GBTA Direct Members Vie for Seats on Newly Globalized Board

The Global Business Travel Association last December established new roles for regional representation on its board of directors, introducing board seats for its Canadian, European and Latin American regions. At the time, the chairpersons of the respective local organizations were named for the seats. In the current election the Canadian and European representation is up for grabs as part of a cycle that will seat 11 of 16 total GBTA board members. Two candidates are vying for the European regional seat, while the Canadian regional seat is uncontested. Six U.S.-based members have thrown their hats into the ring for one direct member at-large seat. One current allied board member is running for re-election and one direct member is doing the same.

Europe & Canadian Regional Director Seats

Global travel and meetings manager for Denmark-based LEO Pharma, Jens Liltorp has served on the Danish Business Travel Association board of directors and as chair, and more recently served on the GBTA EU advisory board and was involved with the committee that recently crafted, proposed and passed the organization's updated bylaws. He is running for European regional director. Liltorp was critical of GBTA's track record in providing relevant content to and membership engagement for European travel buyers and suppliers. "It comes down to members' perception of GBTA still being a very U.S.-centric organization. Much of the information shared is not relevant outside of the U.S., creating a lot of noise," he said. His solution to the relevance gap is to break down the siloes in which the U.S., Europe and other facets of the GBTA membership have been working to drive member and industry trust. He described this as a "must-win battle" for the organization. Liltorp envisions an organization that delivers global standards for key performance indicators, reporting and benchmarking and that serves as a reservoir of global travel management best practices. His platform recommended GBTA to lean into its regional GBTA Hubs as platforms for dialogue and idea exchange, and to amplify the voices of the region beyond board representation to create a stronger global community. He also recommended the creation of quarterly resources to address big-picture issues—socio-economic, technological and market-oriented—to serve as ongoing guides for the managed travel industry in a rapidly changing environment.

Parexel senior director of procurement and travel Ben Park focused on the big picture in his platform statement for Europe regional director. He provided few details in what steps he might take to drive change in the GBTA organization or represent the voice of the European membership, though he praised the bylaws changes and said that he felt like a part of the GBTA organization for the first time. He put himself forth as a candidate who understands the path forward for the modern and progressive European travel manager—one who sees end-to-end travel programs as the clear future for the practice, supported by clean technology and workflows and with a clear eye on business strategy. He sees the new strategic role for travel managers as working to determine the business value of each trip and guiding their organizations toward purposeful travel. Park highlighted his role as a German leading travel management for a U.S.-based company, giving him a unique perspective of both cultures and environments. "Whether you are based in Europe or anywhere else, this is a critical time for the business travel industry," he said in his video appeal. "Business travel has changed permanently. The role of travel managers can go one of two ways. Some say we will become irrelevant, although I believe the opposite. We will become more essential than ever—so long as we find ways to demonstrate our immense strategic value to the companies we work for."

Sharlene Ketwaroo-Nanoo, category manager travel and events for Rogers Communications, is running uncontested for the Canadian regional director seat on the newly expanded GBTA board. She has been a part of the GBTA Canadian advisory board and is a founding member of the GBTA diversity, equity and inclusion committee. Her video pitch tapped into the idea that the travel industry, like no other, has felt the impact of detachment from one another brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, but she appealed to members not to be disheartened by the work ahead. Some of that important work has already been done, she said, with the renewal of GBTA bylaws and the change in organizational leadership. Her goal for GBTA is to continue that work and bring the membership together in more meaningful and constructive ways. "Volunteering with GBTA has shown me that resilience is inherent in our industry," she said. "We need to continue that push with a renewed leadership that delivers education, advocacy and connections that are not limited by borders, that recognizes what makes us unique and that allows us to learn from one another in a more meaningful way." Ketwaroo-Nanoo's platform statement focused on the promise of the future and the importance of building a cohesive membership to provide diverse opportunities and "the tools to step out of one of the most devastating periods [of] our lifetime" and to guide members as they rebuild careers and businesses "in a more innovative way."

Direct Member At-Large Candidates

BNY Mellon managing director and head of corporate services, travel and events Mick Lee has a long track record with GBTA. She currently serves as the vice chair of WinIt by GBTA, an organization that she founded in 2014 and then merged with GBTA in 2018. She participated in the committee that crafted and passed the new bylaw changes that expanded voting rights to allied members. She leaned into that issue in her platform statement emphasizing that her voice on the board would represent both allied and direct members. Her two platform pillars supported that equal loyalty. For buyers, she focused her platform on return-to-travel strategies, including the importance of targeting C-level buy-in on the value of business travel. She also outlined the critical work of getting buy-side professionals back to work if they had become unemployed or underemployed during the pandemic. For suppliers, she focused on the travel industry's financial health and the role GBTA will play in advocating for and supporting that recovery. She pushed for GBTA to align with other associations in advocacy, to form recruitment programs for the industry, particularly for women and older workers hit hard by the pandemic and to rebuild perceptions about the industry as a viable career choice.  

Halliburton senior manager for North America travel Holly McTague also worked on the bylaws committee and served the Texas Business Travel Association as both a direct and allied member for 14 years, winning the chapter's Direct Member of the Year award in 2020. While never officially serving at the national or global levels, McTague cited her work on the bylaws committee as inspiring her to do more. In her video statement, she remarked on the "good stuff" happening at GBTA and the sense of community, unification and willingness of committee leadership to listen to ideas, work through disagreements and come out the other side with solutions. "One thing that jumped out at me was that everybody's voice was heard and valued," she said. In her platform statement, she vowed to continue this work and to move the association to reflect its global membership and exert its global influence. "You have my commitment to address every problem or task with a balanced approach, and to listen to your concerns and ideas," she said. "I believe in creative solutions, but more than that, I believe that working together we can come out of this pandemic a stronger industry and association than ever before."

Current Silicon Valley Business Travel Association chapter president and Cognizant Technology Solutions regional travel director for the Americas Drew Mitchell pitched himself as a "millennial" and as an experienced buyer practitioner, industry expert and speaker and an engaged industry volunteer eager to give back to an industry that has given much to him. Mitchell pitched two primary goals in his platform statement: industry recovery and expansion and enabling the travel buyer's strategic perspective in every company. But his video appeal and notes in his platform statement outside of these two areas were unique among candidates. He described his penchant for analysis and what he would bring to the table in that regard, citing a project he conducted as part of GBTA chapter presidents' council, understanding the rate of membership loss at the local chapter level and then creating a workbook and roadmap to regaining those members. He also observed GBTA's globalization gap in India and Asia, two powerhouse regions for business travel and emerging practices in travel management. He put forth better engagement in that region as an ambition for GBTA that he could help deliver.

'Building a new GBTA together' is Salesforce senior travel manager Ryan Pierce's campaign slogan for the 2021 direct member at-large board seat. He outlined four platform pillars: trust as No. 1, along with value, innovation and—and Salesforce team culture element borrowed from Hawaii—'ohana.' He emphasized that the value an organization delivers is only as good as the trust the organization can earn from its members through trustworthy actions, not words. He committed to delivering value specifically at the chapter level, not only focusing on the larger organization. Pierce emphasized the need for GBTA to have an innovation mindset and not to be afraid of disruption. "Transformation, disruption, and agility are words that I use every day at Salesforce. I will help GBTA leadership recognize technology’s strategic importance as a critical component of the organization," he wrote in his platform statement. Finally, the concept of ohana: Pierce described how it permeates the culture at Salesforce. "We work collaboratively, take care of one another, and have fun together!" He landed the concept with the idea that GBTA supplier and buyer members now can move forward together as equals in one membership community, working and networking collaboratively. Pierce closed his video appeal with the same: "This is no longer a buyer versus supplier organization; this is a member organization, and we are better together."

"This GBTA Board election cycle allows us to incorporate new blood with fresh ideas, optimism and enthusiasm borne out of the fires and frustrations of the pandemic," MGM Studios corporate travel manager and incoming 2022 Los Angeles Business Travel Association president Lee Turner wrote in his platform statement. He cited his track record of embracing change and collaboration that allowed one of GBTA's largest chapters to flourish even during the pandemic—and vowed to deliver the same at the global level. His passion to drive industry recovery underpinned his platform. He urged voters "to provide outreach to our industry, affected colleagues and supplier partners" as the single-most-important effort right now. Turner prioritized GBTA's actions at the highest levels, engaging with governments and lawmakers to advocate and construct programs that would protect the industry from future downturns. "I am, like most of you, a hard worker just hoping to keep a roof over my head, food on the table and to enjoy every day spent in my chosen field of expertise," he wrote. "…the best way to accomplish that goal is to be an integral part of an opportunity to improve upon our association's vision."

Facebook head of global security center of excellence Erin Wilk is running for re-election as direct member at-large. Wilk has served as a co-mentor in the GBTA Ladders program since 2016 and was the GBTA Direct Member of the Year in 2017.  While Wilk was unavailable for a video presentation, her written statement outlined her experience as a board member and volunteer and a platform of trust, innovation and dedication. She described her willingness to have mature, transparent conversations; her pragmatic, unbiased approach to finding solutions and driving change; and her willingness to put forth the effort to anticipate and understand member needs. Wilk wrote about her candidacy for re-election: "For all that GBTA has given me and for all the opportunities ahead that will require leadership and business acumen, I feel called to continue to serve on the GBTA board of directors."