Organizational Leadership

The Vision 2025 project began as a seven-year movement taking a deeper dive into the future of San Francisco Travel as an organization and a destination. The goal of the planning process was to be transparent and inclusive in the development of a final strategic plan. Engaging with staff and stakeholders, everyone was invited to share their opinions and insights throughout the process.

The Vision 2025 plan was eventually parsed into 20 interrelated initiatives that focused on:

• Developing the destination of the future
• Leveraging technology for global engagement
• Advocating for a positive visitor experience
• Evolving meeting and tourism infrastructure
• Embracing innovations and partnerships to exceed evolving visitor experiences

As part of the Leadership team, I co-led the Board Governance and Innovative Thinking initiatives, which focused on active board engagement and creating a culture of change within the organization, respectively. I was an active contributor to the DMO Effectiveness initiative team that examined and evaluated the organization’s metrics for effectiveness and tourism's impact on visitors, stakeholders and the community.

Fresh from graduate school, I was recruited to establish and operate a new visitor’s bureau for the city of Vacaville, California, to drive economic impact and create a more vibrant community for its residents.

Applying research-based intelligence and community feedback, I set out to lay the groundwork and building blocks of the organization:

• Develop a five-year strategic plan with 27 board members, key stakeholders and members of the community; develop and implement a three-year marketing plan
• Deploy board engagement strategies to generate enthusiasm and boost active participation
• Craft policies and procedures and set baseline organizational goals
• Staff recruitment, coaching and motivation
• Community engagement to introduce and raise awareness of the organization
• Cultivate relationships with neighboring destinations and initiate a five-city joint cross-promotional marketing campaign
• Secure office space in a visible and well-trafficked location for visitors

Demonstrating fiducial responsibility and marketing creativity, I influenced City officials to maintain the organization’s financial support after year one and increase overall funding by 6% after year two. I successfully advocated for extending the annual renewal process to two years allowing time for marketing momentum and more substantial results reporting.