DCI's Team

Kyle believes in connecting people through technology. As a digital marketer, he has worked in-house with local destination marketing organizations and healthcare systems, as well as on the agency side helping small teams achieve their goals. Drawing from a background in psychology, SEO, branding, social and paid media, Kyle has helped clients drive significant results. As a strong believer that SEO is at the foundation of every marketing strategy, he is determined to expand the meaning of search engine optimization and create leading user experiences across the web.

Raised in Colorado, Kyle grew up spending most of his time outdoors. While hiking, biking and camping, Kyle developed a strong love for photography. His camera has been a way to experience new places. By seeking out unique places, he realized that every place has something that makes it truly special and unique. He’s a strong believer in supporting the people and experiences that make up the DNA of a place.

In his free time, you can find Kyle and his wife exploring the wild landscapes of western Colorado in their van with their two dogs, Oso and Meeko.

Kyle earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from University of Colorado Boulder.

Rebecca joined DCI with experience in lifestyle public relations and event marketing. She is adept at securing placements, building buzz and raising attendance for specific events for the tourism destination clients she represents.

On behalf of Visit Huntington Beach, Rebecca generated live broadcast coverage for the annual Surf City Surf Dog event, garnering an audience of more than 3 million viewers in the local drive market. Rebecca also targeted MICE-industry journalists to tout the research efforts and results of DCI’s biannual research study, “A View from Meeting Planners: Winning Strategies in Destination Marketing.” These efforts resulted in 13 placements and more than 400,000 impressions, driving 200 downloads of the study.

Her love of places reaches back to her study abroad experience in Oxford, England, which allowed her to travel through Europe. Rebecca knew then that she wanted to experience as many destinations as she could. After visiting nine countries (and counting), she started a travel blog called RoundTrip Redhead to document and share her experiences as she makes her way around the world.

A lover of life, Rebecca tries to experience as much as she can. Whether the setting is urban, full of nature, or anything in between, she is on board. She is a huge fan of concerts, rooftop views, and checking things off her bucket list. Always up for adventure, Rebecca loves to explore her surroundings both near and far. She can be found at the new coffee shop, on a hiking trail, or spending time with her friends and family.

Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in communication and global studies from California Lutheran University.

Anything related to places, people and culture is where Rachel shines. She loves her work at DCI, with a client roster spanning from the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania to the Research Triangle in North Carolina and to the economic development arm of Louisiana’s utility company Cleco. She specializes in messaging and brand activations such as collateral creation, blog and newsletter writing, video production and business events planning.

Rachel joined DCI after working in three different European countries over the course of seven years. Most recently, she worked in journalism and TV production in Rome, Italy, interviewing political and religious leaders and telling stories about the history of Rome. She was invited to attend many ambassador events – from the UK to Japan – to report on their many initiatives, and she even collaborated with the U.S. Secret Service to organize the video logistics of a high-ranking government official.

Her experiences living and working in Europe positions her as a strategic team player. Through her work, she was able to adapt to different cultures and work environments, listening to diverse points of view and learning how to embrace those differences to bring a project to completion.

With a childhood split between Vermont and Colorado, and a career that started abroad, Rachel enjoys finding beauty in every place – big or small. It’s no surprise she enjoys the outdoors like skiing, hiking and browsing farmer’s markets. She realizes that every community needs a helping hand and volunteers where she can locally.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communications and minors in business administration and art from Benedictine College in Kansas.

Zubaida’s passion for public relations emerged through her love for music, poetry, and art. After honing her own creative skills, Zubaida dedicated herself to helping local artists and community-based nonprofits reach their target audience through public relations. She also led marketing ads and social media campaigns for a tech startup that provided business resources to underrepresented founders. With this experience, Zubaida is further building connections between communities, artists, and businesses to highlight the unique culture every city has to offer.

At DCI, she now has the pleasure of telling the fascinating stories of her client communities such as the North Dakota, Birmingham and Tulsa. By raising these communities’ profiles as best places to live, work and visit, Zubaida is fueled by this purpose-driven work to help people find their next community to call home for a better quality of life.

Zubaida’s strong writing skills and ability to identify the right reporters to tell her clients stories has led her to secure top-tier media placements in publications such as Authority Magazine, Livability.com, TripSavvy, Outsider.com, and USA Today.

Zubaida’s passion for places was influenced by her parents who immigrated to the United States and were dedicated to exploring everything the country had to offer. As a child, Zubaida took road trips across the United States, visiting dozens of major cities and vast farmland. This curiosity of exploration was instilled in her from the very beginning and is now used in her daily work. Zubaida spends most of her time in New York City but she treasures the heritage of every place she visits.

Zubaida has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and African American Studies from Wesleyan University.

Taylor Bensley is a PR professional with media relations experience for clients in tourism, hospitality and economic development. Taylor joined DCI as an account executive to work in the Economic Development division.

Prior to joining DCI, she held a role as account executive with Lou Hammond Group, contributing to a range of public relations initiatives for clients in tourism, hospitality and consumer goods industries. She began her career in public relations as a press office intern for the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida and intern for The IRONMAN Group.

Taylor is skilled in crafting compelling pitches and formulating effective media strategies. Her proficiency has allowed her to secure placements for her clients in top-tier publications such as Forbes, Travel + Leisure and AFAR. In addition to media strategy, Taylor is skilled in influencer relations. She has successfully executed several influencer collaborations resulting in an increase of engagement and visibility for her clients.

From a young age, Taylor’s ambition was to work in a field that allowed her to embrace her creativity and engage with people from different backgrounds. During her upbringing, Taylor found herself calling many places home. With each move, her fascination for learning the unique story of each place deepened. As she pursued a degree in communications, Taylor enriched her perspective by studying abroad, which further fueled her passion for communications and learning about diverse communities.

Taylor graduated from the University of Tampa in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Media and Culture and a Minor in Psychology.

With a flair for organization and a passion for places, Taylor excels in managing and tracking client projects that reposition places as premier destinations to live and work. Taylor collaboratively crafts innovative solutions to achieve marketing goals while attracting visitors, businesses, and talented minds to their dream destinations.

Taylor’s diverse background shines through past work with Fortune 500 clients to non-profit organizations, spearheading robust issue campaigns, building captivating websites, and managing everything from large-scale databases to social media profiles. With an eye for detail and a commitment to excellence, Taylor is driven by DCI’s mission to uplift and transform communities worldwide.

Taylor’s passion for effective communication drives her work. Her forte lies in crafting and executing powerful marketing campaigns that lead to successful client outcomes. Her strategic approach ensures that each initiative aligns with client’s goals, delivering measurable results. Beyond her professional endeavors, Taylor embraces adventure and finds inspiration in her travels.

Outside of work, Taylor, a proud New Yorker originally, spends time exploring the Washington, D.C. area, a place she’s always wanted to call home. Taylor enjoys embarking on new adventures with her furry companion as well as lending a hand to local dog rescues.

Taylor’s expertise is further enriched by a Master’s Degree in Strategic Public Relations from The George Washington University.

Brittany loves to nerd out over global supply chain trends that impact our nation’s ports and economy, site selection decisions and what the future holds with evolving industries. As a leader on DCI’s economic development public relations team, Brittany brings more than 10 years of media relations experience and helps communities elevate their key differentiators through creative storytelling.

Landing a front-page story in The New York Times, prepping clients behind studio curtains for live TV interviews in New York City and curating itineraries for press visits to client destinations are still Brittany’s “pinch me” moments. As Brittany continues to foster relationships with top-tier media, she now gets to coach teammates and clients toward interviews and results with WSJ, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC, Insider, among other national outlets.

Brittany’s passion for places stems from her first trip to Europe where she developed an interest in architecture, exploring different sceneries and supporting local businesses. She also loves a good spontaneous trip. In college, she and her friends agreed to an unplanned trip anywhere on the east coast for spring break. On a map, they landed on Saluda, North Carolina, where they were the only four non-regulars at a local diner. Since then, Brittany has developed a keen interest in places in the U.S. and abroad.

Brittany is a born-and-raised New Yorker but currently calls Cincinnati, Ohio home.

She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in public relations and from Boston University with a Master of Science in public relations.

Elizabeth spent her childhood living throughout the United States before settling down in Southern California, where she has worked as a travel writer and publicist and launched her own PR consultancy along the way. By working for such destinations as Discover Los Angeles and the iconic attraction Queen Mary in Long Beach, she’s now funneling her know-how of destination marketing and PR into DCI’s client roster as an account manager.

Within 24 hours of graduating college, Elizabeth was on a plane to London and the adventures have not ceased. She digs into a destination’s culture and people but also values the surprises along the way, like when she met an Irish travel agent who showed her original passenger logs for the Titanic.

Her passion for discovery and inquisitive nature are all part of what drives Elizabeth. It’s no surprise she has authored nine travel guides, the output of all those questions she asks when traveling. Celebrity culture and discovery go hand and hand for her, whether it’s scouting out Julia Child’s home in Paris or the room in Hotel Chelsea occupied by Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols.

If she’s not driving to nearby Santa Barbara for a wine tasting, or even further up the Central Coast, Elizabeth will be riding her bike along the beach with her husband. Lunch in the sun along the bike path is all part of the routine. An avid reader, she’s part of two book clubs, one which pairs a dinner with that week’s read.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Artsin journalism from California State University, Long Beach.

After getting his start in tourism at Sandals Resort, Tafari worked his way into the travel industry at Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism and eventually landed at the Ministry of Culture in Jamaica. He created partnerships among the destination’s event planners, businesses and officials to increase both local and international tourism. He brings those relationship-building skills to DCI’s travel trade marketing initiatives.

Tafari’s fascination with other places began in high school when he joined the Tourism Action Club in Jamaica. He travels to new destinations to discover the unknown and to find similarities among the differences in people he encounters. Although he already has visited countries across the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia, his bucket list contains many more destinations.

Living on an island nation taught Tafari firsthand how tourism, policy and local communities are intimately connected. He has worked in most aspects of the industry because of his fascination with them, which has brought a nuanced perspective to his work and travels. He even spent time teaching tourism at a local college in Kingston to help others think more critically about the importance of travel.

While reporting to the Minister of Tourism for Jamaica, Tafari spearheaded destination management campaigns by writing concept documents and frameworks for programs, including Reggae Month Its Kingston for February, JamRock Summer, Arts in the Park and the Artistes Ambassador program.
Tafari worked on Jamaica’s successful UNESCO bid to have Kingston declared a Creative City of Music. He also established an economic development program for entrepreneurs in the creative industries.

Tafari holds a Bachelor of Science in tourism and hospitality management from the University of Technology, Jamaica and a Master of Science in tourism management from the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica.

Siobhan has more than 15 years of executive leadership and destination marketing experience with NTO’s like Destination Canada, leading the strategies for US Leisure and running six international offices to generate growth from emerging markets in the Americas and Asia.

As Executive Director at Destination Canada, Siobhan led the team at her agency’s in-house digital think tank, harnessing real-time data and insight, to create responsive campaigns. Siobhan even led the U.S. leisure strategy to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics for Canada. Her experience working across the industry, including liaising with key stakeholders, travel brands and governmental decision makers, has honed her leadership skills to enact positive change for clients, which she now brings to DCI’s client roster.

Born to French Canadian and Irish parents, Siobhan boasts three passports, which some might call a sign that travel would always be a part of her. Growing up in Canada with some education in Northern Ireland, she learned to appreciate the diversity that travel provides. Siobhan is as happy waking up to go snowboarding as she is spending an afternoon finding the world’s oldest cabaret in Montmartre, Paris.

Siobhan loves to learn and shake things up by changing her environment. Travel feeds her creativity, as well as her literal hunger as she hunts the best local food and drink. Her first stop when traveling is always a local market, to help get a glimpse of how people in the destination actually live. Perched at a local bar chatting up a barkeep or horseback riding in a Brazilian forest, Siobhan always learns about the people around her.

Siobhan holds a Bachelor of Business Administrative honors degree from Trent University and a Business Excellence Diploma in Leadership and Innovation Studies from University of California Berkeley.

Jenni has always considered herself a storyteller – so much so that she would put “About the Author” bios on her homework assignments in elementary school. As a child, she spent family vacations imagining what life would be like growing up in the towns she visited and would often create stories and characters based on them, which made working at a place like DCI a no-brainer.

Jenni’s lifelong love of writing and curiosity about the world around her has taken her down many different paths, including journalism, politics and environmental justice. She began her career in the press office of Governor Roy Cooper, where she learned the ins and outs of rapid response while the state of North Carolina faced multiple hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. After placing op-eds in more than 30 news outlets across North Carolina, Jenni further honed her media relations skills at the environmental organization Climate Power, where she helped lead communications strategies for states up and down the East Coast.

Since joining DCI’s New York office, Jenni has been thrilled to work with such talented teammates who share her passion for uplifting communities. She grew up outside of Atlanta, GA, and spent 10 years in North Carolina before trading in her Birkenstocks for a New York winter coat last year. While she considers herself a lifelong East Coaster, she loves exploring communities all over the map.

Jenni graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in media and journalism.

Rosemary joined DCI as the company’s Art Director in 2023 after working as a creative director, designer and photo art director in agencies and studios in Boston and Baltimore. She has more than 30 years of experience collaborating with marketing and communications teams on strategic design projects across all media for well-known brands like Vail Resort, Beaver Creek, Talbots, J. Jill and many others.

In her work for numerous DCI economic development, tourism and talent attraction clients, she visually articulates brand messaging to create design solutions that forge strong connections between brands and audiences. Her approach is collaborative and flexible — with a vision for the big picture, an eye for the details and a focus on design that works.

Rosemary holds a B.A. from College of the Holy Cross and graduated from the design program at The Art Institute of Boston. She is also an adjunct communication design professor at MassArt.

Katie celebrates wearing many different hats in her career, bringing a multidisciplinary profile to DCI’s economic development clients. With a background in public relations and influencer marketing, her true passion lay in digital marketing with the ability to provide concrete results for brands looking to grow their profiles.

From full-funnel advertising campaigns to spearheading new website builds, Katie has done it all. Her many experiences in email marketing campaigns and SEO strategies are all part of a holistic approach that she takes when creating results for her clients, who benefit from her multidisciplinary background.

Over the course of her career, she has developed winning strategies for brands such as Cuisinart, ECOVACS, Audio-Technica and a variety of others in the consumer technology, housewares, health care and small business industries.​ On the public relations front, she has secured coverage in top publications such as Forbes, CNET, Engadget and WIRED. On the digital marketing side of the business, she previously developed a multi-funnel paid marketing strategy that increased her client’s conversion rate by 130% in a 4-month period.

Katie discovered her passion for traveling during her semester as an exchange student at the Florence University of the Arts and is grateful to carry that passion over into her work for DCI’s clients. Most often you can find her thrill-seeking when traveling. From paragliding over the Swiss Alps to snowmobiling in Iceland, she is on board to try (almost) anything.

Katie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in global communications and media from Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Place marketing and branding has been Dariel’s life work. For more than three decades, she has worked to elevate destinations for economic development, tourism and talent attraction. Her clients have spanned the world, from Maine to Miami and New York to New Zealand.

With deep experience in public relations, marketing strategy, branding, websites and digital marketing, Dariel currently spearheads DCI’s growing Creative Services team, working on everything from logos to videos to collateral.

Dariel has been a featured speaker for the International Economic Development Council, Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, City Nation Place and numerous state economic development organizations. She also teaches the IEDC Marketing and Attraction Course and has been published in the IEDC Journal.

An avid world traveler, Dariel loves learning about new places and “thinking like a journalist” to uncover fresh and surprising stories to tell. She also understands the importance of balancing economic development with preserving open space and environmental stewardship of our forests, farms and waterways. She has been on the board of directors of the Roxbury Land Trust in her hometown in Connecticut for more than 15 years.

Dariel enjoys quiet country places as much as the hippest urban spots on the planet. She spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard during college and then developed the travel bug, backpacking across Europe and taking vacations in Greece, Spain, Belize, the Caribbean and too many American destinations to count.

Dariel holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and American literature from Brown University, where she was a four-year starter on the women’s basketball team.

Brent is a natural storyteller with experience in journalism, public and media relations, advertising and social media management. He has plied his trade for a minor league baseball team, a university and the U.S. Army. A career communicator, Brent combines his education and experience with his devotion to destinations to produce results for his clients.

A born and bred Clevelander, he didn’t stick around long, despite his city pride. He lived in Erie, Pennsylvania, for his studies and worked his first full-time job there. Escaping Erie’s infamous winters he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he lived for a decade. Most recently he moved to New York City but isn’t sold on the pizza quite yet.

Brent’s wanderlust started at an early age with family car trips across the U.S. Once in college, he studied abroad in Australia’s Queensland and fell in love with international travel. After several summers of backpacking in Europe, he wanted to experience long-term travel. Eventually, Brent took a mid-career solo travel sabbatical for two and a half years, visiting 67 nations on all seven continents. These experiences have transformed Brent and made him a passionate supporter of the people and places he’s visited. While he is physically located in New York City, his mind is likely traveling the globe.

On weekends, you’ll find Brent traveling or planning a trip with his fiancé, Marcella. If not, he’s probably watching his beloved Cleveland Browns, Guardians, or Cavs. Or, quite possibly, he is combining the two and traveling to a live sporting event. So far, he’s seen games in 48 professional venues.

Brent earned his Bachelor of Arts in communication from Gannon University and his Master of Science in communication from Hawaii Pacific University.

Laura brings deep tourism, hospitality and consumer marketing experience to DCI. She has worked with media and influencers to increase awareness of mega-consumer brands, but her heart is in promoting the world’s top travel destinations. Destinations around the globe have benefited from her marketing prowess that has helped Visit Rwanda break into the U.S. tourism market by successfully telling the nation’s travel story.

Travel remains her major passion, and after taking a short break to work in consumer and beauty public relations, she’s committed to working with destinations and feeding her wanderlust. At DCI, she combines her passion for travel with her consumer marketing experience to raise the bar on destination marketing efforts for the agency’s clients.

When traveling for her own enrichment, Laura absorbs the unique culture and history of a destination while identifying the similarities between people and cultures. She’s been all over the world, but exploring more of Africa, specifically Ghana, South Africa and Kenya is still on her bucket list.

Growing up with both Haitian and American influences contributed to her love for all things related to culture and travel. Notably, Laura was the first of her family to be born in the U.S. and she’s proud of her Haitian heritage. A fan of television, cinema, and music, she’s always looking for the artistic expressions that make a place and its culture tick.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in public relations from St. John’s University.

At DCI, Sam has supported the launch of 10+ economic development and talent attraction websites through her copywriting, copyediting, presenting and project management skills. She has assisted her senior team members with five full website audits, gaining skills in everything from data analytics to website development strategy. And, she is currently the co-champion of DCI Cares, DCI’s continuing effort to honor the agency’s original mission by giving back to communities in need.

Sam joined DCI in August 2022 after receiving her B.A. from New York University in Global Liberal Studies where she concentrated in Middle Eastern sustainable development. Her past work experience has taken her from being an assistant to the director of a small radical history museum in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan to the social media manager of a United Nations NGO, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This interdisciplinary work experience has inspired and equipped her with a passion for sustainable community development in the digital age.

Originally hailing from Arizona, Sam is a south westerner at heart and learned from an early age the role that sustainability must play in economic development practices. Protecting our planet and its resources is as essential to a place’s growth as its infrastructure, industries and incentives. With these goals in mind, she continues to work with senior leadership to develop a greater understanding of sustainable website practices to integrate into her day-to-day work for DCI’s clients.

Passionate about helping places tell their unique stories, Rachel crafts creative campaigns, creates thoughtful messaging and develops standout marketing strategies for communities large and small. Rachel has worked with more than 30 economic development clients helping them to position their communities for talent and business investment. She is a regular speaker on branding and marketing topics at IEDC’s Marketing Course and Colorado’s Basic Economic Development Course.

As a senior leader on DCI’s creative services team, Rachel helps communities create new brands and oversees integrated marketing programs. She has worked with places ranging from British Columbia, Canada and the state of Kansas to St. Petersburg, Florida and rural Colorado.

Rachel also brings industry expertise in marketing to site selection consultants through coordinating numerous events and her work with the Site Selectors Guild. She launched a marketing campaign and developed a program for elevating Guild member thought leadership, media relations, digital marketing and more. She also oversees DCI’s database of site selection consultants.

In addition to her work on the creative services team, Rachel has developed a well-rounded place marketing skill set. She has worked on economic development websites, implemented digital media campaigns and conducted media relations, placing articles in top business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and CNBC on behalf of her clients.

Based in Denver, Rachel enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and two young kids – whether it’s a mountain getaway, hike or hanging out in their own backyard.

She graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Arts in public relations, advertising and French.

Arunima brings more than a decade worth of experience in digital marketing to the DCI team. She specializes in digital advertising and has extensive knowledge of social media marketing and SEO. In addition, she has a background in literature and filmmaking, which helps her look at marketing with a unique perspective.

At her previous agency, Arunima led a team of developers, designers and content writers to revamp a San Francisco-based tech company’s website. Through her ideas and execution, the company saw a growth of 37% in lead acquisition in the very first year.

In her first three months at DCI, Arunima increased Visit Buena Park’s click-through-rate on Google Search by 23% and on YouTube by 18% as compared to the previous year. While working on Facebook ads for Wake County Economic Development, Arunima led a 251% increase in clicks and a 280% surge in impressions as compared to the previous year.

Originally from Kolkata, India, Arunima now calls the city of Toronto her home. She believes in the big picture but feels the little pixels make life beautiful. Arunima inherited her love for travel from her parents. Her first unofficial trip was to Delhi while she was still in her mother’s belly.

Since she was a baby, her family would make two yearly trips to various places in India and abroad. Arunima is extremely passionate about food, culture, and language, and traveling to experience all three has been on her bucket list since she was 10 years old.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts from St. Xavier’s College and Master of Arts in communication from Symbiosis International University in India. She holds certificates from Stanford University, UC Irvine, University of Virginia, Meta, and Google, among others.

DCI believes all successful marketing is rooted in thorough research, and no one knows that better than Robyn. As the head of DCI’s research division, she oversees all client research initiatives across our tourism, economic development and talent attraction service areas. Through customized qualitative and quantitative research studies, Robyn delivers insights that guide the most effective public relations, marketing and organizational strategies for all clients.

Robyn brings more than 23 years of economic development, site selection and market research experience which has allowed the growth of our suite of research offerings and allowed DCI to deliver the most powerful insights to our clients and the industry through our expanded our thought leadership studies including Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing; Talent Wars; Capturing the Canadian Consumer; the State of Site Selection (in cooperation with the Site Selectors Guild) and the Meeting Room of the Future series (in cooperation with the International Association of Conference Centers).

Prior to DCI, Rombyn accumulated more than 15 years working in the fields of economic development and site selection consulting. Most recently, she was the Director of Economic Development Services for the Wadley-Donovan Group. She rose through the ranks at DCI to become senior VP of research in 2022 and continues to guide a growing research team.

She earned a Master of Science degree in urban and regional planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

Never stop learning. That’s a theme across Steve’s career, from his start as a public relations intern at DCI nearly two decades ago to his current post in Europe launching our international joint venture with OCO Global called C Studios.

Steve is a strategic advisor to his economic development clients, which have included best-in-class investment promotion agencies CINDE, JETRO, EDB Singapore, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency and Greater Zurich Area through the years. His expertise lies in creating digital lead generation programs, marketing strategies, and initiatives to help motivate businesses to invest and talent to relocate.

His career has seen many successes, such as managing Invest Puerto Rico’s $6.8 million media budget following Hurricane Maria, resulting in a 1,400%+ increase in lead forms and 2,500 sign-ups for the island’s investor portal. Additionally, Steve has authored multiple thought-leadership reports including Ready or Not: The Value and Future of Site Readiness Programs; The State of Digital Advertising in Economic Development; 8 Digital Advertising Tips for EDOs; Know Your C-Suite; and An Executive Perception of Europe. He has also been a keynote speaker at industry conferences on the topics of entrepreneurship, economic development marketing, lead generation, talent attraction, and digital marketing.

In his current role as Managing Director of C Studios, Steve is expand DCI’s digital marketing services abroad with an emphasis on business and talent attraction across the EMEA market. Along with our colleagues at OCO Global, we’re also able to better align marketing with business development to provide EDOs with a more robust platform for company engagement.

Steve graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Communications.

As Vice President, Talent Attraction, Patience oversees DCI’s Talent Attraction practice area, which helps cities, states, regions and countries to attract the workforce of the future through custom research and targeted marketing campaigns. Prior to that, she served as DCI’s Vice President, Brand & Digital Strategy, spearheading dozens of economic development, tourism and talent attraction brands and websites designed to drive leads, visitation and relocation.

Patience’s work has been recognized in the Summit Creative Awards, AVA Digital Awards, Horizon Interactive Awards, International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Excellence in Economic Development Awards, and MarCom Awards.

She has been a featured speaker on place marketing research and best practices at conferences including Young Smart & Local, Destinations International, ECONOMIX, and the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Annual Conference, and in communities from Buffalo to Birmingham. Patience also serves as co-chair of DCI’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiative.

This native of the Berkshires grew up learning to appreciate the benefits of small town life. When she chose to attend Kenyon College in rural Ohio, she learned to love even-smaller-town life, only to fall in love with global cities like Paris, Rome and Amsterdam during her travels abroad. Luckily for Patience, a career in representing places—from small cities, to large states, to entire countries—means she never has to choose which she prefers.

Since moving to New York, Patience has eaten her way across a variety of neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. When she’s not indulging her taste buds, you’ll find her working on her headstand at her favorite yoga studio.

Patience is a graduate of Kenyon College holding a Bachelor of Science in psychology.

DeLaney specializes in public relations for economic development and talent attraction clients, bringing her expertise to DCI’s clients. Prior to joining the agency, she made the rounds in New York City’s PR agency environment, working with luxury lifestyle brands and garnering coverage across top tier publications.

Although DeLaney has spent most of her life in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and New York, she has a passion for places across the globe. With numerous family and friends located across New Jersey, California, Arizona, Maine, Indiana, Africa and Sweden, DeLaney has been fortunate enough to immerse herself in local cultures worldwide.

On the weekend you can find DeLaney at a game for one of New York’s many sports teams or enjoying any of the city’s beautiful parks. She’s no stranger to relaxing while reading a book or strolling the city on the hunt for live music.

DeLaney graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science in public relations and journalism.

Richie is a digital marketing maverick who has made it his mission to empower businesses and organizations with the tools they need to thrive in an increasingly connected world. As a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at DCI, Richie plays a pivotal role in delivering top-notch marketing solutions to clients in both economic development and tourism sectors.

Equipped with exceptional strategic thinking and a keen eye for detail, Richie has achieved impressive results for clients through his expertise in search engine optimization, social media management, content creation, and digital ad strategy. His commitment to staying ahead of industry trends enables him to provide innovative and effective solutions that make a genuine impact on the organizations he works with.

A strong believer in the power of storytelling, Richie’s passion for exploring new places and learning about diverse cultures is evident in his work. He enjoys using his creativity and marketing know-how to amplify the unique stories that make each destination special, ultimately contributing to their growth and success.His passion for places and his drive to make a difference have led him to become an integral part of the DCI team.

Richie, born in Manassas, Virginia, has a deep love of travel. He has vacationed in the German Alps — where his German minor came in handy — climbed to the top of the Zugspitze, dined at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and slid down the dunes in White Sands, New Mexico.

Richie graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and management, where he honed his skills in digital marketing, analytics, and strategy.

Emily is passionate about data-driven insights and paid media management. With extensive experience in various customer and client support positions, she is an expert in advertising, front-end communication, and back-end data analysis across multiple industries. At Development Counsellors International, she manages client campaigns, optimizes digital marketing strategies, and provides actionable insights by analyzing data. Emily is a problem-solver who constantly seeks ways to improve processes and deliver better results to her clients.

Originally from China, Emily loves to travel and explore different cultures. She has visited over 30 cities in China. She continues to explore other parts of the world, including Europe, North America, and South America, viewing travel as a crucial aspect of life, a way to broaden an individual’s vision and learn new things about the world. Besides her interest in travel, Emily is a music fanatic, attending musicals, orchestral concerts, and various other events in her free time.

She is highly motivated and always goes the extra mile to ensure her clients are satisfied with the results. With her expertise in marketing and passion for travel and music, Emily is a well-rounded professional who can help businesses take their marketing to the next level. She is a go-to person for companies looking to exceed their marketing expectations.

Emily is a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in business and communication and holds certifications in Google Ads-Search, Google Ads- Video, and Google Ads- Display.

With more than 30 years of branding, advertising, television and digital marketing experience, Kevin has worked with agencies and retail brands across the U.S. including LL Bean, 1800 Flowers, Bloomingdale’s, CVS, Neiman Marcus, The Home Depot and Sundance.

Kevin grew up in a family of six children with whom he is very close. Growing up in Boston and spending childhood summers on Cape Cod and the West Coast of Ireland, Kevin got hooked on traveling when he took a solo trip to Cozumel off the coast of the Yucatán. A love of the Spanish language was born which led to many trips throughout South America, Central America and more than a dozen visits to Spain. An opportunity to live abroad in London for three years afforded Kevin the chance to make quick trips throughout Europe including Scandinavia, The Baltics, and unique islands like Iceland, Malta, Jersey and Majorca. Kevin always has his next trip planned.

Travel and talent have always been a passion for Kevin, paired with more than a decade of consulting with top brands. An expert in talent acquisition and a specialist in relocating creative executives to markets all over the U.S., Kevin is a native Bostonian where he attended Northeastern University. He is now a New Yorker with past experiences living in London, Seattle, Barcelona and San Francisco.

He is married and always playing sous chef to his favorite cook, his husband Eric. Kevin is an experienced skier, sailor and a lifelong fan of the Red Sox and Fenway Park where he worked his summers as a teenager selling hot dogs to hungry fans. Kevin has 11 nieces and nephews.

Hanna leads DCI’s digital team of social media managers, content marketers, website project managers, SEO specialists and digital media planners. Through her own efforts and by inspiring others, the team crafts and deploys creative digital content that drives engagement with economic development organizations, talent attraction campaigns, and tourism and destination marketing brands. She has her finger on the pulse of digital marketing trends and what works to reach audiences and stakeholders from talent and travelers to prospects and investors.

Throughout her career at DCI, Hanna has supported places including Michigan (her home state!), the Netherlands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Orlando, Charleston, Baton Rouge, cities across Texas and Florida – plus the states themselves – and more.

Notably, Hanna leads the digital content strategy for the Netherlands’ foreign investment promotion efforts in North America, overseeing everything from brand social media and executive LinkedIn content to blogs and e-newsletters. She also led a complete revamp of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ social media presence – from audit and strategy to execution – including the Department of Tourism’s first Instagram Reels and a first-for-the-organization user generated content (UGC) program, which together increased engagement by more than 125% in six months.

Even outside of the office, Hanna loves experiencing cultures throughout the world. She has been to four continents but hopes to visit all seven, and is also on her way to visiting all 50 states. Notable travel experiences include a solo trip to South Korea, attending the Amsterdam Music Festival in the Netherlands, seeing the church her grandfather was baptized at in Germany, experiencing Saudi Arabia, segway-ing around Paris, surfing in Hawaii, (mini) golfing in Scotland, and exploring the natural terrain in Iceland. New York City remains her favorite city.

Hanna earned a Bachelor of Arts in advertising and public relations from Michigan State University.

Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Vanessa relocated to New York and began her marketing career as an account executive for a New York multicultural marketing agency. She parlayed her experience into a role with the Trade Commission of Peru in New York, managing events and serving as a destination ambassador at trade shows. Eventually her passion for sales, marketing and travel led her to Mava Travel, a leading tour operator, where she spearheaded B2B2C efforts. Now at DCI, she leverages her relationships with the travel trade to drive consumer bookings to destinations worldwide.

Among her achievements, Vanessa spearheaded an event and integrated marketing campaign for Visit Monaco designed to reconnect trade professionals with luxury hotels in the Principality prior to the launch of new direct service from the New York Metro area.

Her family worked in the tourism industry, so business acumen has always been part of Vanessa’s life. Working with a tour operator in Peru further whet Vanessa’s appetite for travel. Coming to New York City represented an exciting shift in her life, and much of her nuclear family eventually followed her to the city.

As a New Yorker, she will happily spend weekends playing tourist, exploring the microcosm of cultures that fill every neighborhood. After more than a decade, it fails to bore her! She’ll lace up her runners for a jog down the Hudson River Park or catch up on podcasts for some personal time. Come Sunday, she’ll gather with her family, husband and their Yorkie terrier for food and games.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts in advertising and marketing communications from FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) and a Master of Science in tourism management from New York University.

Born and raised in the shadow of the Big Apple, Beatriz has worked in public relations and events throughout her professional career. Her big brand experience honed through engagements with Starz Network, Telemundo, Viacom, Epic Records, Island Records and Warner Music, now serves her destination marketing efforts. Beatriz is well-versed in producing media events from conception to completion and prides herself on her feature editorial placements.

A guru of event planning at KB Venture Group, in one single year Beatriz developed, and implemented 86 consumer and media events in four major U.S. markets – New York, New Jersey, Miami and Los Angeles – including pop-up shops, tasting events, and release parties for Def Jam, Warner Music, and Epic Records.

Her love of travel emanates from her mother, whose 32-year career at United Airlines meant Beatriz was always traveling during her childhood. She continues to traipse the country, exploring smaller cities and destinations on the weekend. Her family is important to her, and her trips to visit them in the Dominican Republic are still very much a part of her travel adventures. Walking through terminals and seeing departure information for all the different cities worldwide that she wanted to visit kept her hungry for travel and for the discoveries that come with experiencing new cultures.

She thrives seeing how people abroad live and enjoy life. While she recently ticked Paris off her bucket list, Beatriz is setting her eyes on Japan for the next big adventure.

Beatriz holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey.

As a digital strategist, Sumiti has experience in nearly every facet of digital marketing. Her deep industry knowledge and data-driven approach to all advertising campaigns help drive success for clients as they seek to engage consumers online.

Sumiti has led digital advertising programs targeting travelers, business executives and talent for such international destinations as Belize and Zurich, and cities across the U.S. including Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh and Redding. Specifically, for the Belize Tourism Board, Sumiti launched a digital marketing strategy that led to 75 percent growth in Google searches for Belize, according to Google’s Travel Analytics. in her role as a digital marketing manager, Sumiti cut reporting time to clients by 75% by creating an automated data studio reporting system that increased efficiency for both her team and its clients.

Leading an international life, Sumiti naturally tends towards embracing new places and looking for what makes a destination tick. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it drives Sumiti. She loves to learn and broaden her horizons, whether it’s far away in Singapore or closer in Denver. Currently, she’s dreaming of Europe, planning her next big trans-Atlantic excursion.

Living a life shared between Canada and India, Sumiti has spent several years away from her home country. She’s easily kept in touch with daily video calls, helping keep her close to her family. Now in Canada, she balances her life between the excitement of exploring the diversity of big cities like Toronto and escaping to the natural beauty of small towns like Stratford.

Sumiti holds a Bachelor of Arts in information technology from MMU in India and a Master of Arts in mass communication and journalism from Panjab University.

Zindzi grew up in the Turks and Caicos Islands among a mix of Caribbean and British culture that makes the islands so unique. Her early career experiences saw her working at an agency as a digital PR strategist for clients in different niches such as personal finance, lifestyle, travel and tech, securing top-tier placements and increasing brand SEO value.  

In Zindzi’s past roles she has increased brand awareness for clients by securing top-tier, strategic placements in publications like Business Insider, CNBC, Yahoo Finance and Miami Herald. Zindzi has also consistently secured strategic backlinks on high-performing websites such as PCMag and GOBankingRates, increasing the clients’ domain authority and SEO value. 

Growing up on a small island always made Zindzi curious about the outside world. When she was 10 years old, her father and uncles began planning “father-daughter” trips. Her first trip was to New York City, and she fell in love. It was there that she discovered her passion for places and interest in immersing herself in different cultures. Since then, she has traveled to Washington D.C., Georgia, South Carolina, Mexico, Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize, London, Paris and Greece – but her list of dream destinations is growing faster than she can visit them all.  

When Zindzi is not at work, she’s usually with her older sister and spending quality time with family. On the weekend, you can either find Zindzi at a Saturday brunch having bottomless mimosas (hold the orange juice) or sitting on her couch with a glass of red wine, catching up on her favorite series.

Zindzi holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida.

Carla was born and raised in Barcelona, where she began her career in media and marketing. Working at a global marketing PR firm and as a journalist at a Barcelona TV station, Carla learned all about media relations from both angles. Now in New York, she is bringing her international perspectives to DCI’s tourism client roster.

In previous roles, she was a reporter for the entertainment program “Connecticat.” Carla presented nightly news on Spanish TV, honing a media presence and storytelling technique all her own. At the agency Both People & Comms, she wrote press releases and organized press conferences for BCN Cultura, Casa Seat and Servihabitat.

Now, tourism is her motivation. Culture, travel, and people drive Carla. Her journalistic training and love of storytelling stem from an inherent desire to write — a passion that dates to her childhood. Daily, she balances discovering new places with maintaining connections to the old ones.

Embracing and exploring different cultures is at the heart of Carla’s obsession with travel. The people, above all, weave their spell on her when she travels to a new city or region. She seeks personal connections as entry points into a destination, whether she’s at a Parisian bistro or, one day, on a beach in Bali.

Carla spends her free time exploring everything New York City offers. Whether sitting in Bryant Park with iced coffee or jogging through Central Park, she thrives on sunny days. If rain is in the forecast, she’s happy reading in a bar or sharing a drink with friends on a rooftop.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and cultural industries from the University of Barcelona.

With a background in journalism and digital marketing, and degrees in English literature, Katarzyna is now directing her robust storytelling repertoire to discover and amplify stories about the client communities that she serves. Some of her proudest publicist moments have been landing placements in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Business Journals, Reuters, Black Enterprise and Governing, as well as setting up interviews with Reuters and The Wall Street Journal for a media tour in New York City.

Katarzyna’s client roster includes Tulsa, Oklahoma; North Dakota, Indiana and Charleston, South Carolina. She loves having the opportunity to dive into a wide variety of topics while brainstorming new pitch ideas, from commercial real estate and the future of EVs to venture capital.

During college, she was a writer and editor for BU’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Free Press, in addition to being involved in research, working as a production assistant at a theater and tutoring adults from different countries in English.

While she now lives in New York, Katarzyna grew up in suburban Massachusetts and spent most of her summers in Poland, where her family is from. Her frequent travels across the ocean inspired her love of exploring new places. Most recently, she’s had the opportunity to venture out to El Salvador, Greece and Japan. When she’s not planning her next trip, Katarzyna enjoys reading, writing, spending time outdoors, checking out new restaurants with friends and exploring New York City.

Katarzyna graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a Bachelor and a Master of Arts in English, with a minor in history.

Tania brings her experience in radio broadcasting and nonprofit public relations to the DCI team. From promotions and events with Bell Media and international film organization TIFF, Tania’s experiences have deepened her understanding of communication strategies and how to target the right audience for a brand.

To stimulate tourism in Barbados during the COVID-19 pandemic, the island launched the Welcome Stamp Visa program, which invited remote workers to live and work in Barbados. Tania’s earned media efforts garnered 4.8 billion impressions along with 1,800 stories in such outlets as Breakfast Television, CBC News, CTV News, Global News, MSN Canada, National Post and The Vancouver Sun.

Tania grew up in the Greater Toronto area. She credits her immigrant parents, with Italian and Armenian backgrounds, for cultivating her interest in the many places of the world and their food, entertainment, and people. The Caribbean has always held a special place in her heart. Unsurprisingly, her favorite destination is Jamaica, which she visits at least once a year to see friends and family.

City life never disappointed her, but her recent move has led to a love for the countryside. She now lives north of Toronto, where she can still access the city quickly, but enjoys tons of greenery and easy access to a quiet beach. Her children, dogs and the beach are the three things she can’t live without (well, maybe pizza, too). Wherever the best coffee is served is where Tania will be.

She holds a post-graduate certification in public relations and corporate communications and a diploma in broadcasting radio from Seneca College and a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from York University. She currently serves on the board of directors for Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC).

Jeremiah leads content marketing programs for a range of economic development organizations and talent attraction brands. He brings a knack for storytelling across mediums, an eagle eye for both minute details and broad strategy, and a keen grasp of the unique personality and appeal of each place he works with. Jeremiah keeps a close watch on the latest industry trends and is constantly thinking of ways to optimize and breathe new life into a client’s efforts to connect with key audiences and stakeholders.

During his time at DCI, Jeremiah has supported places like the Netherlands, Florida, Michigan Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Colorado Springs and more. He has worn many different hats – project manager, digital strategist, copywriter, editor, graphic designer, video creator – with the aim of delivering high-performing content across social media, blogs, videos, websites, email marketing and digital ads.

Born and raised in Texas, Jeremiah gained an early passion for seeing new places as a swimmer who traveled to countless competitions within the state and across the country for nearly two decades. This was augmented by his family’s rich multicultural background, with roots in South Korea, Argentina and the United States. Now based in Philadelphia, Jeremiah does much of his ideation while running alongside the Schuylkill River each morning. He continues to travel whenever he can, having recently visited France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea, Spain and Portugal. He is also a fan of America’s great, storied cities and national parks, and plans to visit as many as he can in his lifetime.

Jeremiah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cornell University.

A DCI “boomeranger,” Cilia has spent time on both the agency and client side of economic development. She supported FDI efforts at UK Trade & Investment in New York for three years before she moved westward and joined DCI’s economic development PR team in Denver. A few years later, she moved to western Colorado and served a seven-year stint as Director of Marketing and Communications for the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, a regional economic development organization. She returned to DCI in 2022, where she currently leads a fast-paced and expanding website division.

Cilia is a strategic thinker and passionate storyteller. She loves to dig into website analytics and best practices to provide clients with data-driven website strategies as much as she loves to wordsmith and translate your messaging for a digital audience. To date, Cilia has worked with dozens of clients throughout the U.S. and internationally on websites that attract business, talent and visitors to regions both large and small.

A Swedish transplant, Cilia grew up in Europe and spent vacations driving from Sweden to Spain and stopping everywhere in between. She moved to New York for college, where she fell in love with the city and her future husband. Today, when she’s not at her remote desk in North Carolina, Cilia is exploring the great outdoors with her family and their beloved pup.

Cilia holds a Bachelor of Science in advertising and marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in journalism from Columbia University in New York, as well as certificates in economics and philosophy from Stockholm University.

Tayo is a digital solution expert passionate about optimizing websites and transforming digital experiences, with over a decade of experience in the industry.

As a results-oriented professional with a proven track record of delivering successful projects across various industries, his strategic technical advice and innovative approach have helped clients overcome unique challenges and achieve their goals. His recent success with the York University Website Optimization Project, which won the Best of Council on Approved Student Education (CASE) Award of Excellence District II 2022, speaks volumes about his skills and expertise.

Tayo’s deep understanding of the ever-changing digital landscape and commitment to helping businesses stay ahead by providing cutting-edge solutions and insights set him apart from other digital solutions experts. His experience and knowledge have allowed him to identify and capitalize on emerging trends, ensuring his clients remain relevant and competitive.

Outside of work, Tayo is a passionate traveler who loves to explore new places and learn about different cultures. His thirst for knowledge and adventure has taken him to other parts of the world, and he brings that same sense of curiosity and wonder to his work. Tayo’s love for diverse cultures and cities led him to DCI, where he found a team of people who share his passion for storytelling and showcasing the unique features of different places.

Whether optimizing websites or exploring new destinations, Tayo brings the same dedication and enthusiasm to everything he does.

He holds a Master of Science in Information Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a PMI-PMP & ACP certification.

A seasoned publicist, Ashley has helped publicize travel brands from Barbados to Tahiti and Belize to California, educate Canadian travelers and drive visitor arrivals. Before joining DCI, Ashley gained media relations experience by working at Ketchum Public Relations Canada, where she contributed to the Mastercard and Outdoorsy accounts, among others.

Her marketing work with Belize during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic generated 158M impressions, with 86M impressions driving directly to the destination’s website during 2020. She also managed the Visit California Canada Facebook page. Under her guidance the Facebook page saw a 90% increase in page views, 41% increase in organic impressions and a 300% increase in engagement within the first month.

As part of VisitScotland Business Events’ (VSBE) swift response to COVID-19, Ashley hosted a virtual media event that ended up winning two Gold Stella Awards for the Best International CVB in North Americas Regions in 2020 and 2021 by NorthStar Meetings Group.

Ashley has always been obsessed with globes and maps and plotting her next adventure. In 2015, she packed a bag and traveled as long and far as she could (and as far as her dollars would take her), checking off bucket list destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, Chiang Mai, Vang Vieng and the Gili Islands. Her love of travel inspired her to pursue an internship in Florence, Italy, where she spent three months living and working. Her latest adventure was a road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway in California.

When she’s not traveling or planning her next trip, Ashley squeezes in as much time as she can with her family and friends and (most importantly) her French bulldog, Lola.

She earned her master’s degree at McMaster University and her postgraduate certification in public relations and corporate communications from Seneca College.

Born in Georgia, between the Black and Caspian Seas, Natia grew up surrounded by history and culture. Her dream of moving abroad and studying in the U.S. came true and she’s been engaged in the tourism sector ever since. She rooted her destination marketing career working for Abu Dhabi in the North American market and continues to create strong relationships with the travel trade at DCI.

For Abu Dhabi, Natia conducted the Abu Dhabi Roadshow three years in a row in five strategic cities across USA and Canada that resulted in 323 meetings with travel trade partners, more than 100 leads and 19 partnership campaigns. Natia’s work with Abu Dhabi resulted in training more than 6,970 travel agents, tour operators and consolidators.

Her love of travel dates to her childhood. Natia credits a grade school project on Hungary for whetting her appetite for travel, opening her eyes to the impact tourism has on places and their inhabitants. A trip to Cuba cemented her dedication to travel, even inspiring her master’s thesis. She has thrived convincing others to visit and explore natural wonders and historic monuments while meeting local people and participating in traditional celebrations

Natia’s Georgian upbringing and close family ties feeds her desire to use travel to build bridges between people and cultures. Channeling her love of the industry into her education and career, she brings perspectives to her work that help break down barriers and open doors. Her love of travel, however, also revolves around the new culinary experiences that these doors lead to!

Natia holds a bachelor’s degree in tourism and hospitality management from Temple University and a master’s in Tourism Management from New York University.

Pamela has spent her career in destination marketing. For two years she led operations, sales and marketing at Attractions Ontario in Canada. Then, for 14 years as senior director for Tourism Toronto, Pamela drove business meetings, conventions and leisure travel to Toronto. Eventually she transitioned to agency life, representing international destinations to meeting planners and the travel trade.

Her results speak for themselves. For Visit Berlin, Pamela hosted the IMEX America booth, securing and conducting more than 30 appointments with qualified meeting planners in three days. For the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Pamela pitched, secured and closed a major business event that will welcome more than 6,000 association attendees to Thailand in 2024. Prior to DCI, for Destination Toronto, Pamela worked with a cross-organizational committee to create a community-driven and collaborative approach to business events, which resulted in 20 percent greater economic impact for the destination and its stakeholders.

A native of Newfoundland, Canada, Pamela spent family vacations in Florida for years. It was on this American panhandle where Pamela’s love of the beach, sunshine and travel began. A quest for new destinations and cultures led her to the United Kingdom and New Zealand on student working visas. Armed with her passport, she is always happy to explore and strike up a conversation with a local in a pub. No matter how far she roams, she always returns home to Newfoundland whenever she can.

When she is not working, Pamela focuses on work life satisfaction by practicing hot yoga and boxing, going on local adventures with her son and watching the British soap opera Coronation Street.

Pamela is a graduate of Ryerson University’s tourism management program in Toronto.

Hannah honed her public relations experience in the Philippines, where she developed an expertise in account management, editorial campaigns and media relations throughout various industries. She has represented such corporate brands as Microsoft, Nestle and Unisys. Now she channels her expertise into DCI’s destination clients.

At DCI, Hannah has assisted in pitching and securing media interest for the Belize Tourism Board, resulting in dozens of media placements across national broadcast, digital and print publications including Cityline, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and Notable Life. While supporting the marketing efforts of a B2B client, Expedia Group, Hannah helped secure more than 26 pieces of media coverage, generating 9.3 million trade media impressions.

Hannah’s retired seafaring father, who taught her how to use maps when she was a child, helped develop her love for traveling. Her family traveled locally — seeing some of the best of the Philippines’ 7,100 islands — until Hannah explored beyond her borders to visit countries in Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. She thrives when engaging with new cultures, sampling cuisine and exploring new cities.

Hannah is inspired most by destinations as she moves through them. An avid fan of public transportation for the surprising and sometimes-bizarre people-watching, she often boards a train or bus headed downtown, with no itinerary, watching locals go about their daily lives and finding the extraordinary in ordinary life.

Hannah earned her master’s degree in professional communication at Toronto Metropolitan University and her postgraduate certification in public relations and corporate communications from Seneca College.

Kayla oversees communications strategy for DCI’s tourism public relations clients and directs tourism crisis/recovery communication efforts. Her leadership has led to countless wins for destination clients.

For example, as part Visit California’s earned media campaign to promote dispersal from the Golden State’s gateway cities and into rural areas, Kayla secured coverage in top tier publications. For Travel Iowa, she successfully leveraged the presidential candidate caucus to generate two major features — in the Sunday Travel Section and the Wednesday Dining Section — in The New York Times.

On behalf of Discover The Palm Beaches, Kayla secured 50-plus editorial meetings in one year as a part of media missions to multiple North American cities. This experience contributed to coverage in Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chicago Tribune, CNN, Family Fun, New York Post, and others.

Growing up in the small town of Clinton, NY, Kayla knew early on that suburban life was not for her. After setting her eyes on New York City for the first time, she made up her mind that one day she would be a city girl. Spending most of her summers camping throughout the Northeast with her family, she developed a love for adventure early on. Fast-forward nearly two decades later, Kayla is proud to call New York City home and enjoys spending her free time exploring the many cultures that make up the Big Apple. She still carves out time, howeer, to explore her natural surroundings on every trip she undertakes.

On the weekend you’ll find Kayla attempting to body surf on the beaches of Long Island, running in the park with her dog or eating through New York City one borough at a time.

Kayla earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations at SUNY Oswego.

Lina joined DCI after nearly four years in the economic development industry, managing marketing and communications for The Right Place, Inc. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She worked extensively in the digital and content marketing spaces, including social media management, paid advertising, email marketing, website management, content creation and more.

Her work showcases her talents. Lina led a social media audit and developed a content strategy for the United States Virgin Islands Department of Tourism’s social media platforms. The content she created resulted in a 160% increase in total engagements. For Visit Redding, Lina conducted a digital content audit and SEO research. She leveraged the research findings and industry best practices to create a comprehensive blog and email marketing strategy that drove engagement with the destination’s new website.

Lina’s passion for places was cultivated at a young age. Born a German-American dual citizen, she loves that her maternal family still resides in Germany today. Lina has visited many cities in Germany, both large and small. She also traveled to Greece, where she was able to climb to the top of the Acropolis of Lindos. In the U.S., Lina has been on multiple cross-country road trips, visiting cities from coast to coast.

When Lina isn’t binge-reading a new series or getting a Peloton ride in, she keeps busy with one of her many other creative outlets. She loves to paint, write, do makeup, and try her hand at cooking or baking new things. She has a rescue pup named Atlas, considers herself an amateur gardener, and will never turn down a good charcuterie board.

Lina holds a Bachelor of Business degree in public relations from Ferris State University.

Chezkalyn works closely with all of DCI’s account teams to design creative assets for place marketing campaigns – from infographics and collateral material to graphics for digital platforms and custom event décor.

Chezkalyn has designed collateral, infographics, brochures and digital advertisements for a wide range of place clients including Hobbs, New Mexico; Houston, Texas; Northern Virginia and Greenville, North Carolina. She builds “Tourism Look Book,” which provides DCI clients and prospects with visual examples of event décor, trade show booth design, collateral material, billboards and digital marketing creative.

Growing up in New York City, Chezkalyn learned to love exploring new places and daydreaming about her next adventure. Throughout her youth, each year she traveled with her whole family to cities in U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. After finally getting her driver’s license when she graduated from college, she flew out to California with her friends and had an unforgettable road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles along the Pacific Coast Highway. She now has an itch to explore all America’s national parks. Her count to date? Three out of 62.

Chezkalyn’s appreciation for the arts started at a young age. She was interested in photography in high school and started shooting both film and digital which she’s done ever since. As an artist, she is passionate about documenting candid memories and events on which to look back. She also loves to do “unboxing and review” product videos which are available on her YouTube channel.

Chezkalyn graduated magna cum laude with a with a BFA in Electronic Design and Multimedia from City College of New York (CUNY).

Wendy is a modern leader who helps employees identify their professional goals and encourages them to find ways to do their best work. She believes that people are what drives a work culture, and in turn strong cultures drive innovation and personal growth. Over the years her work has focused on partnering with businesses to champion an engaged, celebrated, and inspired work community.

Currently, she brings that focus to DCI’s talent strategy, learning culture, people data and analytics, funneling her knowledge into all programs aligned to better the employee experience and to attract the best possible candidates to new roles.

Her career has stretched across more than twenty years of experience in human resources and people operations. Previous roles have given her vast and diversified experience as a people leader in the digital media, agency, and technology space. She has led talent programs at global companies such as Novartis and WebMD but also has worked with various start-ups helping to build cultures and empower teams. As a seasoned generalist, she is versed in people operations, leadership development and creating rewarding employee experiences.

Compassion, active listening, empathy, and a strong sense of humor are what Webdy believes are essential elements to fulfilling her duties to the best of her ability. She looks at all sides and will crowd sources for feedback when building programs. Wendy believes we should always be expanding our intellectual curiosity and helps drive DCI’s core value of knowledge sharing.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Science in human resources from the University of Delaware.

A Philadelphia native, Nishat came to DCI to support agency operations in every way possible. In her previous roles, she has served underprivileged communities through outreach programs. She even started her own educational assistance program at school. Today at DCI, Nishat works on agency operations including onboarding new staff, providing tech support, updating the CRM system, and assisting in planning for agency events and procedures.

A reliable and adaptable problem-solver, Nishat is always on hand to help staff who look to her for assistance.

Working ultimately to support destination clients, however, is a real perk for her, as Nishat is a lifelong devotee of all things travel. She and her four siblings spent vacations trekking across the U.S. East Coast on road trips. By hiking the Shenandoah Valley and chasing every beautiful vista she could, Nishat gained a deep love for exploring beyond her urban enclaves. Her first flight to Newport Beach, CA, still stands out as one of her most memorable escapes.

When traveling, it’s all about getting out of her comfort zone, and Nishat loves to do just that while hitting the road solo. It allows her to confront people and situations that have forced her to grow over the years. Next up on her bucket list is exploring – and tasting – all that Italy has to offer.

At home in Midtown, Manhattan, Nishat spends her spare time wandering the West Side Highway and seeking a new favorite dinner spot or happy hour experience.

Nishat is currently attending New York University for her Bachelor of Arts in economics and business studies.

A proud native Pennsylvanian, Allie is the manager of talent attraction at DCI, where she serves as a specialist on talent attraction trends, research and strategies. In this role, she leads a broad array of branding, messaging and marketing strategies for talent attraction clients from coast to coast. Prior to joining DCI, Allie managed the creative strategy for a higher education non-profit in Washington, DC and interned for a series of nonprofits across the DC metro area.

An agile project manager, Allie has worked across all of DCI’s practice areas – economic development, talent attraction and tourism as well as across DCI’s digital, public relations, branding & strategy and research service areas. Allie is a creative and detail-oriented storyteller who specializes in crafting authentic messaging and brands that resonate with target audiences and key stakeholders.

While she now calls New Jersey home, she’s lived in communities across Pennsylvania, Virginia and even across the pond in London. When she’s not managing talent attraction strategies for clients from Pennsylvania to North Carolina or Kansas, Allie can be found exploring an independent bookstore or searching for a community’s best coffee spot. She’s at her happiest when she’s taking long walks and getting lost around a city. When she’s not walking around in search of the world’s best bagel, you can find Allie curled up with a book or attempting to get into running (again).

Allie graduated from Penn State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in public relations with a minor in international studies.

Elisa is putting her international project management experience, and her multiple degrees, to good use. She joined DCI with experience project managing for Amnesty International and marketing at a cultural exchange organization.

Today, she focuses on implementing sales and marketing initiatives in partnership with DCI’s Business Events marketing team. For example, Elisa increased interest among North American meeting planners in Abu Dhabi by mining new sales leads and augmenting contacts in the database.

A native of Turin, Elisa’s family is spread across France and Italy, instilling a deep connection to travel and discovery as a child. Working as an au pair in the United States, her desire to explore took her across North America, but she’s far from finished with her adventures.

She’s not an Italian stereotype, but Elisa does admit her fondness for cooking and eating does border on predictable. Her years as an au pair have opened her eyes to meeting and engaging with new people. Throw her together with people from all over the world and she’s the kind of person who will find ways to connect to anyone, no matter their origins.

Exploring New York and New Jersey keeps her busy when she’s not in the kitchen following some new recipe. She’ll trade the kitchen for a new restaurant or any new food that’s popped up on her radar. Also look for her in a local stadium, attending a sports event, having taken a shine to American athletics.

Elisa holds a Master of Science in economics from the University of Turin, a Master of Science in marketing management from the Niccolò Cusano University and a social media marketing certificate from LIU Post University in Long Island, New York.

Born and raised in small-town Missouri, Maddie discovered her passion for writing, storytelling and marketing while helping others to improve her craft at her university writing center. Since then she has made a career of all things related to the written word. An experience interning with the international home and lifestyle company Magnolia paved her way for joining DCI. Now, Maddie is in charge of all things related to marketing DCI and gets to put her love of storytelling to use everyday.

A bookworm her entire life, Maddie first discovered her passion for places through books and magazines. She grew up wanting to go on the adventures she always read about and in the winter of 2022, she got the opportunity to travel around Italy on a two-week trip learning about the life of the great Dante Alighieri. She is always planning her next adventure to bucket list destinations like England, New Zealand, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Maddie spends most of her free time wandering around looking for eclectic coffee shops or old bookstores. As a devoted dog mom, you might also find her walking (or getting dragged by) her Sheepadoodle to the park! If she’s not sipping on coffee or reading a book on the weekend, you might catch Maddie strolling around the farmer’s market, grabbing dinner with friends, or cozying up on the couch with a good movie.

Maddie holds a Bachelor of Arts in professional writing and rhetoric and a minor in women’s and gender studies from Baylor University.

In need of a data-driven and creative website strategy that truly resonates with your audience? It’s time to connect with Shanleigh McStay.

Shanleigh oversees strategy and implementation across a variety of economic development and talent attraction websites. Her superpower is transforming vast amounts of information into a streamlined and efficient sitemap. With almost a decade of experience leading website strategy, design, content, and development, she is a respected speaker at industry conferences, sharing expertise on website best practices.

As someone who has lived in ten different cities, Shanleigh understands the importance of storytelling and connection. When she builds a website, she prioritizes crafting an experience that will resonate with audiences. For her, it’s not just about creating a site, but also about providing a digital space to share unique and meaningful stories.

As an avid follower of digital marketing trends, Shanleigh constantly seeks novel techniques to help her clients succeed. From start to finish, she is the ultimate partner in creating an effective website.

When Shanleigh was a child, she wanted to be Indiana Jones so badly that her parents jokingly called her “Shanleigh-ana Jones.” She has been inspired by travel, adventure and the unknown her entire life. She believes that there is nothing quite like being somewhere new and learning to love it in your own way.

On her weekends, you’ll find Shanleigh outside, hiking and generally enjoying all things related to nature. As a non-skier, she tends to stick to the foothills in the winter, but come summer, she will be out in the mountains with friends every chance she gets.

Shanleigh is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science in strategic communication and marketing. She is certified in WCAG ADA compliance.

Raised in Medellín, Colombia, Carolina journeyed to New York to advance her career in public relations. As a former producer at a Colombian radio station and host of a radio program focused on mental health, Carolina has refined her interview skills and knows exactly how to engage an audience. This expertise allowed her to hit the ground running to secure broadcast interviews for DCI’s destination clients on both English and Spanish language programs.

Her passion for cultural storytelling is rooted in her own love for music and dance. While participating in music and dance groups from Colombia, Carolina worked as a cultural mediator in European nations including Austria, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain, as well as in the U.S. Performing abroad connected her to the world – and instilled her with a love of travel. She seeks to see the world, to taste new cuisine, to meet different people, and to hear the many stories that are all so different from those in her home country. 

Today, Carolina enjoys immersing herself in American culture. She explores the city streets – without Google Maps – while trying new restaurants and bakeries in New York’s five boroughs. 

Carolina holds a Bachelor of Arts in social communication and journalism from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, in Medellin, Colombia.

Drisha is an assistant account executive on DCI’s Lifestyle PR team. In her previous job at a NYC-based boutique PR agency, she represented clients within the tech sector, ranging from aviation to e-commerce and supply chain industries. Drisha is excited about crafting narratives that revolve around talent attraction and quality of life, effectively translating complex industry details into compelling storylines.

Drawing from her multicultural background, Drisha traces her fascination with places and their stories back to her upbringing. Influenced by her parents, who immigrated from India, she developed an insatiable curiosity to explore every nook and cranny of the United States. From visiting iconic sites such as Crater Lake in Oregon to immersing herself in the vibrancy of Mackinac Island and indulging in jet skiing adventures in Florida, her family’s domestic journeys ignited a passion that would eventually extend internationally. Drisha’s global expeditions encompassed visiting extended family in India, volunteering in El Salvador, and embarking on a transformative backpacking journey across Europe.

Beyond her ventures into the world and her professional endeavors, Drisha finds balance in her life by hitting the gym and testing out Brooklyn’s culinary scene with her friends. She also enjoys spending quality time with her family in New Jersey. An ardent makeup enthusiast, food connoisseur, skilled painter and nurturing plant mom, Drisha has diverse interests that reflect her creative spirit and appreciation for life.

Drisha graduated from Seton Hall University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations and journalism.

Nkechi started working in the magazine and publishing world before branching out into corporate and education events. Eventually she landed in tourism, most recently working with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to market and promote the city as a leading business events destination. Born in Nigeria but having called six countries home, she brings all of her international business experience, like working with the African Travel Association, to continue working in MICE sales for DCI.

From Nigeria to Israel, Canada to Cairo, Nkechi has been traveling before she knew what traveling was. She thrives on discovering new people and places, especially when living somewhere for extended periods of time and getting to experience the overlooked side of a destination. She connects to a place through its people and, of course, its food, whether it’s a soul-food joint in Savannah, Georgia, or high-end tastings in Bangkok.

The daughter of an ambassador, Nkechi’s global upbringing always made it clear that the world was bigger than her own experiences. Her large immediate family spans three countries but technology keeps them together and communicating daily. She’s lived all over the world and is settled (for now) in Brooklyn with her daughters and husband.

Just ask her two young daughters to find out what Nkechi will be doing each weekend as they explore New York’s parks and bakeries together. Otherwise, she’ll be reading or feasting on whatever amazing dish her husband is currently perfecting, and catching up on her movies once the kids go to bed. A glass of wine on a Brooklyn stoop with friends isn’t out of the question, either.

Nkechi holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Spelman College in Atlanta and a Master of Science in tourism management from New York University.

Helen is a Munich native who brings her international fashion and lifestyle PR experience to DCI’s destination clients. Prior to joining DCI, Helen worked at an agency in Vienna where she honed her event management and media pitching skills. A natural communicator, Helen connects easily with anyone she works with, whether it’s delivering reports to clients or networking with journalists.

Growing up in a major European capital, Helen spent her childhood traveling and exploring destinations near and far like Austria, Greece, Italy, Mauritius, and South Africa. For Helen, travel is more than leisure. It’s fundamental to her personal growth, and she relishes every chance to expand beyond her comfort zone. Still, she’ll never say no to a relaxing getaway to renew and refresh while disconnecting from the everyday. She welcomes any rupture from her daily routine, especially if it includes seeking out local food and wine she can’t find at home.

While New York is home, Helen always has her eyes set on the next big trip. Currently she hopes to start planning her next big escape to one of her bucket list destinations like New Zealand.

Helen holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a focus on marketing and advertising psychology from Hochschule Fresenius in Munich.

Before joining Development Counsellors International in 2016 Nancy spent a decade in outside sales and marketing working for several companies in the workers compensation industry. Nancy was able to pioneer new revenue streams from various sources in the workers compensation space. Throughout her career she covered the NYC metro area, NJ, CO, TX, MN & AZ.

Today she is charged with finding and securing DCI’s newest talent, harnessing the power of LinkedIn and job boards to attract new marketers from around the world.

Nancy’s first taste of international travel was at age 13 when her grandmother took her to Italy on vacation. After that she knew she wanted to see the world. But first she wanted to travel within the states to experience the different regions. She gets the travel bug often and thoroughly enjoys planning family trips to new destinations, ensuring that they’re both adventurous and that she’ll get a taste for the local culture.

On the weekend you’ll find Nancy watching her sons play sports as well as hiking, biking, camping, or skiing with her family. You can also find her in the kitchen whipping up meals for her family or catching a show on HGTV since she is forever designing new spaces within her home. Nancy likes nothing more than spending time with her husband and 2 sons. Some of her favorite moments are backyard BBQ’s with a competitive game of corn hole or frisbee throwing.

Nancy received her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in The Bronx, NY.

As an accomplished public relations professional, Symeria sits at the intersection of the economic development, talent attraction and tourism industries where she brings nearly 10 years of PR experience. She has the pleasure of telling the unique stories of communities to position them as top places to live, work and visit.

In her current role as Account Director, Symeria specializes in livability and lifestyle PR where she strategically helps communities identify their value proposition as a great place to live and work to attract the best talent to their community. As more people are in search of a better quality of life and higher paying jobs, she enjoys serving in this “matchmaker” position by using the power of research and storytelling to lead a variety of national talent attraction campaigns on behalf of rising communities such as Birmingham, Cincinnati, North Dakota and Tulsa.

She has a proven track record of consistently garnering substantial coverage in top tier media platforms such as Conde Nast Traveler, CNN, Daily Beast, Essence Magazine, Forbes, Good Morning America, Livability.com, Matador Network, The New York Times, USA Today, and many more.

Symeria also serves as a thought leader at industry conferences and panels, speaking on trends across talent attraction, tourism and DEI. But her passion for serving as a trusted counsel for her clients and the industry at large doesn’t end there. She truly believes at the root of all of her work lives DEI. Therefore, she’s proud to co-lead DCI’s internal DEI program which was awarded the “Best Internal DEI Initiative” honor in the Boutique Agency Category by the Diversity Action Alliance in June 2022.

Symeria received a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations and film & video at Georgia State University.

With a background in newspaper reporting and magazine writing, Kala is excited to now approach the world of media from a different perspective through the lens of public relations. She enjoys building relationships with sources, understanding the intricacies of the personal stories that contribute to the larger fabric of a community.

During her time as a reporter in southwest Colorado, Kala was asked to speak on a panel at the Denver Press Club about an educational topic she covered. Previous to this, Kala served as co-editor in chief of her university’s Orange and Blue Magazine, where she oversaw editorial, photography, blogs, marketing, social media and copyediting. Her writing is also featured in publications such as Luxe Interiors + Design magazine, her hometown’s Naples Illustrated magazine and WUFT News, her university’s NPR-affiliated news channel. Currently, this reporter-turned-publicist has earned media results in publications like Forbes, Thrillist and the Financial Times on behalf of her clients.

Kala hails from Naples, Florida. Spending most of her life within minutes of the beach, she is adjusting to the high altitude and low temperatures amid the Rocky Mountains in her new home state of Colorado— and loving every minute of it.

Her father is from England, and her mother worked for Delta Airlines. Her love for travel – and a thirst for discovering new cultures and places – was ingrained in Kala from a young age. To this day, there is something about floating through the skies, in between home and a destination, that makes Kala feel more alive than anything else. Destination marketing has proved to be a compelling intersection of Kala’s personal and professional values.

Kala holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a minor in communication studies from the University of Florida.

Chiara joined DCI after working for the University of Venice in Italy. She has made her mark at DCI by landing placement after placement for clients from Loudoun County to Florida.

On behalf of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Chiara coordinated a media day at the Greenwich Polo Club, drawing media from Fodor’s, Harper’s Bazaar, Thrillist, Travel + Leisure and Vogue. As part of Visit Florida’s efforts to promote Super Bowl LV, Chiara secured broadcast interviews with the Mayor of Tampa and Visit Tampa’s CEO. Lifestyle segments featuring local chefs and Clearwater Aquarium’s Nicolas the Dolphin resulted in coverage on ABC’s Good Morning America, ABC’s America This Morning, NBC’s Today, Today’s Hoda & Jenna, and countless others. And for Tahiti Tourisme, Chiara helped execute a six-city roadshow across Canada, securing more than 240 attendees.

As a native of Italy, Chiara took full advantage of easy access to neighboring countries, sampling as many cultures as possible. So far, she has visited than 20 countries: from the lavender fields of southern France to a solo backpack trek through Argentine Patagonia.

Energetic and fun-loving, Chiara is constantly planning the next dinner with friends, day trip, movie night or comedy show in Brooklyn. She loves interacting with other people, especially those from different backgrounds and cultures. A passionate photographer, she documents her colorful adventures through her Instagram profile. On the weekend, you’re most likely to find Chiara joining a photo walk downtown, trying a new restaurant in the East Village or kayaking on the Hudson River.

Chiara graduated from the University of Padua with a bachelor’s degree in European studies and a master’s degree in international relations.

Lidia is the quintessential Valley Girl, born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, which is a part of Los Angeles proper that has been immortalized in film, song and print. As part of a West Coast media mission for Visit Florida, Lidia assisted in coordinating multiple activations resulting in more than 30 journalists and influencers participating in an intimate brunch and friendly game of pickle-ball. With Washington, D.C. being a key market for Barbados Tourism and Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Lidia organized six one-on-one meetings between the client and top-tier media, including National Geographic, Forbes and Essence, to name a few. The in-person meetings resulted in the publications’ interest in exploring editorial opportunities with BTMI while further cementing a foundation between the editors and the client.

Among her professional achievements, Lidia helped coordinate a media event at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for Visit San Antonio, resulting in the attendance of more than 40 press and film executives, to help promote travel and filming opportunities in The Alamo City.

Lidia’s parents immigrated to Los Angeles from El Salvador, a place she considers her second home because of extended stays connecting with her heritage. Lidia has embraced her passion for wanderlust and enjoys scouring destinations near and far, with weekends spent unearthing new and little-known places close to home. Her multicultural heritage is just a part of why Lidia enjoys working in travel. Additionally, she appreciates the push out of her comfort zone. Her travels have sensitized her to the possibility of discovery wherever she goes, even a short drive away.

Lidia thrives in California, where she can visit the beach, the desert and the snow in the same day — even if she has to navigate the difficult L.A. traffic. Evenings are spent attending concerts and dancing; afternoons are spent finding her next new favorite coffee shop. On relaxed days, she’s comfortable binge-watching a favorite series or, in a pinch, popping into Disneyland for some surefire fun.

Lidia earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from California State University, Northridge.

Sarah’s a storyteller who seeks to uncover the unique stories of places. She swapped her journalism career for place marketing when she joined DCI and has since worked for dozens of places across the globe.

Sarah spearheads a variety of creative services projects ranging from developing strategic, research-driven marketing strategies to crafting messaging campaigns, designing videos and other clever marketing activations and overseeing public relations campaigns.

Sarah launched talent, tourism and economic development brands and messaging campaigns for various client regions, including leading a branding and messaging project for the North African country of Tunisia, aiming to take the destination “beyond the beach” and position it as a culturally rich destination for global visitors.
Sarah excels at identifying creative solutions that help destinations stand out as prime locations for business, talent and visitors. She expertly crafts messages and outlines strategic, innovative marketing strategies and campaigns that enable clients to reach their target audiences. She’s also overseen several client media missions to New York City, securing meetings with top-tier media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg News and Reuters.

Sarah’s desire to see the world started when she was little and watched through the windows of the family motorhome as they bumped along Midwest highways for camping trips. Sarah loves venturing off the grid to explore new places at every chance she gets.

She is a lover of nature and the outdoors, yoga, live music and food. Sarah seeks out adventures whenever she can, whether that means traversing the globe, or simply exploring everything that’s within road trip distance from home. You can often find her basking in the sunshine while camping, snowboarding, hiking, rafting and traveling.

Sarah graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Arts in print journalism.

With years of in-house economic development and agency experience under his belt and a lifelong passion for places, Nick brings top-notch client service to creative and site selector marketing projects each day.

Based in New York, Nick leads creative development including comprehensive marketing strategies, new and refreshed branding, compelling messaging platforms, collateral and campaign concepts. He also oversees work spanning research, media relations and digital marketing and is an active contributor to DCI’s thought leadership, frequently attending industry conferences by the International Economic Development Council and the Site Selectors Guild, penning agency blogs on the best practices and trends in economic development marketing and leading the agency’s 40 Under 40 in Economic Development awards program.

In addition to creative services on behalf of communities, Nick co-leads DCI’s site selection consultant marketing services and manages DCI’s relationship with the Site Selectors Guild. Nick’s site selector marketing leadership includes developing long-term strategies for clients to reach and build relationships with this influential audience, overseeing and executing site selector events and developing targeted content.

From Alberta to Aruba, Michigan to Pennsylvania, and Arlington, Texas to Greenville, North Carolina, communities of all geographies and sizes have been among Nick’s client roster at DCI. Prior to DCI, Nick served as marketing manager at Big Duck, a Brooklyn-based agency developing nonprofit brands, campaigns and teams. Nick built the foundation of his economic development marketing expertise over five and a half years at One Columbus in his native Columbus, Ohio where he led award-winning creative development, integrations with the research and business development team and ongoing analytics to fine-tune the marketing program.

Nick graduated from Denison University with a Bachelor of Arts in communication and studio art.

Efrain was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but his B2B and B2C public relations efforts have extended throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. He joined DCI with experience in public relations, crisis communications and corporate communications, including engagements with both the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau and the British Virgin Islands. Today he applies this knowledge to motivating U.S. travelers to explore destinations worldwide.

A childhood spent along the beaches in Puerto Rico instilled a passion for the outdoors in Efrain. His love for discovering nature’s beauty has never waned and he still spends his time soaking up the sun on sandy beaches.

Eventually Efrain moved to Puerto Rico’s capital city, but his love of places grew as he added more stamps to his passport. He worked briefly in politics while living in D.C., a city that introduced him to history and culture, not to mention a new world of gastronomy that he continues to explore when pursuing his true passion for traveling. He thrives when discovering new experiences, and he’s primed to start planning his next big international trip to Amsterdam before ticking off other bucket list destinations.

Today, Orlando is where Efrain calls home. On the weekends, if he’s not headed out to one of Florida’s pristine sandy beaches, he likes to explore the state’s many botanical gardens to commune with nature. He’s always on the lookout for a reason to visit some of Orlando’s major attractions when family and friends come to visit. Otherwise, he’s at home enjoying a good book or watching the next trending thriller on TV.

Efrain holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a Master of Arts in public relations from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Hailing from Italy, Anna joined DCI with a background in content creation, event planning and luxury publishing. At DCI, she dives head-first into media relations, spearheading media outreach, media mission planning and event implementation for DCI’s roster of destination clients.

For Chickasaw Country, Anna researched story angles to position the region as the nation’s leading First American destination for arts and culture. For Visit Loudoun, Anna researched fall experiences to formulate a pitch that sparked interest from Fodor’s, New York Amsterdam News and Travel+Leisure

When she wasn’t satisfied with her job in Italy, she set her sights high and moved to America, rewriting her own story with a brand new chapter. Prior to relocating to the U.S., Anna split her adult life between Italy and Spain. Road trips through Northern Spain and the French Riviera, all the way down the Italian coasts got her excited to experience more of the world. Her move over the ocean after completing graduate school has opened her eyes to a new world of possibilities in a city that is just as known for its travelers as her hometown of Venice, Italy. Instead of hopping gondolas, she’s exploring the city by taxi and subway.

Today, New York City is a virtual playground for Anna who spends her free time wandering and discovering every corner of the city she can. A new cuisine to discover? She’ll taste it. A new restaurant? She’ll book a table. A rooftop bar with a sunset view of the city skyline? You’ll find her there, or maybe in Montauk, gobbling up some lobster rolls.

Anna holds a Bachelor of Arts in cultural mediation and a Master of Arts in international communication and cooperation from the University of Padua.

Gabi blends her writing, public relations and social media experience to implement destination marketing campaigns that target Canadian and U.S. travelers. In addition to marketing to English-speaking travelers, she specializes in targeting the French-Canadian market.

A Canadian with South African roots, Gabi has made the journey back to the motherland every single year – a total of 25 times! Growing up the daughter of immigrants, Gabi recognized the beauty of travel and started exploring the world at an early age. She has been fortunate to tour, volunteer and explore a variety of places. After university, Gabi visited 15 countries in eight months, learning about local communities and trying anything that would give her that exhilarating “culture shock.”

Gabi assisted in organizing and executing a two-day Toronto business tour for South Africa Tourism. Her media outreach garnered media meetings with top-tier travel trade and consumer outlets, including Canadian Geographic, Canadian Travel Press and Travelweek.

For Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., she developed story ideas that resulted in more than 10 million consumer impressions and coverage in such major Canadian media outlets as Reader’s Digest and WestJet Magazine.

Outside of her work, Gabi is never one to turn down an adventure yet knows that there’s no place like home. She loves to explore diverse neighborhoods and uncover where the locals like to hang out. Gabi will bus, bike or even walk for however long it takes to get somewhere that she has her heart set on.

She holds a Bachelor of Science with honors in drama and psychology from Queens University and a certification in public relations from the Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University.

Born in Medellin, Colombia, Sophia has always had an interest in exploring the world. She focused her career in international business and marketing and has worked at various intercultural events across Colombia to immerse her in the tourism industry. Her work promoting big tennis tournaments, for example, helped provide the logistical insight she needed to succeed as she transitioned to her current role at DCI.

A career in destination marketing stems from the fact that Sophia grew up between Germany and Colombia, helping her develop a curiosity and passion for traveling. She thrives by getting out of her comfort zone and adapting to new cultures and lifestyles as she explores how other people live their lives. Her move to New York has been a dreamlike step in her journey as she experiences firsthand how so many different cultures coexist in the same country.

When she’s not traveling, Sophia likes to move in a different way, engaging with sports of all kinds. Whether she’s cycling or playing tennis, she loves to get her heart pumping with athletic endeavors. She might be practicing her wakeboarding skills on the lake or swimming a few laps in the pool.

You’ll find her spending weekends at her family house in the countryside to enjoy some quiet yoga or a walk with her dog before meeting her mother and sister for a relaxing drink. Additionally, she supports causes dear to her heart, including those surrounding pets. Sophia volunteers to help foundations that rescue and care for abandoned dogs, maintaining a purpose-driven approach in all she does.

Sophia holds a Bachelor’s degree in international business management from University of La Sabana in Colombia.

With a passion for storytelling in the digital sphere, Isabella implements digital marketing campaigns for tourism, talent attraction and economic development clients around the globe. 

Before Isabella joined DCI, she worked as fashion director for a lifestyle magazine at Michigan State University, where she explored the art of storytelling through clothing. She has also worked as a social media specialist crafting brand messaging for small businesses in industries ranging from inclusive skincare to whole foods.   

Isabella had the privilege of moving to Italy during college to study international marketing and was lucky enough to cross some of her dream destinations off her travel bucket list! Some of her favorite travel memories include meeting her Italian family members for the first time in San Vito al Tagliamento, spending her birthday under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and getting lost with her friends in Vienna. Her favorite city remains Rome, which she called home for six months.   

When Isabella isn’t working, you can find her trying to perfect new espresso recipes, grabbing dinner with friends, curating Pinterest mood boards, or dreaming of her next travel destination. Isabella continues to foster her love of storytelling in her free time, spending days off reading, writing, and watching new movies.   

Isabella holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative advertising and art direction from Michigan State University. Go Green!   

As Senior Director of SEM & Media, Carly oversees DCI’s SEM & Media service team and works to help clients all over the world improve their digital footprint. Her combined industry knowledge and technical expertise help DCI’s clients meet their goals and reach their target audiences.

With over a decade of digital marketing and SEO experience, Carly had led and contributed to dozens of successful client engagements, including Columbus, Cincinnati, Orlando, Philadelphia and Switzerland. She’s also designed and led SEO strategies in economic development, talent attraction and tourism for Pittsburgh, Fairfax County, FPL, Belize, Costa Rica and more.

Before arriving at DCI, Carly created and managed digital campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, international companies and high-growth startups including Office Depot, ADT and Paychex. Her original campaign ideas led to national media coverage from Fast Company, The Today Show, and HuffPost.

The daughter and granddaughter of pilots, Carly has loved to travel since before she can even remember. Growing up in Tampa, she often took family trips to the North Carolina mountains and visited family in Virginia and Connecticut. Since jetting off to London for a summer abroad, she has visited 17 countries and hopes to visit every continent in her lifetime. When traveling, you’ll find Carly hiking, trying local restaurants and bars, and visiting historical landmarks.

Having spent more than 30 years in sunny Florida, Carly now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, son and West Highland terrier. They love to take road trips, usually to one of North Carolina’s beautiful mountain towns.

Carly is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English creative writing and has a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing from Florida International University.

Merissa joined DCI with professional experience in journalism, e-commerce and public relations. A keen interest in copywriting, an enthusiasm for fresh data insights and a love for connecting to audiences drive her people-first approach to client solutions. She is passionate about cutting through the noise of the busy digital media landscape.

Merissa specializes in SEO and paid media campaign implementation, applying industry insights and analytics to achieve multichannel conversions and increased client visibility. Her previous experience with influencer partnerships, social media copywriting and product development heightened brand awareness for K-Beauty brands in major U.S. markets, leading to successful product launches, increase in sales from emerging target audiences and strong partnerships with retailers such as IPSY and Nordstrom Rack.

Born in the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, Merissa inherited a love for the unique attributes of culture that shape the strength of a community and give life to colorful traditions. At her first job, Merissa contributed more than 300 articles as a reporter with a national newspaper covering both hard and soft news topics, which included events such as the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival. She appreciates the good that sustainable business investment can have for places of all sizes and uses digital marketing as a means to close socioeconomic gaps and to limit disparities among people.

On weekends, Merissa can be found exploring the food scene wherever she is. With so many flavors to savor, Merissa enjoys culinary experiences influenced by local traditions and cultures. She may even be commemorating her day with a little sketch or a bit of watercolor as she unwinds with some artistic expression.

Merissa graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in advertising and marketing communications and a minor in economics.

After nearly five years of working as a political communicator in the United States Congress, Caitlin joined DCI’s economic development team. Her experience working in strategic communications in both the public and private sectors, coupled with a background in economic development policies and initiatives, allow Caitlin to provide her clients with unique insight on the media landscape and creative approaches to the development and implementation of integrated public relations campaigns.

Leveraging her keen insight on the national media landscape and relationships with top-tier reporters, Caitlin has secured numerous transformational stories on behalf of her clients in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, Wired, Financial Times, CNN and more.

Among her achievements, she helped secure comprehensive analysis of the revitalization of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Politico Magazine and has organized media tours in Chicago and New York securing appointments with top-tier outlets.

From business owners and company executives to governors and senators, Caitlin has advised leaders from both the private and public sectors on communications and media relations strategies.

Growing up in Nebraska, Caitlin will always call the Midwest home. She studied in Italy during college and took advantage of her time abroad by traveling across Europe and Africa. From hiking the Cinque Terre to camping in the Sahara Desert, Caitlin has since loved exploring new places and experiencing different cultures.

Caitlin holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Creighton University and a Master of Public Administration from American University.

After working at an entertainment public relations agency in Los Angeles and a startup travel app in San Francisco, Nati knew she had a passion for pitching and a penchant for travel. She combined the two at DCI, where she inspires consumers to further explore the mix of adventure, culture, food and people that makes each destination’s story special.

Her DCI client work has made waves. For example, for Visit Brussels, Nati organized an off-site interactive educational event during IMEX America and secured nine meeting planners to learn more about the European capital. For the Korea Tourism Organization, Nati worked with DCI’s research team to conduct a virtual focus group with meeting planners. Recently, for the Vienna Convention Bureau, Nati organized two successful familiarization trips and recruited 11 meeting planners to attend.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nati grew up traveling throughout the Caribbean. At 14, she moved to Miami, leaving island life behind. When it was time for college, she flew north to snowy Boston. Once her degree was finally in hand, she jettisoned the wool hat and scarf and relocated to the West Coast, heartily welcoming the California sunshine. After living in four cities, Nati understands how to live like a local and shares what she discovers with others.

Whether in the sand or in the snow, Nati loves to explore the outdoors. She has passion for photography and Spanish music. On the weekend, she is likely to be looking for new places to dance the night away, roaming the city streets taking pictures, hitting the beach or binge-watching the hottest new show.

Nati graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations and a concentration in women’s studies.

Karen was born in Havana, raised in Miami and subsequently spent most of her adult life engaging with new cultures and places. After teaching English in Japan, she moved to New York to be a convention sales specialist for the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Karen brings her business events marketing experiences and a multicultural approach to DCI’s business travel efforts.

Among her professional accomplishments, Karen built a database of 200 meeting planners and 170 suppliers for JNTO to engage when she worked as a convention marketer. She regularly drafted, edited and released newsletters for JNTO, reaching more than 20,000 meeting planners with engaging content.

As a child, she dreamed of befriending people from around the world, which became a catalyst to her teaching English to college-level exchange students. Teaching English in Japan changed Karen’s life by cementing her love for foreign cultures in Asia and elsewhere. Connecting with people and cultures is at the heart of Karen’s life. Forming friendships with people from China to Brazil motivated her to pursue a career in the international sector.

Always looking for in-destination good food and adventures, she has her eye on Morocco and Peru, among an ever-growing bucket list of places to visit.

Call her retro, but Karen is all about roller-skating, when the weather allows it. During the summer, she’s a regular at the roller disco in Manhattan’s Central Park, where she’s bound to be trying new skating tricks. Karen also likes catching a Broadway musical, playing board games and spending time with friends.

Karen earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a minor in Japanese with a certification for Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from the University of Florida.

Payton is a passionate insight detective and data nerd! He loves discovering the human truths that drive decision-making across DCI’s target audiences – including economic development, talent and tourism stakeholders. He is a master at transforming complex data and everyday experiences into thoughtful stories that shape effective marketing and communication strategies.

Payton has worked on strategy and innovation for some of the biggest names in the tech and consumer packaged goods industries. He has played a key role in defining marketing, communication and strategy for your favorite streaming shows and at-home products. Payton brings qualitative and quantitative research skills and a wealth of understanding about people and how they make decisions.

Moving outside of California for the first time, Payton recently landed in New York. He can’t wait to explore all this side of the country offers and enjoys observing new places, cultures and regional food. As an avid traveler, he’s thrilled to work in an industry that aligns with one of his passions, and he’s excited about the prospect of shorter flights to Europe.

Payton graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, earning a Philosophy degree. He’s also certified in data analysis.

Intisar joined DCI in 2001 to support account service teams in implementing place marketing campaigns. She rose in the ranks to oversee a team of six program coordinators before transitioning into an operations role for the agency. Today, serving as part of the agency’s executive leadership team, Intisar guides agency operations in its offices across the U.S. and Canada.

As part of DCI’s executive team, Intisar manages the entire onboarding process for new hires, organizing each orientation schedule, providing welcome packets and ensuring each individual is prepared to hit the ground running. She continues to support them with tech issues, acting as the liaison with the IT administrator.

In addition to her operations oversight, Intisar has served as DCI’s lead podcast editor for such programs as The Project Podcast and Site Selection Matters. She also manages DCI’s CRM system and partner relationships. Hundreds of clients, partners and prospect files stay organized thanks to Intisar who ensures that DCI engages with each individual at just the right time.

Outside of work, this born and raised Brooklynite now lives on Long Island. A New Yorker through and through who loves all things fashion, Intisar also celebrates her Southern roots and loves the region’s slower pace of life. It’s no wonder she likes to kick back and travel throughout the Caribbean, finding St. Croix and Jamaica irresistible. One thing she’s realized between traveling the world and meeting clients from Texas to Tasmania? People everywhere are basically the same – they share a common humanity.

When she’s not at work or on the road, Intisar spends Saturday with her son and date nights with her husband – likely dressed to the nines!

Ayana has left her mark on the public relations industry during her career in multiple hospitality and leisure domains, including sports, tourism, wine and spirits, and entertainment. Driven by an underlying passion for elevating underrepresented narratives in the media, she brings her media relations and storytelling prowess to DCI’s client tourism roster.

Her efforts have garnered global, national and local media placements for clients in Ebony, Essence, Forbes, The New York Times, USA Today, Yahoo! News and the Washington Post. In addition, Ayana has subspecialized in broadcast media placements, landing segments on BBC, CNBC ESPN, FOX News, “Good Morning America,” “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.”

At DCI, working for destinations is important to Ayana, whose family instilled a love of travel in her as a child. Annual family trips to various destinations and sporting events allowed her to see beyond her hometown of New York, which helped her establish a deep appreciation for food and culture. In the future, she hopes to visit the Ayana Resort in Bali, Indonesia, and the Aiyana Resort & Spa in Tanzania, Africa.

Beyond work and travel, Ayana provides support for Black and brown families who are receiving cancer treatment. After losing her own mother to cancer in 2018, she found that sharing stories has been a powerful way to connect with people and cope with pain, and she hopes to bring this sort of catharsis to others.

On the weekends, Ayana is likely scouting out a new favorite restaurant or unique dishes to eat around New York City. At home, she’s no stranger to being curled up on the couch and watching sports with her two dogs, Blackie and Gurl.

Ayana earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in communication from Syracuse University.