An operations expert, Kate Piontek’s experience includes serving as the Vice President of Operations and Sustainability for both the Sonoma County Winegrowers and the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation, the Vice President of Finance & Administration for CollegeSpring and Director level positions for both the Children’s Creativity Museum of San Francisco and United Way of the Bay Area.

People

Kate’s experience in talent management and human resources covers a broad range of duties.  At CollegeSpring, she led the team building and executive coaching strategy for the entire Executive Team, of which she was a member. Additionally, she secured a grant from AchieveMission to build out a talent management strategy for the entire organization.  She has expertise in recruitment, training and development, compliance, goal setting and compensation and retention strategies.

Kate was integral in the relaunch of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation in January of 2016, Sonoma County’s sole nonprofit serving the local farmworker community.  In her capacity as Vice President, she built and managed programs that supported the farmworkers in the following areas: workforce development, financial resiliency, crisis support and recognition. During her tenure the Foundation distributed over $1.2M in financial assistance directly to the local farmworker community.

Planet

Her sustainability expertise includes leading the strategy and overseeing the execution of Sonoma County’s commitment to become the first 100% certified sustainable wine region in the United States.  In 2019, Sonoma County vineyards achieved 99% sustainability certification and Piontek evolved the program by securing a partnership with the California Land Stewardship Institute, launching a Climate Adaptation Certification. The Climate Adaption Certification minimizes greenhouse gas emissions, and increases carbon sequestration on Sonoma County farms. She also secured the trademark, designed, and managed the program for the Sonoma County Sustainably Farmed Grapes logo, a sustainability logo for wineries to use on their wine labels.

Profit

Her financial expertise includes managing budgets between $1M - $35M, forecasting and building financial models for scale, setting a reserve target and strategy, securing small business loans, cash management, P&L management, grant accounting and nonprofit accounting.  Additionally, Kate has experience generating revenue through grant writing, management of sponsorship programs and fundraising for nonprofits. 

 Awards and Volunteerism

In 2018, Kate was selected as a North Bay Business Journal Forty under 40 Award recipient. She serves on the Board for the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber and is also a member of their Finance Committee. She has been on the Steering Committee and served as a judge for the CA Green Medal Awards since 2015.