Year: 2025

Sophia Hyder Hock

Sophia Hyder Hock is the Chief Inclusion Officer for Destinations International. In this role, Sophia provides thought leadership and strategic direction for the design and implementation of social inclusion resources, tools, and services for association members and the broader tourism industry. Sophia has created sustainable social inclusion frameworks for over… Read more

Susanna Shankar

Susanna grew up in Alaska on Dena’ina Athabascan land, where the changing climate was always on her mind. Over ten years of experience in the travel industry have given her first-hand experience with tourism’s polarizing effects, leading to a career advocating for regenerative tourism best practices. Susanna studied journalism and… Read more

Megan Chan

Megan is a project analyst at Synergy Enterprises with multiple years of experience working with businesses to measure, analyze and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. With a specialization in food emissions, her passion for sustainable food systems began in university where she led a food waste diversion club, and later… Read more

Marcelino Alvarez

Marcelino Alvarez, an accomplished CEO, has seamlessly blended his lifelong love for boating with a remarkable career in technology and innovation. Growing up in South Florida, he cultivated his passion for the water through fishing and scuba diving. Marcelino’s professional journey began in advertising, where he produced digital campaigns at… Read more

Brad Parsell

Brad Parsell was born in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and grew up in Brisbane, Australia. After graduating university with a double major in Management and Marketing, Brad moved to Canada for a 12-month working holiday that started his deep connection here. After almost a decade spent working in the music industry,… Read more

Julie Dubord

Passionate about culture and languages from around the world, Julie Dubord has been working in tourism for over 20 years, most of which has been at Tourisme Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. After holding various positions within the marketing team, she became the organization’s general director in 2013, a role that has led her… Read more

Amzy Vallenas

Amzy is a Senior Project Manager at Synergy Enterprises, where she develops customized sustainability strategies for organizations. With a dual background in Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Amzy blends her technical expertise with business perspectives to design and implement projects that enable companies to adopt sustainable practices and achieve measurable positive… Read more

Hege V. Barnes

With an extensive global network from more than 27 years working in North America, Hege is an experienced leader, business developer, strategist, and marketer. Hege is responsible for the overall management of the operations in USA of Innovation Norway, a government entity for trade and industries. Hege has built a… Read more

Paul Nursey

Paul Nursey is a highly accomplished tourism marketing, strategy, and branding expert who is widely regarded as one of Canada’s top tourism policy minds. Since joining Destination Greater Victoria in 2014, Paul has led DGV to numerous significant accomplishments, including: -Co-founding the IMPACT Sustainability Travel and Tourism Conference. -Aligning DGV… Read more

Teresa Ryder

Teresa is proud to be of Musqueam descent. Upon finishing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology at Simon Fraser University, Teresa has spent more than 10 years in Indigenous tourism development, starting her career with Indigenous Tourism BC. She has worked with Indigenous tourism operators and partners to grow… Read more