Board of Directors

Christopher Thompson

Christopher Thompson,
Chair

Christopher is a Firefighter with Napa County Fire Department, Deer Park Station, 21, graduating from the Fire Academy in 2017. He was named Firefighting of the year in 2017. He’s also the Co-Director of Deer Park Fire Safe Council. Christopher is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale AZ, where he chairs the committees of Licensing, and Preservation.

Christopher is self-employed and works as a consultant and electrical engineer, with projects throughout the world, and offices in the Bay Area and LA. He holds a BFA, and a BS in Electrical Engineering. He is an honorary member of the British Society of Interior Designers and a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the International Association of Lighting Designers.

Piper Cole

Piper Cole,
Vice Chair

Piper Cole has lived in Calistoga for over 10 years where she shares her passion for cooking and entertaining as CEO of Colbrook Kitchen, an e-commerce store selling high design, high functionality tools for the home cooks.

Prior to that Piper was Vice President, Global Public Policy of Sun Microsystems. Piper led the team that negotiated the computer industry’s Model Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Department of Energy, chaired a multi company team in negotiating the reform of the export controls on encryption technology, and was on the board and the Executive Committee of the Information Technology Industry Council and on the Board of AEA. She also chaired the Public Policy Expert Group of the Liberty Alliance and co-chaired the Public Policy Council of TechNet. Piper served on the Board and the Executive Committee of the Peninsula Jewish Community Center, was the first woman president of Lawyer Friends of Wine of San Francisco, and is a co-founder and served as Grand Sénéchal of the Sous-Commanderie de Silicon Valley of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.

She currently serves on the Board of Friends of the Cameo, on the Executive Leadership Board of the UC Davis School of Viticulture and Enology and on the Napa Valley Board of Advocates of Planned Parenthood Northern California.

Headshot of Linda Cantey

Linda Cantey,
Secretary

Linda has lived in the Napa Valley since 2009.  She is the past board chair of the Land Trust of Napa County and served on that board since 2015.  She is also a board member for the If Given a Chance Foundation and a past board member of Napa Learns.  She founded Clarus Consulting Group, a private management consulting firm, in 1999.  She also served as President and board member for the Project Management Institute Washington DC Chapter and has held her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification since 2002.  Prior to Clarus, Linda worked as an engineer for Scitor, IBM, and Ball Aerospace supporting the satellite launches and ground operations for Iridium, Orbcomm, and the Air Force.

Headshot of Paul Heiselman

Paul Heiselmann,
Treasurer

Paul Heiselmann moved to the Napa Valley in 2020, and currently lives in St Helena in the western Mayacamas hills of Napa.  Paul had previously lived in the Bay Area for 25 years and fell in love with the Napa Valley during that time. His perspective that NOW is the time to create sustainable methodologies for man to exist in nature during this period of climate transition; drives his passion to join the Napa County Firewise Foundation. 

Paul was a tax partner at PWC, a senior executive and board member at BDO USA, an entrepreneur/executive in several startups and an angel/venture investor during his 40-year career.  He is a past advisory board member of the Golden Gate University Graduate School of Accounting and Taxation, and the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern. 

Paul has become involved with the Mt Veeder Fire Safe Council and his local community in actively working to create a neighborhood of hardened homes, defensible space and long-term co-existence of the urban and wildlife environment.  Paul currently serves on the Napa Firewise Development and Fundraising, and Governance Committees.

Headshot of Cyril Chappellet

Cyril Chappellet,
Director

Cyril moved to the Napa Valley when he was 10 years old and has been working in his family’s owned vineyard and the winery. He was elected chairman of the winery’s family-run board of directors in 2012, becoming the only person other than his late-father, Donn, to hold this position in the history of Chappellet. Today, Cyril is actively involved in every aspect of the winery’s operations and works closely with his family to ensure the continued success of Chappellet.

In addition to the many hats, he wears at Chappellet, Cyril is a board member of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, of which Chappellet was the 18th registered member. (There are more than 550 members today.) He is also actively involved with the Wine Service Co-Op that Chappellet helped to found in 1972. Cyril also served as chair of the 2012 Auction Napa Valley, which raised $8.2 million for local charities. In the recent Napa Valley fires, Cyril took initiative and was instrumental in helping and strategizing and protecting Pritchard Hill and its surrounding.

Cyril is currently an American Ag Credit Board Director and Chairman of the Napa Valley Vintners Community Health Center.

J.C. Greenberg

J.C. Greenberg,
Director
Napa County Fire Department Representative

Headshot of Elaine Honig

Elaine Honig,
Director

Elaine is an entrepreneur who thrives on creating brands, building businesses, and helping others—be they animals or humans.

A native Oklahoman with an Economics degree from Tufts University, she started out in the real estate business, and then spent 21 years in the wine business helping grow a small family project into a nationally recognized wine brand.

In 2004, Elaine developed Wine Women & Shoes as a local community fundraiser which proved to be so successful, she grew it into a national nonprofit events company, STUDIO 4Forty. Today, they have raised over $75million net for their nonprofit partners.

Honored as an Outstanding Woman in Agriculture, Elaine remains an active participant in her Napa Valley community. She has served on the boards of The Napa County Land Trust, where she was the President for 2 years, the diRosa Center for Contemporary Art, The Napa County Farm Bureau, The Napa County Sierra Club, and the Board of Advocates for Planned Parenthood.

Headshot of Phil Husby

Phil Husby,
Director

Phil serves on the NCFF Fire Safe Council, Finance and Audit committees. He is a retired finance executive, living on the eastern side of Napa where he is a former member of the board of Silverado Highlands Home Owners Association, and is co-chair of its Fire Prevention Committee.

He is also a volunteer counselor with SCORE, helping small business owners start and grow their businesses. He holds a BS in Finance and Accounting  from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

After graduating he spent over 20 years in public accounting with KPMG, the last seven years as an audit partner. Subsequently he served as CFO at several public and private companies. He is a licensed CPA in California.  

Headshot of Rick Jones

Rick Jones,
Director

Rick has been a Calistoga resident since 1997 and is a vintner with Jones Family Vineyards. He is a currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Napa Valley Vintners and served as NVV President in 2012. Rick also has been active in various leadership roles for Auction Napa.

In addition to his successful business career at McKinsey and Company and as EVP at Safeway, Rick has devoted a significant amount of his time to service on the boards of directors of numerous non-profit organizations is the San Francisco Bay Area. These have included the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Peninsula Community Foundation, the Napa Valley Community Foundation, the San Francisco Zoological Society, Partners in School Innovation, and Raising a Reader.

Currently he also serves on the board of OLE Health, the St Helena Hospital and Foundation and is vice-chairman of NapaLearns.

Headshot of Jerry Newell

Jerry Newell,
Director

Jerry was a Banker for 35 years, including 10 years with Lloyds Bank and 25 years with Bank of the West where he ran the Equipment Leasing Division. He was Executive Vice President and member of the Senior Management Committee when he retired in 2013.

Jerry resides in Napa Valley and is a founding member of the Diamond Mountain Fire Safe Council and serves as its President. He is active on several nonprofit boards including Treasurer of Quarryhill Botanical Garden.

Jerry studied at Georgetown University, London School of Economics, and Golden Gate University. He holds a BSFS in Economics and an MBA in Finance.

Headshot of Tom Scripps

Tom Scripps,
Director

Tom has been a part time Napa Valley resident since 1986 and a full time resident since 2016.  He has a Bachelor of Science – Business Management degree from San Diego State University and a Masters Degree – Finance from Denver University.  

In a career spanning 40 years he owned and operated a successful retail store selling handmade woolen garments from Ireland, was a real estate entrepreneur owning and developing commercial, multifamily, and residential projects in Northern and Southern California, was a licensed California real estate broker, and founded a property management company located in San Francisco.  

He is a senior member and served as Past President of the Guardsmen Tree Lot in San Francisco and is a member of EW Scripps & Associates which supports various climate and environmental initiatives through the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.  

As a 5th Generation Californian, Tom’s deepest passion has always been conservation of California’s wild lands and oceans worldwide. 

Chris Warner

Chris Warner,
Director

Chris lives in St. Helena and has practiced law for 44 years, serving as a chief counsel for PG&E before retiring in 2021. He also served as a director of the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District where he helped draft the district’s strategic plan using advanced wildfire risk assessment criteria and prevention tactics, including defensible space. 

Chris also served as a commissioner of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and is currently a member of the Saint Helena Parks and Recreation Commission. He holds a B.A. degree from Denison University, a J.D. from Ohio State College of Law, and studied energy and natural resources law at the University of Denver College of Law. Prior to moving to California in 1988, he served in various legal positions in the United States Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the executive branch and state government.

Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Napa Firewise Board and is currently serving on the Fire Safe Council, Legislative, and Governance Committees. Chris also serves as co-lead for the St. Helena Firesafe Council.

Mike Wink

Mike Wink,
Director

Chief Mike Wink began his Fire Service Career in 1994 as a Volunteer with the South Lake County Fire Protection District. In 1996 he started his CAL FIRE career in the Sonoma Lake Napa Unit as a Firefighter assigned to the Middletown Fire Station. In 1998 he became a LT Engineer assigned to the Clearlake Oaks Fire Station. In 2000 he was hired as a permanent Engineer at the Middletown Fire Station. In 2003 Wink was promoted to LT Fire Captain in the Brooks Battalion. From 2004 to 2007, he worked as a Permanent Fire Captain B at the Konocti Conservation Camp; in 2007 Wink transferred into the LNU Training Bureau.  

In 2009 Wink was promoted to Battalion Chief at the St. Helena ECC, working in that assignment until 2012, when he transferred to the Middletown Battalion, encompassing southern Lake County and the South Lake County FPD Schedule A program. 

During Wink’s assignments, he has been able to work in both Schedule A and B assignments.  In addition to station assignments, he also performed pre-fire plans review, worked on paramedic transport ambulances, was qualified as a Helitack Relief Captain. From 2011 to 2018, he served on the Statewide EMS Working Group, which was responsible for the development of the 7200 Handbook. Wink’s grant writing experience has successfully received over one million dollars in funding for multiple projects from Training to Equipment Purchases.   

Wink is a qualified Operations Section Chief and is currently assigned to CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 1, moving from his prior assignment with Incident Management Team 4. Wink is also a member of the C-300 curriculum development team and current serves on that statewide Cadre. He also has an Associate of Arts Degree from Mendocino Junior College where he also played two years of college football. Wink was born and raised in St Helena, until the family moved to Lake County in 1984. He and his wife Lisa live in Lake County, where she is a realtor; they have twins that just graduated high school.