Kate Griffith, Chief Philosopher & Proprietor

Chief Philosopher Kate Griffith relocated to work for the City of Lompoc and helped grow the infant wine industry in 2002. She met the love of her life, married Norm Yost on 01/01/10 and became a partner in Flying Goat Cellars. Kate enjoys being a proprietor of their family business with freedom of expression for her entrepreneurial spirit and maverick marketing of Norm’s handcrafted wines. 

Kate and Norm live in an artsy geodesic dome in Lompoc. Griffith considers herself a citizen of the universe who marvels at simple pleasures and acts of kindness. Sadly, their beloved pooch Cooper died earlier this year. The couple are also backyard beekeepers, relocating unwanted swarms and providing community outreach and education, as well as hosting the Lompoc Valley Beekeepers Association meetings and selling Hush Honey at their tasting room. 

Griffith graduated with master’s degrees from the University of California, San Diego and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. She was also a graduate fellow at El Colegio de Mexico and Getulio Vargas Foundation. She has over 45 years of communications, branding and marketing experience, much of it self-employed and specializing in Latin America. Her most visible campaign was on the passage of NAFTA, while working as a foreign agent for the Government of Mexico Secretariat of Trade & Industry. She has published extensively on subjects ranging from NAFTA, environmental sustainability in Mexico, telecommunications in Latin America. More recently, her writing has focused on Flying Goat Cellars, the local wine industry and the Lompoc Valley. 

Kate has served as a board director and advisory committee member for a billion+ dollar credit union. Also, she has been a board director on Santa Barbara Vintners, Lompoc Wine Alliance, Lompoc Valley Beekeepers Association, Santa Barbara County Workforce Investment Board and Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission (Visit Santa Barbara). She was also  a Planning Commissioner for the City of Lompoc. Before moving to Lompoc, Kate helped Luciana Pedraza launch the Robert Duvall Children's Fund and organized several polo fundraisers across the country.

A proud member of Daughters of the Cincinnati, Griffith supports Free Speech and other Constitutional Rights that her Patriot ancestors fought hard to establish 250 years ago.