Rich and Leslie Frank share an inherent passion for people and culture, evident from Rich’s time as the President of Disney Studios and Leslie’s former career as an Emmy award-winning journalist. Their unique backgrounds have naturally paved the way for their positive involvement in the community. Since moving to Napa full-time, they have established footings among some of the Valley’s most prominent charitable organizations such as Festival Napa Valley, the St. Helena Hospitality Foundation, Collabria Care, and the V Foundation.

Rich grew up in Bayside, New York, raised by hardworking first-generation Americans. His remarkable father, Hy Frank, was a World War II veteran who landed on Omaha Beach four days after D-Day. Hy served as an infantryman and drove support vehicles for General Patton’s Third Army. While Hy was overseas serving the country, Rich’s mother, Edythe worked at Macy’s in New York to help make ends meet. Upon his return to the United States in 1947, Edythe and Hy embarked on their version of the American Dream. Hy opened his own meatpacking business, Heide Meat Co. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He worked hard to service the restaurants and local grocery stores in New York City for over 30 years to make enough money to send Rich, the first member their family, to college. Rich’s younger brother Billy followed him four years later to the University of Illinois.

When asked where her ambitious advocacy work with regards to the arts, health, and social justice stems from, Leslie traces it back to her background as a broadcast journalist. Before she joined the wine industry, Leslie spent more than 25 years covering politics, crime, natural disasters - the full gambit. Throughout her time as a reporter and anchor, she brought some of the country’s most significant events into the home of millions of Americans including the 9/11 attacks, reporting live from New York City’s ground zero, as well as from the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and inside the courtroom at the Michael Jackson trial. After leaving her home in Ontario, Canada at the age of 17 to attend journalism school, Leslie cut her teeth on the Canadian media circuit before setting her sights on the U.S. market and a station in Seattle where she spent six years a main anchor. She ultimately landed in Los Angeles, where she reported for nearly a decade at the number one rated news station, KABC, covering politics, crime, weather, calamities, as well as interviewing some of the biggest stars in Hollywood on the red carpet. Sharing some of the most impactful stories and events of recent American history was Leslie’s way to serve the community, and her first- hand experiences left a lifelong desire to give back. Her visibility as a television personality allowed Leslie to become a spokesperson and advocate for many local charities.