Sarah started her career in hospitality design at Four Seasons. Working closely with Six Senses head of development she now helps spearhead their expansion in the Americas. A trained architect, her 25-plus years of technical services experience includes projects in as vastly different settings as Bora Bora, London, the Seychelles, Iceland, New York, and rural Brazil, to name a few.

Her current focus is on helping to grow the Six Senses portfolio in the Americas, including developing technical standards for the recent and growing “drive to market” creating “visioning documents” for projects from dense urban centers to remote island destinations, and to creating the technical standards for the groundbreaking Six Senses Place concept.

Matthew Goodrich is an award-winning interior designer and strategist known for projects that feature rich narrative content and foster interaction and human connection. He is the founder of GOODRICH, a multidisciplinary design practice specializing in branding + strategy, interior design, and product design. For each project, the team creates an underlying narrative—inspired by historical context, cultural movements, and behavioral insights—and uses it to organize the design and infuse emotion into the guest experience.

Prior to founding the firm, Matthew was chief creative officer at AvroKO, and senior associate at Rockwell Group, where he developed a wide range of project types, including hospitality, exhibitions, and scenic design.

Tenaya Hills is the SVP of design and development at Bunkhouse Group, the boutique hotel management company based out of Austin, Texas. Utilizing her more than 15 years of experience in intentional design and historic restoration, Hills leads the charge on bringing the Bunkhouse vision to life through the brand’s signature, bespoke interiors, historic motel renovation projects, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and innovative new builds—creating a true sense of place for each guest at many properties throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

A native Californian, Hills has been with Bunkhouse since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture grad program, with a master’s in historic preservation. Throughout her career and in addition to her work with Bunkhouse, she has also collaborated on many local projects such as the newly opened Uptown Sports Club in partnership with Aaron Franklin and James Moody, founded an event rental company, Party at the Moontower Event Rentals, and more. In her free time, Hills enjoys traveling, exploring Austin, and spending time with her husband, two sons, and family dog.

Tom Ito launched Gensler’s hospitality practice in the late 1990s. As leader of the firm’s hospitality practice and principal in Gensler’s LA office, Tom provides overall direction for hospitality projects—assuring sustainable design, innovation, and strong client service. Tom has led and been part of leadership teams for complex hotel projects with clients throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Americas. His well-rounded experience as a designer, architect, and strategic thinker gives him a comprehensive understanding of complex lifestyle projects and insight into delivering outstanding guest experiences.

Tom is a Registered Architect and was elected to join AIA’s College of Fellows in 2016. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Southern California.

Bridgeton CEO Atit Jariwala is a hospitality and real estate enthusiast who operates, owns, and invests in a multitude of business types and asset classes, as well as in technology ventures that intersect with the physical world.

With a national portfolio, currently valued near $1 billion, Jariwala’s Bridgeton owns and operates boutique properties that embody the neighborhoods they call home. Jariwala’s New York City-based Walker Hotels, with locations in Tribeca and Greenwich Village, are uniquely designed to embrace their corners of Manhattan, with not only quintessential design elements, but programming that ties them to the artist and designer communities that surround them. The portfolio also consists of the newly renovated and rebranded Dawn Ranch, a 22-acre retreat spanning a river, an apple orchard and a meadow in the heart of Guerneville, California at the southern edge of the redwoods. Jariwala’s Bridgeton also manages Marram, Montauk’s boutique hotel with barefoot luxury at its core.

Jariwala’s family managed motels so you can say he was born into the industry. Hailing from Bridgeton, Missouri, which gives the company its name, Jariwala always had an unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. He has founded numerous startups and is an active venture capitalist, investing in many technology start-ups. He is an honored board member of one of New York’s largest nonprofits, the Henry Street Settlement. Jariwala received his MBA from Stanford University and his BA from Yale University.

Roy is a design leader and strategist whose work has changed the skylines of New York, Miami, and LA. Deeply experienced and driven by an unquenchable curiosity, he believes design has the enduring power to improve our daily lives.

As chief design officer at Extell Development, Roy and his team set the design vision, select the design teams, and manage the design process. They ensure that development, marketing and construction goals are aligned. Roy has impacted at least 80 percent of Extell’s portfolio. Prior to his return two years ago, he held the position of chief creative officer at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, where he advised the nation’s most accomplished developers—a client roster that included Macklowe Properties, AECOM, Terra Group, and JDS. He advised his clients on matters related to design, development, construction, and marketing.

Roy’s foundation in strategic design thinking began at the University of British Columbia, where he earned an M.Arch, but was honed while at Eight, Inc., where he began as a designer and ascended to principal of the NY office. Eight, Inc. is most well-known for creating the first Apple stores in collaboration with Steve Jobs.

He was fortunate to influence the development of One57, the building that created Billionaire’s Row and was the vision of innovator Gary Barnett (chairman of Extell). Roy’s extensive portfolio of work includes One Manhattan Square, Carlton House, the Park Hyatt New York, 70 Charlton, Central Park Tower, the Gem Tower, 432 Park, the Residences at the West Hollywood Edition, 87 Park, 152 Elizabeth Street, and 100 East 53 Street, to name a few.

He splits his time between New York City and upstate New York with his husband, Clayton Crawley, and their dog, Georgia.

Susan Nugraha is the senior vice president of design and development at Tao Group Hospitality. A true creative at heart, Nugraha followed her lifelong passion to the Rhode Island School of Design in 2007. Shortly after graduating, she joined the Rockwell Group in New York.

As an associate, Nugraha worked on various large-scale, high-profile hospitality projects including Tao Downtown, Vandal New York, Moxy Times Square, Gato Restaurant, Omnia Las Vegas Nightclub, and Omnia Bali Dayclub. Her keen eye and artistic sensibility impressed the team at Tao Group Hospitality, and she officially joined the ranks in 2017.

As an integral part of the design and development team, Nugraha has overseen more than 30 venues opening in New York, London, LA, Miami, Chicago, and Singapore. Her expertise and knowledge in construction in the hospitality sector are unmatched and bring a creative edge to Tao Group Hospitality’s brand development.

Nugraha has been widely recognized as a visionary leader in the industry design category winning various awards and honors that include Hospitality Design magazine’s Wave of the Future in 2021. She holds a BFA in Interior Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design and resides in New York City.

Pete joined industry leader White Lodging’s team in 1994 as a purchasing manager to oversee the growing need to manage the owner-furnished material purchasing functions. With a career now spanning nearly three decades, he is a key member of the project design team and leads the pre-opening procurement process for all projects the company has opened since 1994.

Currently responsible for all aspects of the purchasing department, he has overseen the successful opening of 220 new construction projects; furnished 35,000 guestrooms; equipped 48 restaurants, directed 100 renovations, and managed nearly $5 billion in owner provided materials and services.

Pete’s background in the hospitality industry began in 1982 as a customer service representative for a hospitality textile and furnishings distributor located in Denver, Colorado. He is a member of various professional and charitable organizations including the International Society of Hospitality Purchasers.

Marquise Stillwell is a designer and a catalyst for building communities and products across design, art, and culture. His career spans across two decades, and his curiosity for people and spaces developed into a passion for designing systems to make environments better for all people.

In 2009, Marquise founded Openbox, a design research and planning studio based in New York that works at the intersection of people, cities, and planet. Within Openbox, he later cofounded Opendox, a film company that tells lesser-known narratives around art, science, nature, and politics.

Marquise has executive produced The New Bauhaus and most recently codirected This World Is Not My Own, which premiered at SXSW and Hot Docs. He has also cofounded Deem Journal, a biannual print journal and online platform focused on design as social practice, and Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities.

Most recently, he acquired Stae, a go-to open-source data hub that allows people to visualize and leverage open city data in a meaningful way.

Additionally, Marquise serves as a board member for the Center for Architecture and the Public Housing Community Fund as well as on advisory boards for Creative Capital, Riverkeeper, and Black Girls Shred. He is also a member of the High Line Advisory Committee, a fellow at Urban Design Forum, and was a founding board member and co-chair at the Lowline, the first underground park.

Audra Tuskes serves as the vice president of design for Marriott International’s luxury tier. This includes the iconic brands of St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Edition, JW Marriott Hotels, W Hotels, and the Luxury Collection.

A design professional focused on hospitality and lifestyle development, Audra leads a team of designers who drive the creative charge behind new and evolving brands. In her role, she ensures that the vision, quality, operational excellence, and voice distinctively defines each brand through the development of a strong design strategy.

Audra concurrently serves on the editorial advisory board for Hospitality Design magazine. With nearly 20 years of experience in the field, Audra’s past positions include VP of design for Neuehouse, VP and creative director for Lightstone, VP of design for Commune Hotels, director of design for Starwood Hotels, and associate design professor at Pratt Institute. Audra holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

Audra is located in Marriott’s New York office.

Alan Benjamin, ISHC, is the founder of Benjamin West, the world’s leading hospitality FF&E and OS&E purchasing firm based in Boulder, with additional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Maryland, and London. Benjamin West provides purchasing and consultant services to owners, brands, and operators across 40 countries and six territories.

Alan became a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) in 2000, and in partnership with the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), he assisted the organization in determining the FF&E budgets for ISHC’s CapEx 2000 Study, then later co-chaired the CapEx Studies in 2007, 2014, & 2018, and served on the 2023 CapEx committee. He was honored to receive the ISHC Chuck Pinkowski Member Service Award in 2015 for his dedication to the ISHC organization.

Alan has been published in The Wall Street Journal, CoStar, Hotel Investment Today, and other industry media. His speaking engagements include all the major industry conferences. He currently holds membership with the ULI Hotel Development Council and serves on the non-profit Hospitality Cares Advisory Board. Alan also served on the Board of Gifts-In-Kind International, now called Good360.

Alan graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Colorado, College of Business.

Heather Ciszczon joined NuovoRE as vice president of development and design in 2019, having worked with the team in her previous roles at Two Roads Hospitality and Hyatt. Her experience in architecture, interior design, construction, project management, and operations allows Heather—now chief development officer—to bring multiple points of view to the developer/owner role. With 20-plus years in the industry, she leads teams collaboratively from project acquisition through opening at NuovoRE’s properties, focusing on creating one-of-a-kind assets that provide long-term meaningful social and community impact at each location.

Heather’s hospitality career got its start at Troon Golf, where she was responsible for the design and development of private and public golf clubs and spas across the U.S. Having collaborated with Oz Architects while at Troon, Heather transitioned to lead their interior design division and project manage hotel projects including Mountain Shadows Resort, the renovation at Royal Palms, the historic Hermosa Inn, and the Kukui’ula Resort.

The recession of 2008 provided Heather the time to pursue a graduate degree in construction management with a focus on collaboration methodologies. She also had the opportunity to work for two leading construction companies in Phoenix. She returned to hospitality, managing interior design for several Park City resort residential projects, as well as Tommy Bahama retail and restaurant projects in Scottsdale and Waikiki. Following her passion for hotel projects, Heather took a position with Two Roads Hospitality Denver, which led to her current role at NuovoRE.

Heather received both her Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Studies and Master’s Degree in Construction Management from Arizona State University. She is a LEED accredited professional, holds an NCIDQ certificate, and has served on the boards of IIDA chapters in Arizona and Colorado.

Ellen Villars is vice president sourcing and procurement – capital projects for MGM Resorts Design & Development. In her career, Ellen has been directly responsible for over a billion dollars of new development and renovation work in various capacities: FF&E, OS&E, construction management, and project administration.

Ellen is responsible for MGM Resorts’ procurement strategy for FF&E for CapEx projects—leading an interdisciplinary team of employees and external and internal stakeholders through all steps in development sourcing, procurement, and installation.

Ellen has been with the company for more than a decade. Before joining MGM Resorts, Ellen worked for Boyd Gaming Corporation for 13 years. As director of project administration, she was responsible for developing and maintaining overall project budgets and schedules for new construction, expansions, and renovations.

Ellen’s experience also includes positions at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada; Ramada International Hotels and Resorts in Phoenix, Arizona; and Hemmeter Development Corporation in Honolulu, Hawaii.