Our Team
Born on the East Coast, but drawn to the Wasatch Mountains, Jess currently lives in Salt Lake City, UT. The one thing she loves as much as cheese is the outdoors, and spends her free time skiing, mountain biking and playing with her family and corgi, Francis Lardon (yes, like French for "bacon"). She would also never say no to a good costume party.
She is a founder of The Cheeseletes and is responsible for planning, programming, management, and evaluation of The Cheeseletes's fundraising races, race communication, race registration, volunteer recruitment and management, and ensuring participants have a positive and fun experience.
Sam lives in Pennsylvania fixing up her new home with her boyfriend while corralling three opinionated kitties (Shamus, Sherlock, and Bellatrix). Escaping outdoors with a paddle board or hiking boots is one of her favorite ways to connect with friends
She has been in the food industry for over a decade, starting as a server and sous chef, working on farms, and developing her love for cheese as a monger and category-manager at highly-respected stores and importers. She seeks out the right sponsors and support for our ongoing 5K efforts, and loves connecting folks in the industry to support the Cheeseletes initiatives of inclusive education experiences. If you get an email asking for a donation- expect the signature to be Sam's. =]
Lacey McNeff
Marketing Director
marketing@thecheeseletes.org
Lacey is an ACS CCP and ACS CCSE. She lives in a yurt tucked in the mountains of Teton Valley, ID. Her enthusiasm for eating cheese has been life-long. As a cheese-worker, she has worn many hats (orderer, monger, pairing class facilitator, maker, teacher), and is passionate about promoting cheese education, sharing and engaging around cheese, and contributing to its robust community. She believes connecting to food and where it comes from is essential.
She is responsible for social media, including Instagram, Facebook, Mailchimp and The Cheeseletes Website. She loves bringing Wedgie to live and creating cheese education content!
Alice Bergen Phillips
Back in the Vat Manager
backinthevat@thecheeseletes.org
Alice Bergen Phillips is the owner of Cheesemonster, a cheese catering and education business. Originally hailing from Highland Park, Illinois, Alice grew up in a food and travel-loving home. After graduating Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Alice moved to Washington, DC to work in the international development world. After a side job at a coffee shop introduced her to the field of specialty food, Alice eventually found her way into cheese, and has worked in the industry since 2012.
She has held positions as a monger, manager, caterer, server, business owner, and everything in between. She currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, David, daughter, Olive, and demon, I mean dog, Finn, where she enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time outdoors with her family.
Austin Banach
Project Manager
admin@thecheeseletes.org
Austin was born and raised in Western Massachusetts (no, not Boston) where he currently resides with his wife and two children. Austin paints his career in cheese with a palate of various food related jobs, including working in restaurants, catering, small food buisiness start ups and food journalism.
Austin is currently the manager of the cheese department at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace.
When Austin isn’t obsessing over cheese, he is baking bread, foraging mushrooms, raising two little cheese connoisseurs and trying to read a good book. Next to cheese, his favorite foods are oysters and barbecue and he will go to great lengths to procure them.
