Tourism Cares Expands Leadership Team

On February 19, 2019, Tourism Cares announced several role changes within the organization, adding capacity and expertise to their team.

Starting May 1, 2019, Tourism Cares Board Chairman Greg Takehara will assume the role of CEO. Paula Vlamings, current CEO, will transition to the role of Chief Impact Officer. Additionally, Carolyn Cauceglia, of Amadeus, will move from Vice Chair to Chair when Takehara assumes his new role.

Vlamings' first year at Tourism Cares included expanding the mission for deeper impact, refining the organization's programs and evaluating resources. With a year's worth of insight, one thing became clear to Tourism Cares leadership: By expanding their mission of social impact and moving toward a stronger sustainability focus, the CEO role needed to be redefined.

"I recognized the challenge associated with the organization's expansion goals to have one person effectively build dynamic programs and simultaneously manage the operations," said Vlamings. "We needed an added resource—specifically, another leader with deep experience to build out the operations of a growing organization, identify efficiencies, and focus on expanding resources."

Vlamings added that as Chairman, Takehara has demonstrated great commitment to Tourism Cares. He has considerable industry and management experience and was at a point in his career where a transition from Chairman to CEO of the organization made sense for him.

Takehara's commitment to Tourism Cares began on Ellis Island in 2003 and continues through his role as Board Chairman.

"I look forward to joining the staff and working with Paula to expand the mission of Tourism Cares," said Takehara. "In a very short time, Paula has brought increased clarity and focus to the organization and I am thrilled that she will continue in a critical leadership role overseeing our evolving programmatic needs.

Takehara stressed that Tourism Cares will undoubtedly deepen its collective impact by maximizing Vlamings' expertise in developing social enterprises that support local communities and expanding their mission to be a conduit for sustainable practices within the travel community.

"Growth, ambition and innovation take an organization in unexpected directions," said Cauceglia. "The board is delighted with this expansion of the organization's brain trust.

"We have no doubt this is the right decision to grow and become an even more impactful organization."

Courtesy of Groups Today.