Board and governance
A chief executive who has sat on the other side of the table.
Board and governance service in travel, hospitality and service businesses.
I have spent most of my career in governance rooms as well as running an operating business, and the two inform each other in ways that are difficult to acquire separately.
What I bring
- An operator’s read on a management team. I run a company of this kind, so I know which numbers are load bearing, which explanations are real, and which questions a chief executive hopes nobody asks.
- Distribution and commercial depth in luxury travel and hospitality, which is a genuinely specialized market that outsiders consistently misread.
- Experience of binding governance rather than stated values. We converted Avenue Two Travel to a Pennsylvania benefit corporation and amended the charter so environmental and societal impact must be weighed. I understand what that obligation feels like from the inside, including when it is inconvenient.
- Corporate development experience, including transactions negotiated at platform level.
- A willingness to be the dissenting voice. I built an advisory board elected by our own independent advisors, which is a body with standing to disagree with me. I did that on purpose.
Current service
- Forbes Travel Guide Standards Advisory Committee
Member, term 2026 to 2027 - Abercrombie and Kent Travel Group Advisory Board
Member - AFAR Travel Advisory Council
One of fourteen members - Avenue Two Advisory Board
Founder and convener - Virtuoso Global Member Advisory Board
Former Chair, retired 2022
What I am looking for
Boards where the business is genuinely operating rather than only fundraising, where the chair wants argument rather than agreement, and where I can commit properly. I would rather serve on two boards well than five badly.