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Innovation and Entrepreneurship panel series spotlights three alums who have translated their degrees into successful careers

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship panel series is back—this time with an Emmy-nominated composer and music producer and two wine makers.

This series, which was launched at the end of 2020, features ��ƷSM����ӰƬ alumni who use their degrees in unexpected ways and encourage students within the College of Arts and Sciences to do the same.

The next presenters are:

• Mark Crawford
• Jesse Padberg
• Michele Padberg

This next installment in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship panel will be held March 30 from 6 to 7 p.m. on Zoom.

About the presenters:

Mark Crawford

Mark Crawford (Film’08) is an Emmy-nominated composer and music producer. Most recently he’s composed music for the feature length documentary The Social Dilemma, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is now available on Netflix. 

Jesse Padberg

Michele Padberg

Previously, his credits include additional music for the award-winning feature documentaries Chasing Coral (2017) and Chasing Ice (2012), Classic, which premiered at the Denver Film Festival in 2019, and the multi-audience award-winning short documentary The Love Bugs. 

His music and video work have also been included in programs featured on National Geographic, California Academy of Science, Harvard Kennedy School and Fast Company.

Jesse Padberg (Span’98) and his younger brother, Chris, were born and raised on an apple farm in Dixon, New Mexico. After graduating from Taos High School in 1994, Jesse Padberg attended ��ƷSM����ӰƬ as a Spanish literature major and graduated in 1998 after a study abroad in Chile. 

Returning home with a love for wine, he worked on learning the craft of winemaking through UC Davis’ Winemaking Certification program and worked toward securing the Vivác Winery licensing alongside his brother starting in 1998. 

He received his Sommelier Certification from the International Wine Guild in 2004, his Advanced Sommelier Certification in 2005, along with several master classes. Jesse Padberg, his wife, Michele, his brother, Chris, and his brother’s wife, Liliana, opened the winery tasting room in Dixon in the fall of 2003. 

While he and his brother manage the vineyard and do all the winemaking together, Jesse Padberg’s mastery of advanced chemistry brings precision to their winemaking that allows their wines to become International Award Winners every year. 

Michele Padberg (Thtr) was born and raised in Taos, New Mexico, an arts community north of Dixon. After graduating from Taos High School in 1996, she studied at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago and spent an additional three years as a B.F.A. theatre major at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ. 

She returned to New Mexico and in 2001 assisted Jesse, his brother, Chris, and his brother’s wife, Liliana, open the winery. In fall 2003, they opened the tasting room in Dixon. 

Passionate about the world of wine, she received her Sommelier Certification from the International Wine Guild in 2004, her Advanced Sommelier Certification along with several master classes in 2005 and became a worldwide International Wine Judge in 2018. 

The business management partnership with her sister-in-law Liliana, allows Michele Padberg to focus on the vital external structure of the company centered on the winery’s brand development. Her skills in the wine industry allow her to develop and coordinate exciting events and partnerships, give wine history lectures and informative wine appreciation classes, craft a diverse social media presence, and manage a distribution team that get the Vivác wines out into the marketplace. 

Michele is a freelance writer and was the owner and fromagère of “Kissable Cheeses” from 2014 to 2018.