The SITE Foundation is pleased to introduce a distinguished list of global travel, hospitality, and corporate industry leaders who will serve on the SITE Foundation’s Executive Committee and Board of Trustees effective Jan. 1, 2015.
Kurt Paben, President, Channel & Employee Loyalty, Aimia will serve a second year as SITE Foundation President.
“I am honoured to be serving for a second term as SITE Foundation President with such a distinguished group of executives representing all disciplines in the global travel and hospitality industry and am excited to work with them to continue the momentum from 2014,” stated Mr. Paben. “We are proud of the SITE Foundation’s many accomplishments in 2014 including a $115,000 grant to support the development of three new education courses for SITE; completion of a joint rebranding effort; release of a study of corporate executives’ viewpoint of incentive travel; debut of a new and improved SITE Index; release of a second Procurement Study in partnership with IMEX; the creation of a consolidated Sponsorship Prospectus and three, record-breaking fundraising events – SITE Nite Europe, SITE Nite North America and SITE Classic.”
Serving with Mr. Paben as officers in 2015 on the SITE Foundation Executive Committee are:
- Immediate Past President: Jane Schuldt, CITE, CIS, President, World Marketing Group Ltd.
- President-Elect: Denise Dornfield, President North America, Allied PRA
- Vice President – Fundraising: Rhea Stagner, Vice-President Supplier Relations, Sourcing and Proposal Development, Maritz Travel
- Vice President – Finance: Jonathan Caplan, Divisional Director of Sales North America, Franchise Full Service, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide
- Vice President- Research and Education: Tina Weede, President, US Motivation
- SITE Chief Excellence Officer: Kevin Hinton
- SITE Foundation Managing Director: Janene Powers
Returning SITE Foundation Trustees for 2015 include:
- Carina Bauer, CEO, IMEX Regent Exhibitions
- John J. Iannini, CTC, CIS, Vice President, Meetings & Events America, Melia Hotels International
- Martin Lewis, Managing Director, CAT Publications
- Larry Luteran, Senior Vice President, Group Sales and Industry Relations, Hilton Worldwide
- Lynn Pavony, Director of Incentive Sales, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
- Michele Samoulides, Senior Manager, Microsoft Corporation
The SITE Foundation would also like to welcome the following new trustees:
- Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, SoolNua
- Rajeev Kohli, SITE President-Elect and Joint Managing Director, Creative Travel Pvt. Ltd.
- Jimmy Romo, General Manager, Specialty Sales, Delta Airlines
- Aileen Zerbonia, Senior Manager, Corporate Events, Informatica
Jane E Schuldt, CITE, CIS, 2014 Nominating Chair added, “I would like to extend three special thanks. First, to my fellow trustees for supporting our nominating process to build a Foundation board qualified to serve the diverse needs and represent the global culture of SITE. Second, to my fellow nominating committee members Carina Bauer, IMEX Exhibitions, Madelyn Marusa, AlliedPRA, Larry Luteran, Hilton Worldwide, and Steve O’Malley, Maritz Travel for their dedication to the task at hand. Last, and most important, thanks to our returning and new trustees for their commitment to serve. I am confident that SITE will benefit greatly from the composition of the board of trustees, now expanded to include the critical voice of an international airline, Jimmy Romo, Delta Airlines; the international perspective of Padraic Gilligan of SoolNua, and the corporate insight of Aileen Zerbonia of Informatica.”
The SITE Foundation pays tribute to the following trustees who are retiring their board positions:
- Mark Andrew, Regional Vice-President & General Manager, Fairmont Georgetown
- Mark Bondy, Partner and President, VIKTOR Incentives & Meetings
- Bob Postins, CMM, Head of Events, Amway Europe Ltd.
- Roger Tondeur, President, MCI Group
“I want to recognize and express our appreciation to the retiring trustees for their tireless commitment and contributions to the success of the Foundation,” continued Mr. Paben.
A not-for-profit organization, the mission of the SITE Foundation is to enhance the awareness and effectiveness of incentive travel and motivational events thereby increasing use globally. The Foundation’s primary goal is to develop fundraising initiatives resulting in donations from individuals, corporations and industry organizations to facilitate research, trend analysis and educational programs for the global incentive travel market. Major funding is also realized through three, popular annual fundraising events:
- SITE Nite Europe, 18 May 2015, Frankfurt, Germany
- SITE Classic, 27-30 September 2015, Nassau, Bahamas
- SITE Nite North America, 12 October 2015, Las Vegas, Nevada
