Meet The Board
Vanessa Cominsky is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native who moved to Washington, DC in 2017, taking the Sommelier position at DBGB Kitchen and Bar, working with a primarily French and American wine list. From there, she moved on to St. Anselm in 2018, where she managed the beverage program, focusing on vintage Madeira and wines from all over the world.
She was able to stay busy during the pandemic, making 12,000 individual meals a day with World Central Kitchen at Nationals Park, while the restaurant industry in DC was shuttered. As the pandemic wound down, Vanessa worked as a Sommelier and Beverage Director at Michael Rafidi's Michelin starred Levantine restaurant, Albi.
In 2021, she moved on to distribution and is now working with Prestige-Ledroit as a Wine and Spirits Specialist based in DC. In her free time, Vanessa loves to read, cook at home, and enjoy the diverse food and beverage scene in DC.
Vanessa Cominsky
President and CEO
Email Me! vanessa@vinvitalite.org
Follow: @vminsky
Email Me! molly@vinvitalite.org
Follow: @chipmunkdays
Molly is a writer and editor who has lived in the DMV for ten years. Her background working for national nonprofits like the ASPCA and National Geographic Society, extensive experience in event planning, and love for the wine industry led her to the position of Director of Fundraising for VV. She was also one of women behind Young Winos of DC, a social organization that planned meetups and covered industry events in the city.
Today, she works with a diverse array of clients through her business, Demeter Consulting, a professional writing and editing services company that specializes in high quality proposal development. She is passionate about environmental stewardship, social justice, education, and women’s empowerment. She earned degrees in English and education from Ohio State University, and afterward spent a year abroad teaching in South Korea. Though she loves the DMV, she lives to travel, and is forever planning her next trip.
Molly Cox
Vice Board Chair and Partnerships & Fundraising Chair
Email Me! michelle@vinvitalite.org
Follow: @dcanterwines & @winepreneur
Michelle is the co-founder & CEO of DCANTER, an innovative, technology-driven wine retail company that focuses on organic and sustainable wines from small producers and provides personalized wine services, wine education, and wine travel experiences. She caught the wine bug while exploring the vineyards of Tuscany during a study-abroad photography class in college. After a 15-year stint in health care policy, she decided to leap into wine and entrepreneurship with her partner in life and business. Over 10 years later, she’s still excited about wine and wine business! Michelle is passionate about helping women advance in the wine industry through professional development and personal growth opportunities. She is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Michelle Warner
Mentorship Chair
Alyssa Wolf
Board Chair
Email Me! alyssa@vinvitalite.org
Follow: @workoutfor_wine
Alyssa founded Red Wolf Imports, a wine and spirits imports company based in Washington, D.C, in 2016 after ten years in the healthcare industry. She built her business from the ground up. Her portfolio comprises multiple South African and Portuguese producers in the D.C. area and beyond, including multiple women-owned brands and women-made wines.
Alyssa joined Vin Vitalité initially as a volunteer. She soon became a member of the Communications committee before eventually founding and leading the first Women in Wine Business Roundtable. She was elected as Vin Vitalité's board chair in October of 2024.
Alyssa’s passion for the beverage industry goes beyond sharing her amazing wine and spirit discoveries. She passionately supports small businesses around the world, helps wineries gain access to the US market, expands independent distributor portfolios, and provides boutique retailers with unique, sustainable wines to share with their customers.
Email Me! angie@vinvitalite.org
Follow: @angie.s.duran
Angie Duran
Treasurer
Angie Duran began her hospitality career fresh out of college within Italian cuisine with acclaimed Chef Roberto Donna. Quickly working her way up from host to front of the house management, ultimately launching and managing the critically-praised Roberto’s 4.
Soon after, she played an instrumental part in the opening of CityCenterDC’s Centrolina in 2015 as the General Manager of Chef Amy Brandwein’s Italian powerhouse. Four years later, she helped bring to life Centrolina’s sister restaurant, Piccolina da Centrolina, which in 2021 was one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America.
After six years with Centrolina, she left to serve as Director of Operations for Duo Group. In her current role, Angie oversees six locations under the group which includes multiple outlets of DC’s beloved East London-inspired gastropub, Duke’s Grocery, and their sister concepts.
Last, but most certainly not the least, Angie operates the West End wine bar, Bottles Wine Garden, and is a co-founder of Women of Wine DC.
Email Me! danya.miltiadou@gmail.com
Follow: @danyasaur
Danya Miltiadou is a DC-based hospitality executive and wine professional with a track record of building financially successful, guest-driven wine programs across restaurants, retail, and distribution.
A New England native and NYU alumna, Danya began her career in New York City, cutting her teeth across the industry—from managing boutique wine retail to overseeing restaurant programs and working in wine import and distribution. Her early leadership roles included work with NAYA, DCanter, and Siema Wines, experiences that shaped her holistic understanding of the wine supply chain and sharpened her eye for cost management and inventory strategy.
Danya later joined the opening team at Little Pearl under Chef Aaron Silverman, where she later served as General Manager and Wine Director.
Under her leadership, the team earned a Michelin Star in 2019.
She went on to lead operations and wine for Eastern Point Collective, opening four concepts—La Collina, The Duck & The Peach, The Wells, and Méli Wine & Mezze—building DC's only wine program dedicated to solely womxn-owned and womxn-made wines.
Danya now serves as General Manager of Osteria Mozza DC, the celebrated Georgetown partnership between Chef Nancy Silverton and Stephen Starr. In all her roles, Danya has focused on building up DC's hospitaltiy community to support access, growth, and education for women in the wine space.