Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) chosen Dina Opici, president of Opici Household Distributing and fast previous chair of WSWA, because the recipient of the 2026 Ladies’s Management Council (WLC) Icon Award.
The WLC Icon Award is introduced to an trade determine whose management, affect and dedication have made a significant and enduring affect on girls inside the wine and spirits wholesale tier, in accordance with the group. The award acknowledges a real icon — somebody who embodies WLC’s core pillars of Educate, Elevate and Empower, and whose actions have helped open doorways and strengthen the trade for future generations.
Opici’s profession exemplifies these values. She is president of Opici Household Distributing, a family-owned wine and spirits wholesaler based by her great-grandparents in New Jersey in 1934. After incomes her legislation diploma from Yeshiva College’s Benjamin N. Cardozo College of Legislation, Opici joined the household enterprise in 1998, in accordance with the group. For greater than 20 years, she has held quite a few management roles throughout gross sales administration, human assets and authorized affairs, serving to to information the corporate’s development and enlargement into a number of states whereas sustaining its dedication to integrity and relationships.
Opici has additionally performed a pivotal function in trade management and advocacy. She served because the inaugural chairwoman of WSWA’s Ladies’s Management Council (WLC), in accordance with the group, main the WLC Advisory Board for 3 years whereas advancing its transformational mission and applications such because the annual WLC Convention. Extra not too long ago, she made historical past by turning into the primary lady to function chair of WSWA’s board of administrators, serving to information the affiliation by a interval of great change whereas championing inclusion, mentorship and collaboration.
Catherine McDaniel, senior vp of member advocacy for WSWA and director of WLC, praised Opici’s affect and instance. “Dina is the very definition of an icon,” McDaniel stated in a information launch. “She leads with braveness and generosity, persistently utilizing her platform to elevate up others. Her affect will be seen not simply in her firm and in WSWA, but additionally within the numerous girls she has mentored and impressed throughout the trade.”
“I’m deeply honored and actually grateful to be acknowledged with the WLC Icon Award,” added Opici. “The Ladies’s Management Council was based on the premise that after we put money into each other — by training, mentorship, and advocacy — we strengthen not simply girls leaders, however all the trade. I stay dedicated to uplifting the subsequent technology of ladies within the beverage alcohol house and to fostering an trade that’s extra collaborative, inclusive and stronger for all.”
The WLC Icon Award was final introduced in 2020 to Barkley Stuart to acknowledge his brave allyship and advocacy in advancing girls leaders and championing range throughout the wholesale tier.
