Kim Stemler
Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association, P.O. Box 1793, Monterey, (831) 375‑9400, montereywines.org
If you ask Kim Stemler to reflect on her leadership, she quickly pivots and instead talks about everyone else. “The Monterey County wine industry is known for being supportive of each other,” she says. “They are very generous, donating thousands and thousands of dollars in wine. They care about our land and our employees. They’re just really good people.” Of course that’s the classic mark of a good leader, someone who uplifts others, and that’s what Stemler does as executive director of the Vintners and Growers Association. Beyond that, she took charge during a time of crisis early in the Covid‑19 pandemic, connecting ag groups to the Covid Collaborative and to the California Department of Public Health, getting out the word about testing and vaccinations, serving as a conduit for critical health information. On that, she’s also humble: “No one person or entity did it all. That, to me, is the magic of our region.”