Board of Directors

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Meet Our Board

Brand USA is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors appointed for a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Designated members have leadership expertise in specific sectors of the travel industry including: hotel accommodations; restaurants; retail or a related association; travel distribution; attractions or recreations; state-level tourism office; city-level convention and visitors bureau; passenger air; land or sea transportation; and immigration law and policy. 

Team & Leadership
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John Edman

Brand USA Chairman

John Edman, director of Explore Minnesota Tourism, is responsible for the development and implementation of tourism plans, policies, and programs to promote Minnesota as a tourism and travel destination. He is the state’s chief spokesperson for tourism-related issues and manages an agency with approximately 60 full-time staff and an annual budget of $13.9 million. First appointed to the Brand USA board of directors in Fiscal Year 2015, John’s reappointment will run through Fiscal Year 2020. John has more than 25 years of CEO-level experience...
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Mark Hoplamazian

Brand USA Vice Chair

Mark S. Hoplamazian was appointed to Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s board of directors in November 2006 and named the company’s president and chief executive officer in December 2006. Prior to being appointed to his present position, Hoplamazian served as president of The Pritzker Organization (TPO), the principal financial and investment adviser for Pritzker family business interests. During his 17-year tenure with TPO, he served as adviser to various Pritzker family-owned companies, including Hyatt Hotels Corporation and its predecessors. He p...
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Alice Norsworthy

Brand USA Vice Chair

Alice Norsworthy is chief marketing officer for Universal Parks & Resorts. Ms. Norsworthy is responsible for the oversight of Universal Orlando’s Marketing and Sales divisions and reports to Tom Williams, chairman and chief executive officer for Universal Parks & Resorts. In that capacity, Ms. Norsworthy oversees all brand and retail marketing, trade and distribution programs as well as corporate communication, consumer insights, and corporate partnerships for Universal Orlando Resort. She also helps to guide international bra...
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Kyle Edmiston

Brand USA Board Treasurer

Kyle Edmiston is the president/chief executive officer for Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau and was appointed to that position in May 2019, having previously served as the chief operating officer since January of 2018.  Previously, Mr. Edmiston served as the state tourism director for Louisiana since 2012. Prior to his current position, he served as President/CEO of the Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau. Mr. Edmiston currently serves on the board of directors of the Southeast...
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Paul Brown

Brand USA Board Member

Paul Brown serves as Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 8,300 Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, SONIC Drive-In, and Rusty Taco locations worldwide. Prior to founding Inspire, Brown was Chief Executive Officer of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. Arby’s turnaround “can be attributed to Brown’s vision and leadership,” according to Fortune. As CEO, he launched several transformative initiatives across the brand’s global system with a focus on innovation, including:...
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Todd Davidson

Brand USA Board Member

Todd was appointed Executive Director of the Oregon Tourism Commission (dba Travel Oregon) in June 1996 and was named Chief Executive Officer in September 2004.  Under Todd’s leadership, the tourism industry in Oregon has flourished into a $12.3 billion industry that employs more than 115,000 Oregonians. In 2003 he helped lead an effort to establish dedicated and stable funding for the Commission. This funding has been crucial in Travel Oregon’s ability to grow the state’s tourism industry through strengthening its base of international...
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Mike Gallagher

Brand USA Board Member

Mike Gallagher is co-chairman and co-founder of City Pass, Inc., an innovative attractions marketing company that provides significant savings on ticket packages to the top attractions in 12 North American destinations. The idea sprang from the collaborative efforts of co-founders Mike Gallagher and Mike Morey. Beginning in 1996, the two combined their respective attraction marketing and industry research skills to launch a company whose products currently enjoy a 98 percent customer recommendation rating. From its initial 1997 debut in the cit...
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Noel Irwin Hentschel

Brand USA Board Member

Noel Irwin Hentschel is chairman, CEO, and co-founder of AmericanTours International (ATI), America's largest privately held, American-owned, visit USA tourism and marketing organization. Dually headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. and Orlando, Fla. with regional offices in New York City, N.Y., and Hawaii, ATI was founded in 1977 and today serves nearly one million visitors and generates over $3 billion into the U.S. economy annually. Hentschel and ATI revolutionized the inbound tour operator industry from the moment they opened their doors ...
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Dean Kantaras

Brand USA Board Member

Konstantinos Dean Kantaras prides himself in being one of only 275 attorneys in Florida who is Board Certified in Marital and Family Law. Having received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida in 1989, Dean knew that his true passion resided in the law. Dean achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a lawyer in 1992, when he obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law. After graduation, Dean returned to Florida to begin his practice of law. At the time, Dean did not know that working in fa...
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Donald Moore

Brand USA Board Member

Donald Moore is the senior vice president of business rental sales and global corporate accounts for Enterprise Holdings Inc. In this role, Moore oversees all aspects of global corporate sales, business rental sales and the support team in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Enterprise Holdings operates – through an integrated global network of independent regional subsidiaries and franchises – the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands, as well as more than 10,000 fully staffed neighborhood and airport locations in more than 90...
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Tom O'Toole

Brand USA Board Member

Thomas F. O’Toole is the executive director of the Program for Data Analytics at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Clinical Professor of Marketing at Kellogg.  At Kellogg, he is engaged in advancing subjects including digital enterprise transformation, marketing analytics, customer engagement, growth strategy, and the restructuring of marketing.  He also serves as a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company. Until his retirement in late 2016, Mr. O’Toole was Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Vice President,...
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Board Meetings
UPCOMING MEETINGS
The Brand USA Board of Directors convenes quarterly and is governed by 11 members appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security. More information about Brand USA board meetings is available by clicking the link above.