Juanita Duggan, Former WSWA President/CEO, Dies
Juanita Duggan, who served as Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s first female president and CEO from 1998 to 2006 passed away Dec. 13 at her home in the Washington D.C. area. A passionate policy advocate for family-owned wine and spirits wholesalers, Dugan is remembered to be a skilled communicator, energetic leader and policy expert credited with being a driving force behind the Twenty-First Amendment Enforcement Act. In adding to this piece of important Federal Legislation, Duggan was an outspoken advocate and driver of the passage of the Section 5011 Tax.
A four-time CEO and leader of highly regulated industry trade associations, Duggan spent decades as a policy expert in the Senate, the White House, and the private sector. Most recently, Duggan was the founder of CLARIFYD LLC, a firm serving clients and boards navigating complex policy, political, regulatory, reputation, compliance, and communications challenges.
Colleagues of Duggan at WSWA shared their sentiments:
“Having worked with Juanita for years on important policy issues, I always found her to be smart, dedicated, and professional in all she did for WSWA and its members. Juanita will be missed dearly and the impact she made on the industry will live on for decades to come,” said WSWA Chairman Tom Cole.
“I had the privilege of working with Juanita during her time at WSWA. If there was ever a case of the ‘right person at the right time’ it was when Juanita came to the association. Using her experience from the George H.W. Bush White House and time at Phillip Morris as the lead lobbyist for the tobacco settlement, she took WSWA to the next level. Under her guidance we passed the Twenty-First Amendment Enforcement Act, helped create Wineshopper.com, the first online 3-tier compliant alcohol model, and had a $1 million PAC for the first time. Her friendship will be missed,” said Moon Distributing CEO Stan Hastings.
“I will miss Juanita, her energy, focus and passion have always inspired me,” said Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits Executive Vice President Barkley Stuart.
“Juanita Duggan was a force of nature, doggedly passionate in defense of our wholesalers She had a genuine love of the families that make up the WSWA membership. She was also a visionary when it came to the impact e-commerce would have on our industry and wholesalers specifically. Her boundless energy made her a pleasure to work for and spread to all those around her. She was a mentor to so many young people in DC and loved watching them grow. She had a major impact not just on our industry but on countless others,” said WSWA Executive Vice President, Government Affairs Dawson Hobbs.
“Juanita was smart as a whip, passionate about our members, and fiercely represented their interests. She hired me less than a year before she left, and I know her as a successful Washington lobbyist and pivotal to passing the 5011 tax credit, which has saved our members millions of dollars over the years. The word that describes Juanita for me is bulldog – she held strong convictions and was very determined. Juanita had to counterbalance a male-dominated industry. She won everyone over though with her intelligence and toughness. She was also ahead of her time while she was at WSWA, working on a digital marketplace long before they became popular. I am shocked and deeply saddened by the news,” said WSWA Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jo Moak.
“In 1998, I was serving as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee when I first met Juanita after she was selected to become the new leader of WSWA. Little did I know then how much she would change the course of my life - as she did for so many others. Juanita was a force of nature. So strong and confident - beautiful and funny - and dangerously smart. Juanita gave me my start in the association world as WSWA's General Counsel, offering me the position even when I wasn't sure I was the right person for the job. When I asked her if she would support my joining the Army in the wake of 9/11, she never hesitated. And when I came back from Basic Training as a 1st Lieutenant, she started calling me "Lieutenant Dan" in that great southern tinged accent - and that memory still brings a smile to my face. It was through her mentorship that I was able to successfully take on the role of President & CEO when she departed the association in 2006 - an organization she had by force of her tremendous will, intellect, and personality - transformed into a Washington powerhouse. We have remained friends ever since and I, like everyone, was shocked to hear of her untimely passing. She will be remembered - and dearly missed. My thoughts and heartfelt prayers to her family,” said former WSWA CEO & President (2006-2019) Craig Wolf.
“Juanita’s legacy is expressed in the strength of the association she helped reinvigorate. WSWA is stronger and better because of what she did here, and her family should know what a great difference she made,” said current WSWA President & CEO Francis Creighton.