instrumental in the development and passage of two important industry bills in the state legislature. He sits on the Enology Committee of the American Vineyard Foundation and chairs the Project Committee of the Land Trust. He is a director of United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay.
Jack is a fifth-generation Californian who grew up among Santa Clara Valley orchards. He received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford and took his graduate study in viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis.