Leadership Expert Alison Levine and Legendary Brewer Dick Cantwell to Keynote 2017 Craft Brewers Conference

“CBC attendees enjoy hearing from voices within the brewing community and outside of it as well,” said Paul Gatza, director, Brewers Association. “The combination of Dick, a prolific and venerable brewer, and Alison, a trailblazer and experienced risk taker, will offer attendees valuable insight as they navigate opportunities and challenges in both brewing and business.”

Levine is a former Wall Street executive and avid explorer and mountaineer. She has climbed the world’s highest peaks, skied across the Arctic Circle and in 2008 made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse from west Antarctica to the South Pole. For three years, Levine served as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department and in 2005, founded the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of unemployed women in Africa. Levine’s authentic messages of survival and success in some of the most extreme circumstances translate and remain applicable on the mountains and in fast-paced business environments alike. She is the author of New York Times^’ Bestseller On the Edge and is the subject of the PBS documentary Living Courageously (2007).

As one of the industry’s well-respected and experienced craft brewers, Cantwell co-founded Elysian Brewing Company in 1996, where he served as head brewer until its sale to Anheuser-Busch in 2015. During his tenure, Elysian was named Large Brewpub of the Year three times at the Great American Beer Festival^® (1999, 2003 and 2004), and in 2004, he received the BA’s Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing. Additionally, Cantwell has written for various beer magazines, including The New Brewer, Beer Advocate andAmerican Brewer. His book publishing credits include Barley Wine (with Fal Allen), The Brewers Association’s Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery, Second Edition and Wood & Beer: A Brewer’s Guide (with New Belgium’s Peter Bouckaert). He most recently served as Quality Ambassador for the Brewers Association, supporting and advocating to uphold quality in craft beer.