GBTA Launches Blue Ribbon Education Panel

Industry Leaders Developing New Education Strategy to Meet the Future Needs of Travel Professionals

Alexandria, VA (March 8, 2018) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, is pleased to announce the launch of a Blue Ribbon Education Panel to evaluate and enhance GBTA’s educational offerings. A panel of industry leaders has been assembled to determine the relevance of education content, identify educational opportunities and optimize delivery channels with a focus on enhancing the personalized education experience for travel industry professionals.

“As the rapid pace of change in our industry continues to accelerate, it is imperative that GBTA constantly evolve its educational programming to meet the changing needs of our members and prepare them for the future of travel management,” said Christle Johnson, GBTA President. “Establishing this panel of industry experts is paramount and will ensure changes made will enhance the members’ educational experience.”

“The goal of this panel is to ensure GBTA’s educational programming takes into account the needs of all members regardless of industry tenure, position or membership type, and to truly create a career pathway designed by and for the individual member,” said Jennifer Steinke, GBTA Board Member and Chair of the Blue Ribbon Education Panel.

The members of the Blue Ribbon Education Panel include:

CHAIR – Jennifer Steinke, Wholdings CO-CHAIR – Gus Vonderheide, Hyatt
Rita Visser – Oracle Chris Jones – Delta
Gloria Gonzalez – Freeman Vic Pynn – Amadeus
Cindy Shumate – Regeneron Cindy Allen – Team Catalyst Holdings
Jeremy Gardner – Accent Indy John Hampton – Enterprise
Karen Hutchings – EY Kristen Koenig – World Travel
Carla Bonaventura – Shell Kevin Iwamoto – Goldspring Consulting
Stephen Gheerow – Ford Foundation Leslie Andrews – Computer Systems Institute
Kathy Briski – Boeing
Wendy Palmer – EPRI
Connie Smith – McCain Foods Christle Johnson – GBTA President
Mark Zeigler – NetApp Dr. Amanda Cecil – Indiana University

The Panel held a two-day kick off meeting at the end of 2017 to begin to assess the current offerings and identify opportunity areas for new educational content or delivery methods. The Panel will continue to work together throughout 2018 to gain insight into past successes or misses; to garner an understanding of the needs of members through surveys, discussions and roundtables; and to learn best practices from experts in the field of education and professional development. Ultimately, the Panel will make recommendations to the GBTA Board of Directors on the future strategy for GBTA’s educational offerings.

Acerca de la Asociación Global de Viajes de Negocios
La Asociación Global de Viajes de Negocios (GBTA) es la principal organización comercial de viajes de negocios y reuniones del mundo con sede en el área de Washington, DC y operaciones en seis continentes. Los más de 9000 miembros de GBTA administran anualmente más de $345 mil millones de viajes de negocios globales y gastos de reuniones. GBTA y la Fundación GBTA brindan educación, eventos, investigación, defensa y medios de clase mundial a una red global en crecimiento de más de 28,000 profesionales de viajes y 125,000 contactos activos. Para saber cómo los viajes de negocios impulsan el crecimiento empresarial duradero, visite www.gbta.org.