Susan Gurley, Executive Director for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has over 25 years experience in international development, corporate fundraising, education, and not-for-profit management. Gurley has been instrumental in expanding ACTE into Latin America, Africa & the Middle East as well as developing ACTE’s corporate social responsibility and data privacy and traveler security initiatives. Under her leadership, she initiated ACTE’s first carbon-low conference and has been a leading voice in educating the industry on the need for sustainable green business practices. Gurley has also advocated for more transparent data privacy regulations and has taken the lead in voicing her concerns against the down loading at U.S. ports of entry of sensitive materials contained in electronic devices. Her comments on ACTE’s initiatives have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, Der Spiegel, International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, BBC, and NPR.
Before joining ACTE, she served as the Assistant Dean of International and Graduate Programs at Georgetown University Law Center (Law Center). During her tenure at the Law Center, she created the Law School’s first National Security Law Certificate and the International Human Rights Law Certificate programs. Gurley also served as an Adjunct Faculty Member teaching a course on International Law Perspectives.
Prior to joining the Law Center, Gurley opened the Washington, D.C. office for the East West Management Institute (EWMI) a not for profit organization providing legal and fiscal reform assistance to developing countries. As Director of the D.C. office, she won EWMI’s first Asian Law Development Bank project and thus, expanded EWMI’s development portfolio from Central and Eastern Europe to Asia. Gurley also worked for four years as a senior legal reform expert at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she developed and managed complex legal reform, policy and training projects. Gurley also served as Special Assistant to Commissioner Ann Graham at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for three years. In that capacity, she worked on child safety issues and helped ban three Wheeled All Terrain Vehicles and Lawn Darts. Gurley has a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and speaks French Hungarian, and German. She is a member of the Virginia Bar.
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For the past four years, Michele has held the position of Director of Travel and Procurement for the U.S. firms of Deloitte reporting directly to the Chief Procurement Officer, with responsibility for all facets of travel operations and procurement including agency and online booking, airlines, hotels, car rental, and ground transportation. Additionally, Michele is responsible for meetings procurement at Deloitte. A team of 1 manager and 9 sourcing members respond to more than 1,200 meeting requests annually, locating hotel and conference center space for internal clients across the U.S. (The meeting planning function is managed separately.)
Separate from her travel responsibilities Michele is also responsible for all Non-Technology Procurement for the U.S. firms of Deloitte, which includes managing spend of approximately $100 million in the following categories:
Prior to her Director position, she held various positions in Travel Procurement and Travel Sourcing, within her 7-year tenure at Deloitte and with her previous employer, JP Morgan Chase, previously Bank One Corporation.
Michele holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and a B.A. in Computer Information Systems from Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas.
Mary Casey is the Vice President of Strategic Accounts for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, based in New York. She is responsible for the growth and development of business and partnership opportunities with Starwood´s biggest and most complex global customers. During her twenty year career with ITT Sheraton and then Starwood, Mary has held a series of diverse and increasingly responsible operational and corporate roles both in Europe and in the United States.
Those roles have included Director of Sales for Europe based in Brussels, Belgium, General Manager of the Sheraton Skyline Hotel and Conference Center at London´s Heathrow Airport and Vice President Six Sigma for Starwood´s Corporate, Technology and Revenue Systems Group in North America. Immediately prior to her latest role Mary was the Vice President of Sales Product Development, where she led the development and rollout of Starwood´s suite of new meeting technology tools.
Mary grew up in Scotland and is a gradate of The University of Edinburgh. She now retains her links with her homeland through her role as a GlobalScot - . where she works with other Scots around the world to who are committed to advancing Scotland´s economic success.
Caro Cook is the Chief of Transportation at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this role, she is responsible for 3500 travelers around the world and a global T&E budget of over $100 million. She is also responsible for the procurement and negotiation of all the travel products which includes, airlines, hotels, ground transportation services and travel technology. These contracts represent millions of dollars in spend to the IMF. Cook set up the IMF as its own travel agency, while still outsourcing the travel process to a TMC.
Cook began her career in sports sponsorship and PR before moving into the leisure market in the United Kingdom where she worked for nine years for one of the top four tour operating companies. There she was responsible for product, customer delivery, and the profit and loss of 21 business units around the world. She subsequently set up her own consulting business where she worked with blue chip clients such as The Whitbread Company. Cook's involvement in the world of business travel began with the IMF, where she has been for eight years. Through her entire career she has been tasked with delivering "top class" service to customers.
For more information about the International Monetary Fund, please click here.
Richard Crum is a senior executive with global management experience and recognized leadership ability. He has over 15 years of travel industry experience including 10 with the corporate card industry. Crum is a dynamic and entertaining public speaker who is often called upon to speak on corporate card and travel industry subjects including globalization of travel programs, airline industry distribution, technology, and corporate social responsibility within the travel industry.
As AirPlus president, Richard Crum is responsible for the overall development and management of AirPlus business in the US. AirPlus International Inc. is the US subsidiary of the European market leader in corporate travel payment systems and management information reporting solutions. AirPlus is the only travel payment company that delivers the detailed data and sophisticated tools necessary for true travel expense management.
Prior to joining AirPlus in October 2003, Crum served as president and chairman of the board of UATP (Universal Air Travel Plan), where he was responsible for the overall brand development, membership growth and strategic direction of the international airline industry corporate charge card program of which AirPlus is the largest member. UATP is issued by 15 airlines worldwide and accepted by virtually every airline as a form of payment for the purchase of tickets.
Crum joined UATP in 1996 after working at the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). At ATA, he served on several industry standards committees. Most notably, Crum began and served as secretariat of the ATA Electronic Marketplace Committee. The work of these committees resulted in the development of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) and Orbitz.
Crum is a graduate of George Mason University with a degree in Economics.
For more information about AirPlus International, please click here.
FCm Travel Solutions’ Regional Director EMEA & Latin America, Brian Donnelly, plays a key role in the strategic development of their partner network in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Brian is responsible for the selection of suitable network partners from all countries and also supports his colleagues in the Asia Pacific and the Americas with the selection processes in these regions. He dedicates significant time to researching, recruiting and inducting leading travel companies in to the FCm Partner Programme ensuring that they all have the capabilities and long-term commitment to effectively service FCm Travel Solutions’ regional and multinational clients.
Brian ensures all network partners adhere to FCm Travel Solutions’ uniform Operating Standards, Branding Guidelines and Preferred Supplier Programs, so they are able to provide a consistently high level of service worldwide.
His appointment to FCm Travel Solutions in September 2004 followed more than three years as Vice President of Network Development with TQ3 Travel Solutions, and a distinguished career in travel management that commenced with P & O Lines in London. Highlights of Brian’s career include:
Bruce Finch is the Director, Global Travel and Workplace Sustainability Programs for Autodesk, Inc., the world's leading design software and digital content company based in San Rafael, California.
Bruce began his travel career at Eastern Airlines in New York in 1977 working in the sales and in-flight services areas. In 1987, Bruce purchased Around the World Travel, a Boston-area travel agency, which he managed until 1995.
Bruce served as the Manager of Travel Operations at the Gillette Company in Boston and as the Senior Manager of Global Travel for FleetBoston Financial, then the nation’s 7th largest financial institution prior to merging with Bank of America.
Bruce received his bachelor's degree in Geography from Salem State College with a concentration in Travel and Tourism. He has received his CTA and CTC certifications from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, and his CCTE certification from the National Business Travel Association. Bruce has served as chairperson of the technology committee for the New England Business Travel Association, co-chair of the NBTA technology committee and as a member of the finance committee for ACTE.
Firstly, I am a young South African, (37yrs old), who has been in the Travel Business for 11yrs and have been through the critical dos with our Travel Industry, from airlines & hotels dropping their commission to introduction of on-line of booking engines. But in spite of these changes, our company has done very well as a Travel Management Company.
I am the Managing Director of Travel with Flair and have seen our company grow from 8 people when we first started in 1995 to over 170 people countrywide. We have a turnover of R600 million per annum and we ran a very well aided machine.
Our travel group, Travel with Flair has also been awarded the Best Travel Agency for 2007 at the Welcome Awards, so that says that we are doing something right in our industry.
We have sort out the best technologies available in the travel industry to give us the competitive edge. I do believe that we can educate both the TMC’s and other travel co-ordinators with what is best in the market because we have done the metamorphosis. We run a paperless back-office and our service levels surpass most of our competitors.
I do believe that ACTE needs a person of colour on the board to give a different and fresh perspective, especially which I am a shareholder and Managing Director of a group that has done so well in this industry. Our group has been awarded a “AAA” rating by empowerdex, which is the highest rating ever given to an empowered Travel Agency.
I have great passion for what I do, and I believe if u love what you are doing, you can only excel.
In my younger days, I was a model, and then I decided to study, was an “A” student through school and got great graded at University. I was the 1st black student to tutor accounting at Rhodes University and you had to get an “A” to be able to tutor.
I studied to be an accountant and I did my articles with KPMG. I do believe that to manage your business well, you need accounting as a base so it has helped me over the years to grow our business.
I have also been a talk-show host on SABC2 running my own business programme called “Women on the Move”. The programme focused on Successful Business Women from diverse industries.
In closing, I am a woman of woman of many talents and believe I have done well with my talents. I was nominated for “Successful Women in Business or Government” award in 2006.
Qualifications for the Board Member Role include the following:
Reasons for running for the ACTE Board:
Since one of the visions of ACTE is to strengthen the membership base globally and be recognized as the leading voice within the travel industry by providing guidance, advice and education on a truly global level, I believe I could add value by my extensive involvement and experience in Africa in the procurement area and in particular, travel.
Some of the reasons for running for ACTE Board are largely related to the market in which I am active, namely Sub-Saharan Africa where I see much room for growth and development. These emerging markets are having to move fast to reach the levels of Europe and USA within the travel industry. ACTE could be instrumental in creating opportunities to enable the African markets to grow and develop through guidance, advice, education and innovation.
A native of Montreal, Annemarie’s career started 20 years ago in the hotel industry in various sales and relationship management positions in luxury hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, The Four Seasons and The Sutton Place Hotel. After 6 years in the hotel industry, she transitioned to the Travel & Expense Management field with American Express where she held a number of positions such as Sales & Relationship Manager, Director of Relationship Management and finally, Director of Business Development and Strategic Acquisitions where she lead the Canadian strategic sales and implementations of corporate travel and card programs for several global organizations.
Today, Annemarie is currently employed with MDS Inc, headquartered in Toronto Ontario as the Manager of Global Suppler Relationships applying her proven experience in vendor negotiations, supplier relationship management and strategic business planning. In addition to managing the Global MDS travel program that operates in 10 countries, she also has responsibilities for the global T& E Corporate Card and Pcard programs.
In January, 2007, Annemarie assumed the role of Regional Chair for ACTE Canada Canada (please remove this extra Canada) with a passion and focus on continuing the momentum of delivering dynamic and robust educational programs coupled with more than ever networking events. Additionally, with the support of a strong committee of volunteers, team Canada will focus on creating strategies to continue to grow our membership across Canada.
Meredith Smith is Travel Manager Asia Pacific and Japan for Merck & Co., Inc, located in Singapore. In this role she is responsible for all travel strategy including defining the business requirements, data capture and reporting, policy and compliance, issue resolution, process design and execution.
She holds a New Zealand passport but due to the large amount of time spent in Australia and her British husband, her accent can be ambiguous.
With over 12 years experience in Hotels, Meredith started her career in Australia working for Hyatt Hotels in both Queensland and Melbourne for 9+ years at Hyatt Regency Coolum, Grand Hyatt Melbourne and Park Hyatt Melbourne. Whilst in Melbourne she furthered her education at night school at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and then joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts as pre-opening Revenue Manager for The Westin Melbourne. Meredith then relocated to Sydney as Revenue Manager based at Sheraton on the Park.
In late 2002 she joined global online travel company ‘Expedia’ and spent 3 years as Market Manager working with all hotels in the APAC region before a short 6 months in Executive Travel recruitment in both Sydney and Singapore. In early 2006 she moved to Singapore permanently to join Intel as Regional Travel Manager for Greater Asia, where her regional team sourced and managed all aspects of Travel in countries from India to Japan and China to New Zealand.
Her role then changed to be Global Sourcing Manager – Lodging and Immigration. Lodging covered global responsibilities from transient accommodation to relocation and extended stay. Immigration was the Sourcing of suppliers to handle expatriate visas.
In Jan 08, she moved to her current role with Merck & Co., Inc. and will begin her three-year term on the ACTE Board in January 2009.
Megan has 8 years experience on the corporate side of the travel industry covering global hotel sourcing, and Greater Europe, Asia and Latin America Sourcing travel manager. Today, Megan has overall responsibility for the strategic sourcing program covering all travel related areas such as Agency, hotel, ground transportation, air and meetings as well as relocation and immigration with her global team. She is Irish/Australian/South African by nationality and grew up in Africa. She has an MSc in Dietetics and Psychology and a higher diploma in Secondary Education from the University of Cape Town along with a diploma in Sports Psychology from the University of South Africa.
She has worked for Intel in both marketing events management and procurement for 12 years in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and England in a regional and global role. Prior to Intel she worked for Warner Lambert Park Davis in an Events manager capacity for 2 years.
