Board Committees

Troy Alstead joined the Heritage Board of Directors following the Company’s IPO in November 2024. Since 2017, Mr. Alstead has been the founder and proprietor of Ocean5 and Table.  Prior to this, he worked for Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), for over 24 years, serving in the roles of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Group President. Mr. Alstead spent a decade in Starbucks’ international business, including roles as Senior Leader of Starbucks International, President Europe/Middle East/Africa headquartered in Amsterdam, and Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks Greater China, headquartered in Shanghai. Mr. Alstead is also a member of the Board of Directors of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI), Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Array Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), OYO Global and RASA Indian Grill. Mr. Alstead earned a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington.

Mr. Smith has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2022.  He is an attorney and was a partner at the New York firm of Whitman & Ransom (now Winston & Strawn LLP). Later in his legal career he served as Counsel at Foley & Lardner LLP. Mr. Smith is licensed to practice law in New York, Connecticut 103 and Washington, D.C. He founded and, since February 1986, has been, an attorney at Alexander, Smith & Company, Inc. a Connecticut -based legal and financial advisory firm. Mr. Smith has served numerous public and private enterprises, nationally and internationally, as Executive Chairman of the Board, Lead Director, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and General Counsel. Mr. Smith is a graduate of Williams College and the Yale Law School. His post-graduate work included clerkships on the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. and the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He also served as a Fellow of the Organization of American States and studied comparative law in Venezuela.

Eric Trevan has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2022. He has been an Assistant Professor at California State University San Marcos since 2020 and was previously a Visiting Scholar of Innovation, Business and Economic Policy for Tribal Nations at the Evergreen State College.  Dr. Trevan is an economist and regarded as a thought leader on Native economies and economic policy. Dr. Trevan has served as Chairman of Twelve Clans Inc., the sovereign wealth fund of the Ho-Chunk Nation and served on the Boards of Directors of Gun Lake Investments, the non-gaming investment arm of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians; Northern Initiatives, a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution; Noo-Kayet Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe; Cheyenne; and Arapaho Business Development Corporation of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Dr. Trevan was formerly a Policy Advisor to the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of Treasury. Dr. Trevan has a PhD from Arizona State University Watts College of Public Solutions, Community Resources and Development (Local and Native Economies), a Master’s Degree in Administration (Public Administration) from Central Michigan University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration/Economics from Western Michigan University. He is a Tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, Gun Lake Tribe in Michigan.

Eric Trevan has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2022. He has been an Assistant Professor at California State University San Marcos since 2020 and was previously a Visiting Scholar of Innovation, Business and Economic Policy for Tribal Nations at the Evergreen State College.  Dr. Trevan is an economist and regarded as a thought leader on Native economies and economic policy. Dr. Trevan has served as Chairman of Twelve Clans Inc., the sovereign wealth fund of the Ho-Chunk Nation and served on the Boards of Directors of Gun Lake Investments, the non-gaming investment arm of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians; Northern Initiatives, a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution; Noo-Kayet Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe; Cheyenne; and Arapaho Business Development Corporation of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Dr. Trevan was formerly a Policy Advisor to the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of Treasury. Dr. Trevan has a PhD from Arizona State University Watts College of Public Solutions, Community Resources and Development (Local and Native Economies), a Master’s Degree in Administration (Public Administration) from Central Michigan University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration/Economics from Western Michigan University. He is a Tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, Gun Lake Tribe in Michigan.

Troy Alstead joined the Heritage Board of Directors following the Company’s IPO in November 2024. Since 2017, Mr. Alstead has been the founder and proprietor of Ocean5 and Table.  Prior to this, he worked for Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), for over 24 years, serving in the roles of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Group President. Mr. Alstead spent a decade in Starbucks’ international business, including roles as Senior Leader of Starbucks International, President Europe/Middle East/Africa headquartered in Amsterdam, and Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks Greater China, headquartered in Shanghai. Mr. Alstead is also a member of the Board of Directors of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI), Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Array Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), OYO Global and RASA Indian Grill. Mr. Alstead earned a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington.

Jeffrey Wensel, M.D., Ph.D. has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2017. Dr. Wensel is a practicing neuroradiologist and inventor with multiple patents to his name since 1995. He earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1990. Dr. Wensel completed his residency at the University of Arizona and his Neuroradiology Fellowship at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. For more than the past five years, Dr. Wensel has engaged in the private practice in radiology in Eugene, Oregon and has consulted for other doctors around the U.S. 

Mr. Smith has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2022.  He is an attorney and was a partner at the New York firm of Whitman & Ransom (now Winston & Strawn LLP). Later in his legal career he served as Counsel at Foley & Lardner LLP. Mr. Smith is licensed to practice law in New York, Connecticut 103 and Washington, D.C. He founded and, since February 1986, has been, an attorney at Alexander, Smith & Company, Inc. a Connecticut -based legal and financial advisory firm. Mr. Smith has served numerous public and private enterprises, nationally and internationally, as Executive Chairman of the Board, Lead Director, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and General Counsel. Mr. Smith is a graduate of Williams College and the Yale Law School. His post-graduate work included clerkships on the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. and the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He also served as a Fellow of the Organization of American States and studied comparative law in Venezuela.

Troy Alstead joined the Heritage Board of Directors following the Company’s IPO in November 2024. Since 2017, Mr. Alstead has been the founder and proprietor of Ocean5 and Table.  Prior to this, he worked for Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), for over 24 years, serving in the roles of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Group President. Mr. Alstead spent a decade in Starbucks’ international business, including roles as Senior Leader of Starbucks International, President Europe/Middle East/Africa headquartered in Amsterdam, and Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks Greater China, headquartered in Shanghai. Mr. Alstead is also a member of the Board of Directors of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI), Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Array Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), OYO Global and RASA Indian Grill. Mr. Alstead earned a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington.

Eric Trevan has been a director of Heritage Distilling since 2022. He has been an Assistant Professor at California State University San Marcos since 2020 and was previously a Visiting Scholar of Innovation, Business and Economic Policy for Tribal Nations at the Evergreen State College.  Dr. Trevan is an economist and regarded as a thought leader on Native economies and economic policy. Dr. Trevan has served as Chairman of Twelve Clans Inc., the sovereign wealth fund of the Ho-Chunk Nation and served on the Boards of Directors of Gun Lake Investments, the non-gaming investment arm of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians; Northern Initiatives, a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution; Noo-Kayet Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe; Cheyenne; and Arapaho Business Development Corporation of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Dr. Trevan was formerly a Policy Advisor to the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of Treasury. Dr. Trevan has a PhD from Arizona State University Watts College of Public Solutions, Community Resources and Development (Local and Native Economies), a Master’s Degree in Administration (Public Administration) from Central Michigan University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration/Economics from Western Michigan University. He is a Tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, Gun Lake Tribe in Michigan.