The Association of Corporate Travel Executives this week announced that executive director Susan Gurley has resigned and will leave the organization Dec. 31. Deputy executive director Megan Costello will serve in Gurley's role on an interim basis beginning Dec. 1, while Gurley stays on through the transition.
Gurley will pursue an opportunity within the federal government sector, ACTE said. She notified ACTE of her plans to leave the association in June, ACTE president and AirPlus International president Richard Crum told
BTN.
An executive search committee has been formed, and the review process will be conducted with the board of directors. Crum said the committee will begin the candidate interview process after the holiday season, and he plans to announce Gurley's replacement by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
Gurley joined ACTE in the top staff post in 2005 after serving as assistant dean of international and graduate programs at the Georgetown University Law Center
(BTNonline, May 16, 2005). During her tenure at ACTE, she oversaw the association's expansion in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. "She also convened the first carbon-low conference within the industry. In conjunction with the ACTE leadership, she introduced a number of issues to the industry that held considerable significance for both business and leisure travelers—such as the border laptop search and seizure questions," Crum said in a prepared statement. "Sensitive to the impact of business travel on the environment, she was on of the first proponents and pioneers of making corporate social responsibility a key agenda for the travel association industry."
While Gurley's tenure saw the association's expansion and growth in industry advocacy, it more recently faced turmoil as several ACTE board members engaged in merger discussions with the National Business Travel Association. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Gurley would have had to vacate her position
(BTNonline, Aug. 17). In the wake of the failed merger discussions, several board members and ACTE president Doug Weeks resigned, and several large corporate travel suppliers expressed their concerns about financially supporting both organizations
(BTNonline, June 22). In addition to that activity, ACTE's "strategic alliance" with the Professional Convention Management Association fell apart.