Meeting Professionals International (MPI) has selected its 2016 Board of Directors, it announced this week.
"The new slate of directors includes proven leaders within their own organizations and joins a group of dedicated and knowledgeable board members ready to drive and deliver extraordinary value to our members," said MPI Board Development Committee Chair and MPI Immediate Past Chair for 2014-2015 Michael Dominguez, senior vice president and chief sales officer at MGM Resorts International. "These bold leaders will contribute to moving forward our global meeting and event community."
At the helm of the new board will be Fiona Pelham (pictured), managing director of Sustainable Events Ltd. and Positive Impact, who will assume the role of board chair. Pelham has been an active MPI member for 10 years and previously served as president of the association's United Kingdom and Ireland Chapter. She was also a member of MPI's Corporate Social Responsibility Advisory Council from 2010 through 2012.
"MPI is very fortunate to have such a distinguished group of volunteer leaders serving on our board to help drive the strategy for the future of our association," said MPI President and CEO Paul Van Deventer. "We know with this esteemed group of leaders, each board member's contributions will further strengthen MPI, benefitting our members and our industry."
Pending approval by MPI members, the new board will take office effective Jan. 1, 2016.
2016 MPI Board of Directors - Officers:
• Chair: Fiona Pelham, Managing Director, Sustainable Events Ltd and Positive Impact (Manchester, U.K.)
• Chair-Elect: Brian Stevens, Chief Executive Officer, ConferenceDirect (Los Angeles)
• Vice Chairman of Finance: Amanda Armstrong, CMP, Corporate Travel and Meetings Director, Enterprise Holdings Inc. (St. Louis)
• Immediate Past Chair: Kevin Kirby, The Kirby Consulting Group (Orlando)
2016 MPI Board of Directors - Members:
• Krzysztof Celuch Ph.D., CMM, CITE, CIS, HMCC, Assistant Professor/Vice-Rector, Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management; Head of Poland Convention Bureau, Polish Tourist Organization (Warsaw, Poland)
• Angie Duncan, CMP, CMM, U.S. Client Account Specialist, Touch Associates (Indianapolis)
• Annette Gregg, CMP, CMM, MBA, Vice President, Conferences, LPL Financial (San Diego)
• Anne Hamilton, Vice President, Global Travel, Disney Worldwide Shared Services (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
• Gerrit Jessen, CMP, CMM, Regional Managing Director Germany, Austria and Czech Republic, MCI Deutschland GmbH (Berlin)
• Michael Massari, Vice President of Meeting Sales & Operations, Caesars Entertainment (Las Vegas)
• Audra Narikawa, CMP, Vice President, Senior Manager, Travel and Meetings, Capital Group (Los Angeles)
• Kevin Olsen, President, One Smooth Stone (Downers Grove, IL)
• Steve O'Malley, President, Maritz Travel, M&I Division (St. Louis)
• Ken Sanders, President, Freeman Audio Visual Solutions (Dallas)
• Courtney Stanley, Strategic Partnership Manager, EventMobi (Grand Haven, MI)
• Marti Winer, Chief of Staff, Drew University (Madison, NJ)
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