Founder and CEO at Modern Elder Academy (MEA), NYT Best-Selling Author, Speaker

Chip Conley is on a mission. After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the world, and then as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Conley co-founded Modern Elder Academy in January 2018.

Founder and CEO of The Transformational Travel Council

Jake Haupert is a recognized figure in the field of transformative tourism and is shepherding the Transformational Travel Council (TTC) and is Chair of its Institute. He and his team guide purpose-driven travel leaders, brands, and destinations in understanding and embracing sustainability practices, regenerative development, the transformation economy, and transformative experience development.

President of Mind Body Spirit Network

Wellness Travel Expert / Transformational Retreat Leader/ / Facilitator & Moderator/ Expertise in Spa, Hospitality, Wellness Tourism/ Motivational Coach

Sallie Fraenkel is recognized as an expert in Wellness Travel and Tourism. Through her leadership as COO of SpaFinder, EVP of the Global Wellness Summit and President of her own consulting practice, Fraenkel has developed a global reputation and knowledge of the transformation economy, retreat experience design and wellness travel.

Professor, Author & Facilitator

Anu is a passionate bridge-builder and discomfort doctor. She brings people together to engage with themselves and each other with more clarity, consideration and care, especially around issues of identity, difference, historical trauma, inequity and social justice. Perhaps the greatest compliment she’s received: “Anu pushes the conversation without pushing people away.”

B Tourism + Sustainable Hospitality, B Corp Banking, Travel & Real Estate Development

Jared Meyers is a passionate advocate for sustainable business practices, leveraging his expertise to enhance social, environmental, and economic conditions through Certified B Corporations and the Business for Good movement. He drives positive impact with B Corps like Legacy Vacation Resorts, Salt Palm Development, and Climate First Bank, emphasizing compassion, interconnectedness, and equity.

Co-Founder + Guide + Managing Partner, Conscious Leaders Quest

Ron’s passion and expertise lie in helping leaders discover the best version of themselves, enabling them to cultivate the same in those they impact. Positive change happens through businesses and leaders who create healing environments with psychological safety for everyone. Over the past 25 years as the founder and CEO of a purpose-driven company, Ron has walked this path, understanding that the greatest organizational change, alignment, and clarity come when the top leader goes through the eye of the needle. Ron’s lived experience empowers him to guide others through this imperfect journey.

CEO | Wanderwell Travel Insurance

Erin, aka Fish, is native Oregonian and global citizen who has had the good fortune and desire to visit dozens of countries, cultures, and natural habitats, always seeking to soak in other customs, myths, music, dance, rhythms, and living systems.

Motivated by the desire to provide positive insurance experiences for travelers and businesses, and to create an insurance company built on a foundation of accountability, transparency, equity, and environmental stewardship, he co-founded Wanderwell - an engaged Certified B Corp, 1% for the Planet business member, and TTC ALLY!

Co-Founder & CEO of Onward (Groups & Sports Travel)

Born in Iran, her family fled to Austria during the early years of war, and Aniseh moved to the US as a teenager. Moving homes, continents, lives, many times before adulthood, then after university, working in various countries in tourism & travel, she considers herself a wanderer, a citizen of the world and a believer in travel as the best form of education. Aniseh believes purpose-driven, conscientious travel is a natural path to building collective empathy and world peace. Onward, with a team of experts, manages group travel for first-time explorers, school and college students, professional athletic clubs and national teams. Aniseh continues to learn about transformational travel and values the deep and meaningful issues TTC brings to light.

Representative Partner of Small Impact LLC

Takai is a late career starter in the travel industry, currently stationed in Tokyo. He holds two master's degrees, including one from the University of Michigan. He has traveled globally for IT and finance, working as an expatriate in the US, Asia, and Europe.

He is now producing new wellness experiences in under-tourism locations in Japan in regenerative and high-context ways. His projects for authentic Japanese forest bathing and onsen (hot spa) bathing are going live. He presented on “Amboseli National Park (Kenya) – Recommendations for Park Management and Regenerative Tourism” at the GSTC Academic Symposium in Stockholm last April. goes here

Leekyung Han is a well-seasoned real estate developer with a specialty in hospitality and wellness related real estate development. With a master in Arch from Harvard University, a master in real estate development from USC and a bachelor of science in architecture from University of Michigan, she had served an executive positions in USA, Abu Dhabi in UAE, Hong Kong, China before she moved to Seoul, Korea in 2018. Her key projects include the master plan of the cultural precinct on Saadiyat island, Abu Dhabi, the first holistic wellness retreat in Shanghai and Suzhou, and a reposition of Claremont resort, Berkely, CA, and many hotel and resort projects in the USA and Asia. She is an author of two books, Anything About Hotels and Anything About Wellness. She is a public speaker and sits on various advisory roles in Korea. She is also an ambassador at Global Wellness Institute.

Founder and CEO of Simple Impact LLC,  a financial investment company

Shãn Sutherland is a financial advisor passionate about investing with intention.  She is known for promoting diversity and inclusion in the capitalism structure.  Her work includes financial literacy workshops and videos, life stage financial coaching, initiatives promoting women onto boards of publicly traded companies, and investment strategies implementing proprietary measurements of masculine-feminine balance, while planning for one’s future.  Disclosures here: https://www.simpleimpactllc.com/our-team

Shãn is married to Todd and lives in RenoTahoe where she embraces environmental stewardship, healthy outdoor lifestyle, arts and culture preservation.   Her current board positions include the Olivia Headley Foundation,  and the Southern Oregon University Foundation Investment Committee.

Founder VITAL Ventures LLC

Founder of Greenopia, author of Living with a Green Heart

Gay Browne, the Founder of Greenopia, a sustainable living app that makes eco-friendly choices easier for busy people. Inspired by her health challenges and passion for sustainability, Gay created Greenopia as a trusted source for verified green businesses and products. The platform focuses on product health, business sustainability, social equity, and community engagement.  With a background in advertising and public relations, Gay also advocates for sustainable innovation, serving on various boards, including Waterkeeper Alliance and Ford Motor Company's Sustainability Council. She has received multiple awards for her environmental work and continues to inspire change through her writing, public speaking, and leadership. Gay is also the author of Living With A Green Heart and graduated from Harvard’s ALI Cohort Class 2015.  She has three adult children and one grandson.

Philanthropist, Hillcrest Committee

Dana Smith is a philanthropist located in Southern Oregon, serving on the Hillcrest Committee and as a Cancer Champion with the Heimann Cancer Center.  These organizations have the common goal of providing cancer research and patient support.  

Dana is married with three kids and enjoys instructing tennis at Ashland Tennis & Fitness Club.  With a background in education (Masters of Education), she chooses to evolve and learn by forming relationships that impact the culture in which she lives. 

 She is eager to learn from professionals how philanthropy and intentional travel collide. 

Founder and Head of Awareness, Brand and Culture

Pamela Cruse is co-founder and chief marketing officer of Soul Community Planet (SCP). In her role, she helps lead the formation of SCP's holistic hospitality brand and culture.

Understanding that today's travelers more and more want to refresh their bodies and souls, Ms. Cruse focuses on applying the holistic values of the company to a range of branded experiences and to the launch of hotels, restaurants, bars, marketplaces, recreational activities and consumer goods.

Ms. Cruse is a seasoned marketing executive, including tenure at Marriott International, the leading global lodging company, and Gannett's flagship USA Today publication.

Ms. Cruse is an active member of her community having served on the PTF board of St. Margaret's Episcopal School, past president of both the San Clemente Junior Woman's Club and St. Margaret's Episcopal School PTF, and volunteer positions at National Charity League.

Ms. Cruse holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Geneseo, and a Masters of Business Administration from Georgetown University and resides in Southern California with her husband and four daughters.

Founder and CEO of Create Joy Travel

Create Joy is an innovative organization that empowers individuals to harness the power of travel for personal growth and development. She draws on a decade of expertise in experience design, planning, and hospitality, combined with extensive training in GSTC sustainability, behavioral change, and cultural studies to lead others through impactful and life-changing journeys. Her expertise has shaped a thriving community focused on holistic well-being, self-awareness, action towards growth, and a culture centered on venturing into the unfamiliar. 

Heather has continuously refined the self-discovery and self-actualization framework behind Create Joy, blending her passion for wellness with cultural immersion, building on her lived-experience and mission to closely align accessible paths for self-discovery, intentional living, and authentic and immersive travel experiences.

Jennifer is a MEA alumni who lives in California.  Flexing her MEA “Transition Quotient (TQ)” skills of adventure, awe, and curiosity, she is embarking on a transition into travel and tourism.  

Associate Professor @ San Jose State | Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), Consultant, Therapist, Trainer

Dr. Suzy Ross is a pioneer in transformation sciences, with over two decades of leadership in catalyzing personal and systems change. Her groundbreaking 2010 paper on Transformative Travel laid the foundation for this growing industry, while her 2020 book, The Map to Wholeness, introduced the evidence-based Figure-8 Model of Transformation, guiding individuals and systems through profound, lasting evolution. Through her platform, Transform Together, Dr. Ross equips clients with experiential tools, personalized guidance, and community support, turning challenges into breakthroughs and fostering connection, clarity, and confidence.

After growing her award-winning international travel company for the past 14 years, Elinor is about to begin a well-earned sabbatical, which to her means not stepping away from the travel industry, but rather, stepping into her full potential in the experience economy and transformational travel in particular. 

Professor at University of Girona. Tourism transformations for regenerative futures

Jaume Guia is a professor at the University of Girona committed to unleashing the transformative power of travel and tourism for heterogeneous and inclusive socio-ecological futures through experimental curriculum development and transformative joint postgraduate programmes. His projects foster transformational and learner-focused teaching approaches and rely on his own ground-braking academic research. He has led the Erasmus-Mundus awarded, European Master in Tourism Management (EMTM) for 17 years and multiple capacity building international projects of Higher Education in over 15 countries in Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.  Currently he is developing a new joint master programme on transformative tourism for regenerative futures, and a doctoral network on co-designing tourism assemblages for transformative change, both involving partners from all over the world.

Experience Entrepreneur, Pianist and Creative Business Developer at Tellart 

Trained as a jazz pianist, Tristan Hupe-Guimarães founded several unique ventures that pioneered and helped shape the experience landscape in The Netherlands and beyond; Hotel Wonderland (2022), the first large-scale immersive theatre experience in The Netherlands and Sherlocked - Mystery Experiences (2014), highly acclaimed escaperoom experiences. Currently Tristan is shaping new projects and futures at the acclaimed experience design studio Tellart, working for the likes of the World Expo Osaka 2025, Climate Week and COP28, transforming the most complex global challenges and issues into emotionally compelling immersive experiences using cutting edge technology. on goes here