SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Lisa Curtin has 20-plus years of experience in the tourism industry, holding senior management roles in operations and sales. In her tenure with ET- Educational Tours and Brightspark Travel US, Lisa and her teams were responsible for the operation of all tours, including contracting with suppliers. Lisa changed the course of her career in 2016, joining Caldwell CPAs as chief operations officer. There, Lisa has added her knowledge of the tour industry to the firm’s expertise in taxation and combined the two to serve the tourism industry. Caldwell CPAs is now known as Compass US Accountants & Advisors. Lisa consults to the tourism industry, having presented at numerous industry conferences.

Heather is a board-certified art therapist and licensed mental health counselor based in Indianapolis. In addition to her private practice, she leverages her many years of military service, private sector leadership experience, and almost a decade of working in the mental health field to offer professional development in a consultation capacity. Through speaking engagements, workplace training, and one-on-one consultations, Heather has spent the last four years consulting with travel industry professionals on how to bring mental health awareness into the workplace, prevent burnout, and communicate effectively. 

President and CEO of Future Partners, Erin has spent the last two decades studying travelers from across the globe and translating their evolving, complex, and fascinating behaviors and opinions into marketing insights for Future Partners’ 200-plus clients. Erin has designed research strategies and facilitated consumer research for some of the world’s greatest destination brands, from Bermuda to Fiji, Florida to California. Erin currently serves on the international board of directors for the Travel and Tourism Research Association and supports the greater travel industry through projects for the US Travel Association, Destinations International, and numerous tourism associations.

Jeff is the founder of NTA Corporate Partner The Ment Law Group. He has 30 years of experience representing many types of travel companies and professionals, including tour operators, vendors, DMCs, travel agents, transportation companies, and trade associations. Jeff counsels clients on the industry’s best practices, including contract terms, compliance with government regulations, risk assessment, crisis response, and employment issues. Jeff also represents travel companies in litigation throughout the country. His background in the industry includes working as a travel agent, a tour guide, and a sales manager for two airlines.

Our keynote speaker at Contact is the “Chief Well-being Officer” at Chasing the Sun. After spending his career leading award-winning public relations and communications programs for brands such as Adobe, Microsoft, and the U.S. Army—and after losing and keeping off 150 pounds over the last 15 years—Mark founded Chasing the Sun to help companies design a culture of well-being to retain healthy employees and create a healthy bottom line. Chasing the Sun’s team and enterprise-wide well-being programs deliver relatable, practical, and actionable solutions.

Arshad Noor is the CTO of StrongKey, a California company. With nearly 40 years of experience in information technology, he was reluctantly brought into the information security sector 26 years ago. Based on root-cause analysis and technology invented more than 30 years ago, the risk-management strategy he developed exceeds data security regulatory requirements in any jurisdiction. Arshad’s goal is to make this strategy affordable to small and medium enterprises so they can carry on with business and their lives.

Laura Powell has been an international travel industry and wellness tourism analyst and consultant for more than 30 years. She started her career at CNN, helping to establish CNN International and CNN’s travel programming. After leaving CNN, Laura established a consultancy specializing in tourism and wellness. Over the years, she has worked with scores of destinations, public relations firms, hotel companies, and organizations that include the European Travel Commission, the Global Wellness Institute, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and the U.S. Travel Association. Currently focused on wellness tourism consulting, Laura works with destinations and hotel companies looking to develop and expand wellness tourism product, and she speaks regularly at travel and wellness industry conferences.

Andrea is dedicated to bringing business owners and entrepreneurs clarity when it comes to their companies. As an entrepreneur herself, she used this clarity to start and scale a global company. Andrea founded an award-winning Southeast Asian tourism company called Journeys Within. During her time there, she grew revenue to $3 million and opened offices in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The company was successfully acquired by Wild Frontiers, and Andrea stayed on to grow U.S. operations. Andrea resides in Reno, Nevada, with six kids always running in and out of the house: two adopted, two biological, and two stepchildren. When not working, she loves to travel and be out in nature.

Drawing on her travel experiences to haunted and obscure destinations Dianna has been researching and writing about the world of dark tourism for nearly 30 years. She has a long-standing career in promotion and marketing in her home state of Michigan, and, as an armchair historian, she is the author of two books: Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses and Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes.

Michelle Stark is vice president of sales and marketing for Red Sage Communications, an Alabama-based agency serving clients nationally in destination-attraction-place marketing and consumer brand building. Advising Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley startups alike, Michelle and her team have designed award-winning strategies and powerful outcomes for partners across the Southeast, including many of the region’s premier destinations, attractions, and conferences. Michelle is also an Emmy Award-winning former television news anchor and technology reporter for ABC and CBS affiliates. As a natural storyteller, she has served as a featured speaker, moderator, and panelist for organizations that include the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama and the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.

Greg has been the CEO of Tourism Cares since 2019. He previously served on its board, acting as its chairman before becoming CEO. Prior to Tourism Cares, Greg was the President of Trip Mate Inc., a travel insurance administrator. He began his 36-year career in the travel and tourism industry at The Mark Travel Corporation, where he served as general counsel. Greg has served on the boards of NTA, the IGLTA Foundation, and the U.S. Travel Association, as well as numerous industry committees. He is from Chicago and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University in St. Louis.