Meet the Team

 
 

Katie Canfield

Partner OWNER & Communications Director

Born and raised in California, Katie Canfield earned her B.A. in Spanish and Global Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Her career in the wine industry began during her last year at university while studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. Since then, Katie has lived in Rioja (Logroño), Burgundy (Dijon), and the UK (Manchester), studying and working in various sectors of the wine industry: production (including harvests in Chile, France, and Napa Valley), wine writing, retail, hospitality, and distribution. Since her move back to California in 2014, Katie has led marketing and communications for the international portfolios of Wilson Daniels, Paul Hobbs Wines, and now O’Donnell Lane, where she drives communications and strategic planning. Katie holds a M.Sc. degree in Wine Business and WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine and Spirits. She serves on the board of Bâtonnage Forum—a nonprofit organization focused on supporting women in wine—and has served as Marketing & Communications Program Lead for the Bâtonnage Mentorship Program since 2022.

 
 

Rebecca Johnson

Partner OWNER & Events Director

Rebecca Johnson has been in the event industry since 2003. Following a career as an elementary school teacher in Northern California, she began planning private events for wineries around Sonoma and Napa counties to great success. Since then, Rebecca has applied her talent and passion for wedding and event planning to produce exquisite high-end luxury weddings in wine country and San Francisco, as well as Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Carmel and Lake Tahoe. Upon joining O’Donnell Lane in 2012, Rebecca has broadened her focus, drawing from her strong relationships with the highest level and most sought-after vendors in the catering, floral, photography and music industries to produce corporate and wine trade events. Whether it is an event for 25 wine writers or 2,000 trade and media personnel, Rebecca combines her attention to detail with excellent communication skills to create spectacular events tailored to each client request.

 
 

Ella Winje

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Born and raised in California, Ella received her B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology at University of California, Berkeley. Wanting to pair her love for being active and outside with her biology background, Ella worked her first harvest in Livermore while finishing up her final year at Berkeley and realized that tasting wine for a living wasn’t a bad direction to go. Following her studies, Ella continued to pursue wine in the lab at Cakebread Cellars for a few years, before deciding she wanted to get back in touch with the cellar through a harvest abroad in McLaren Vale, South Australia. Since being back, she has worked in Calistoga and Healdsburg, increasing her love for VAs and heat stability tests. Ella started working at O’Donnell Lane in early 2020, with work ranging from event logistics, to planning and executing, to PR and marketing, and hasn’t looked back.

 
 

Amanda Best

Communications MANAGER

Amanda is a highly versatile audio, print, and video journalist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a focus in wine and spirits. She has over six years of experience in the beverage industry and has worked in multi-media production for organizations such as Harvard University, Commonwealth Wine School, and M.S. Walker. Amanda holds an M.A. in Journalism from Emerson College and has written for publications such as Wine Enthusiast. She is also an inaugural candidate of The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color. Amanda joined the team at O’Donnell Lane in February 2022 with work ranging from copywriting, press releases, and social media management.

 

Holly Robertson

PR & Marketing Coordinator

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Holly obtained her B.A. in French and International Relations from Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, UK and studied abroad at l’Université Catholique de Lille in Northern France through the Erasmus program. She relocated to California shortly after graduating. Holly has over five years’ experience working in the wine industry between the Santa Cruz Mountains and Sonoma/Napa. Her most recent work at Opus One Winery combined her strong administrative and customer service experience with content creation and communications for a luxury, high-end winery. Holly became part of the O’Donnell Lane team in October 2023 and works on a variety of projects including copywriting, media monitoring and events, to name a few.

 

Maria Calvert

MEDIA CONSULTANT / special projects

With over a decade of experience in public relations, Maria brings a rounded perspective to reputation management, integrated communications strategy, and cross-business collaboration. Before transitioning to wine, Maria was the V.P. of Global Communications at a currency broker on Wall Street. Today, she splits her time between NYC and Washington D.C., working as a public relations consultant and pursuing the WSET Level 2 certification. She is fluent in English and Spanish and is co-founder of nonprofit organization Hispanics in Wine. She has been recognized on the 40 under 40 Tastemaker's List by Wine Enthusiast and Wine Business Monthly's Wine Industry Leaders 2021, among other accolades.