CLAUDE BURNS, USN

Claude Burns is an Oakland-based serial food and beverage entrepreneur whose companies have been featured in Fortune, Food and Wine, Urban Daddy, and Liquid Bread. Now as CEO of Office Libations, a corporate refreshment service, and Ale Tales, a specialty bottle shop with multiple locations, Claude currently employs 15 people who have grown the enterprise 100% YoY since its founding in 2014.

Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Physics and a French minor, Claude served on board aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. After deployment, he led a division of over 30 sailors and numerous civilians to complete a nine-month shipyard refurbishment and communications systems upgrade. Thereafter, Claude served as Deputy CIO at the Center for SEAL and SWCC, a command focused on professional development and selection of Navy SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen.

Following release from active duty, Claude earned his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he focused on entrepreneurship and launched his first company, Noble Brewer, a subscription/e-commerce beer brand that featured award-winning homebrewers and their beers. Claude serves as the San Francisco Bay Area City Leader for Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit supporting veteran entrepreneurs.