VANCOUVER — Sandra Oldfield is the new Chair of the Board at B.C. Hospitality Foundation (BCHF). In her new role, Oldfield will work alongside Darcy Barish as vice chair, Bill Senghera as treasurer, and Richard Dittmar as secretary. Oldfield is succeeding Jeff Guignard, who served as Chair for the last eight years.
Originally from Northern California, Oldfield moved to B.C. in 1995 to start Tinhorn Creek Vineyards. Over the next 20 years, she became the first winemaker in Canada to use Stelvin screw top caps, expanded the marketability of Cabernet Franc and became a hub for South Okanagan events. In 2011, Oldfield stepped into the CEO and president role at the winery and continued with innovative initiatives, such as driving for B.C.’s first sub appellation, the Golden Mile Bench; establishing Tinhorn Creek as Canada’s only carbon-neutral winery; and winning Canada’s safest employer award for Hospitality and Canada’s Top 100 Powerful Women awards in 2016.
The winery was sold in 2017 and Oldfield and her husband, Kenn, started Elysian Projects, a beverage and tourism consulting company. She created an annual business conference called Fortify to help small companies get better at human resource, marketing and finances. Additionally, as an active board member of the Tourism Industry Association for B.C. (TIABC), Oldfield created the #BCWineChat hashtag on Twitter in 2011, which she still manages weekly.
