24 Accessibility Champions to Watch in 2024
Industry leaders creating a more inclusive future
We think of champions as the visionaries and motivators who inspire the rest of us with their commitment to a cause and, often, their eloquence which is always backed up by concrete action. We are kicking off a year-long celebration of 24 Champions of inclusive travel. These are leaders from all parts of our movement who have made inclusion and accessibility a fundamental principle of their work. They are always looking to identify solutions to obstacles and practices that stand in the way of full and equal access for individuals with disabilities and sometimes that involves creating new approaches that can be scaled up in other locations. That’s how the Champions drive systematic change and a more inclusive future.
Watch for feature interviews with two of the Champions each month in TravelAbility Insider.
Ivor Ambrose
European Network for Accessible Travel (ENAT)
Managing Director
Recently, Ambrose, the director of the European Network for Accessible Travel (ENAT), crafted the proposal that won a 12 million Euro contract to develop an AccessibleEU Resource Center, which will be one of the flagship initiatives proposed in the European Commission’s Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. The center aims to promote the implementation of accessibility policies in EU member states and increase the coherence of accessibility policies. Ambrose will organize 88 forums a year covering all EU countries to build a resource center on accessibility. The center will work on the areas of built environment, transport, information, and communication technologies in order to ensure persons with disabilities can participate in all areas of life on an equal basis with others.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivorambrose/
Toni Bastian
Visit Richmond
Group Tour & Visitor Center Manager
Visitor centers are where tourists go for reliable information about what to do and see and Toni has been proactively introducing accessibility features to make the Visit Richmond Center a role model for others to follow.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toni-bastian-tmp-606b246/
Jill Boggs
Visit Fort Wayne
President and CEO
Jill Boggs leads the tourism efforts at Fort Wayne, the second-largest city in Indiana where her team has launched a 10-year vision that defines tourism-based economic growth around universal accessibility. The growth plan leverages the existing accessible design of their adaptive sports facilities, as well as their airport’s universal design-focused renovation and other notable attractions.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boggsjill/
Alison Brooks
Visit Mesa
VP Destination Experience and Advocacy
Brooks recognized accessibility as a differentiator after the City became the first autism-certified city in the country by IBCCES. With a mind for marketing she saw the opportunity to add other disabilities through a series of partnerships and implementation of innovative solutions for wheelchair users and blind visitors. She has led the development of a full accessibility stack with the goal of marketing Mesa as the most accessible-friendly destination in America.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonbrooks/
Stuart Butler
Visit Myrtle Beach
Chief Marketing Officer
Prior to his current position, Butler, who is partially sighted, owned a marketing agency so it should be no surprise that he has pushed the creative envelope by marketing Myrtle Beach as an ultra- autism friendly destination by research to determine and promote their accessible features, but also through marketing programs that include a children's book and an autism travel television series that has been presented to the major streaming services.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-butler-50aaa45/
Alan Fyall
UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Dr. Alan Fyall is Orange County Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida. He has published widely in the areas of tourism and destination marketing and management including 20 books and over 150 journal articles and has been instrumental in our collaboration on an accessible learning course pilot that now will be scaled to all 3000 students moving forward.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-fyall-048976a/
Apoorva Gandhi
Marriott International
Sr. VP Multi-Cultural Affairs and Social Impact
As a Fortune 200 DEI executive and an award winner, Apoorva Gandhi spearheads Marriott's effort to make their services more accessible and welcoming for guests with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities often face obstacles that seem insignificant to the general population but are very significant for the traveler with a disability, including career obstacles. Marriott’s Room for All concept, housed in the company’s Maryland Innovation Lab explores ideas for accessible and cross-disability features that could be deployed across all markets and improve both leisure and business travel.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apoorva-gandhi-4776aa/
Richard Gray
Visit Lauderdale
Sr. V.P. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Richard Gray, who is in charge of making Visit Lauderdale more inclusive and accessible, has achieved several milestones in promoting disability awareness. He has led the way in featuring disability in the destination’s marketing materials, sponsoring a deaf senior event in the destination, and making the convention center the first in North America to use the Sunflower Lanyard scheme.
View Profile: https://www.visitlauderdale.com/contact-us/#marketing
Charles Hammerman
Disability Opportunity Fund
President & CEO
Long time funder of disability initiatives through the efforts of his Disability Opportunity Fund, which recently celebrated it's 15th anniversary, and mastermind behind the development of The Schoolhouse Hotel in Greenbriar, WVA, the world's only all-accessible room hotel.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hammerman-b92b914
Patrick Harrison
Visit Tampa
Chief Marketing Officer
As the driving force behind Tampa Bay's accessibility initiatives, Harris is ensuring that travelers with disabilities can find adventures easily. Collaboration with EnChroma will be unlocking the full-color spectrum for all visitors, while their 'Accessible City' project with AbleVu features 15 locations in Tampa Bay and makes the destination Florida's first 'Accessible City.' Tampa Bay was also the first destination to market their accessibility through videos of local members of the disability community enjoying a wide range of activities--including indoor skydiving.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-harrison-470559a/
Kathleen Harvey
Destination BC
Manager, Visitor Services
Part of managing visitor services for the entire province is to identify and prepare for the services that future audiences will need. Destination BC embarked on a year long research project around accessibility for disabled guests and residents and vetted the results through multiple disability community organizations resulting in enhanced consumer information about accessible tourism experiences and a series of online resources regarding accessibility to help educate BC’s tourism industry.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-harvey-82470a16/
Ross Heller
USAE News
Publisher USAE News and Custom News
USAE News, with 63,000 subscribers to their thrice weekly online newsletter, is the leading source of information for meeting planners as well as hotel and DMO convention sales leaders. Under Ross' leadership USA News with his late wife, enshrined his commitment to covering accessibility by being the only industry trade publication to designate a reporter to regularly cover the category.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-heller-b32b9956/
Jason Holic
Experience Kissimmee
Sr. VP Operations and Community Engagement
Jason Holic, the Senior Vice President of Operations at Experience Kissimmee, has been instrumental in making travel more accessible for people with disabilities. In 2023, Experience Kissimmee launched a new accessible travel landing page and worked with several accessible travel content creators to promote accessible travel. In 2024, Experience Kissimmee is extending the reach and impact of its accessible travel efforts by partnering with Wheel the World, through a Visit Florida co-op. This partnership will catalog accessible features of dozens of Kissimmee-area hotels, vacation homes, restaurants, and attractions, making it easier than ever for visitors of all abilities to Experience Kissimmee.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonholic/
Mark Jones
Walt Disney World
Manager, Accessibility & Services for Guests with Disabilities
As the only hearing child born to Deaf parents (a CODA), Mark Jones was signing before he was speaking. In his 25th year working and now leading the Accessibility & Services for Guests with Disabilities team at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Mark uses his passion, skills, and background to create and support memorable experiences for Guests with disabilities visiting the from around the world.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-jones-baa3a627/
Brett Laiken
Visit Florida
VP Marketing
Laiken, who is the VP Marketing for Visit Florida, pioneered the use of cooperative funds that were traditionally set aside for marketing. He used these funds to finance a pilot with three of their DMOs and Wheel the World to uncover assessments of accessibility for 30 hotels, attractions, and points of interest in each destination. This pilot has now been scaled to 11 Florida destinations, resulting in the state having assessed over 300 locations.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettlaiken/
David Lorenz
Travel Michigan
Vice President
Prior to his recent retirement, Lorenz was named State Travel Director of the Year by his colleagues at US Travel's annual ESTO Conference. This surprised no one given his innovative approach to marketing his state to new visitors. Under Lorenz's leadership, Michigan was the first state to embrace disability in their marketing and their messaging. In 2023, under his watch, the state has approved a $1 million grant program to fund accessibility assessments and marketing for their DMO's.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lorenz-7ab7968/
Staci Mellman
BrandUSA
Chief Marketing Officer
Staci Mellman, CMO at Brand USA is a leading accessible travel advocate. When at VISIT FLORIDA, she established an accessible travel hub and featured talent with disabilities in mainstream advertising campaigns. Since joining Brand USA, Staci continues to champion a more accessible nation. At Brand USA Travel Week UK & Europe 2023, she spotlighted accessible travel by bringing together experts in inclusive design, travel planning, and accessible experience mapping, showcasing the wealth of accessible travel marketing opportunities to industry leaders.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacimellman/
Ron Pettit
Royal Caribbean Group
Head of Disability Inclusion & ADA Compliance
Ron Pettit has made RCG the leader in the cruise industry by implementing a two-fold strategy. He trained a large staff on how to serve guests with different accessibility needs, and he improved the physical accessibility of cruise ships with innovative solutions, some of which he discovered as a guest judge at the InnovateAble showcases.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronpettit/
Julie Pingston
Choose Lansing
President & CEO
Lansing's accessible journey began with a focus on autism in 2022 and, expanding into multiple disabiliites through their one-day Accessibility Summit that attracted over 100 business partners and municipalities that were motivated to expand their own accessibility footprint, proving accessibility in Michigan is contagious, especially under her leadership.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-pingston-cdme-cmp-cta-6415658/
Arica Sears
Visit Oregon Coast
Deputy Director
In 2022, Sears administered and coordinated a grant to send 10 DMOs from her region to the Travelability summit in Orlando. There, they formed a caucus and decided to organize their own learning network called Oregon Coast Travelability in coastal Oregon. That network and collaboration inspired other regions to join them, and by TravelAbility Summit 2023, Oregon had 34 attendees.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aricasears/
Betty Siegel
Kennedy Center
Director Office of Accessibility and VSA
As the leader of the Kennedy Center's accessibility team and the Center's LEAD conference, Siegel has made major cultural institutions more accessible for 15+ years. The LEAD conference is an annual event that gathers ADA coordinators from museums, theatres, and cultural institutions across North America where they learn about the best practices and the latest technologies to serve disabled visitors.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettysiegel-accessadvisorygroup/
Lynn Smith
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower
Chief Marketing Officer
Lynn has been leading the Sunflower Hidden Disabilities program in North America, which is now available in over 200 airports worldwide , 77 of which are in the U.S. The Sunflower can now be found destinations at convention centers and event venues which is changing the way people with autism, dementia, deafness and other disabilities are treated.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-smith-0353172/
Cody Wiseman
Visit Rapid City
Creative Marketing Manager
As creative director for Visit Rapid City he helped organize and concieve the first crowdsourced destination program using local volunteers to assessment accessibility at attractions, points of interest and hotels.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-wiseman-b3877115b/
Kevin Wright
Travel Oregon
Vice President, Global Marketing
Kevin Wright, the Vice President of Brand Stewardship at Travel Oregon, is a true champion of accessibility. As a result of his work to advance accessibility initiatives across Oregon’s tourism industry, Travel Oregon Welcome Centers have accessible features such as hearing loops and sensory kits. The agency recently awarded $3.6 million to 56 recipients through its 2023 Competitive Grants Program, funding projects across the state that will improve accessibility and inclusivity for underserved and under-resourced communities, such as people with disabilities, BIPOC, LBGTQIA+, and Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes.
View Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-wright-bb98a03/