CLIFF EHRLICH
Cliff Ehrlich is a senior human resources executive with more than 40 years of experience managing large, diverse employee populations. Following 12 years with Monsanto Company, he joined Marriott International, becoming the company's top human resources executive in just five years. As Senior Vice President, Human Resources, he was responsible for 195,000 employees, the 16th largest workforce in the United States. During Cliff's tenure, Marriott was identified as The Best Place to Work by Hispanic, Black Enterprise and Working Mother magazines. Marriott also received more than 100 local, regional and national awards for the employment of individuals with disabilities and for its work life programs.
Currently a principal in The Cabot Advisory Group, Cliff offers corporations assistance with human resources strategic planning, employee relations and aligning incentive systems with business goals.
Cliff received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University, and earned his J.D. at Boston College Law School.
STEVE GILFUS
Steve co-founded CourseInfo LLC, which merged to form Blackboard Inc. in 1998. He is a noted designer and inventor and directed the development efforts around the product that is now core to the Blackboard platform. (U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138). In addition, he has authored numerous articles and white papers and was the primary author of the Educational Technology Framework – sometimes referred to as “the Gilfus Model of educational technology adoption”. He has presented and keynoted several leading global industry conferences and has lectured on teaching and learning on the Internet and the growing online learning marketplace at hundreds of academic institutions within the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, and Latin America.
Steve is also General Partner of TGC (The Gilfus Companies), a small private equity firm with investments in several internet start-up companies including Upsideover.com and Weddingwire.com.
Steve holds a B.S degree from Cornell University where he was an academic scholar. He is a member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Entrepreneurship @ Cornell and founder of the Cornell Entrepreneur Organization.
DREW MCCAFFERTY
Drew is Executive Vice President for Donohoe Hospitality Services. Specializing in start-ups, turnarounds,
and growth, Drew has launched 9 new properties, rescued low-performing hotels, and sustained revenue
growth across multiple properties in highly challenging markets. He began his career at the Holiday Inn Fair Oaks in Fairfax, Virginia and during the next ten years moved quickly through the ranks. In 1993, he began two-year tour as General Manager at the Courtyard, New Carrollton, MD, moving later to the Courtyard, Alexandria, VA, as General Manager from 1995 until 1999.
Drew next guided the Residence Inn, Rosslyn, VA through pre-opening and opening, a period noteworthy for impressive financial, market share, guest and employee satisfaction results, as well as for its recapitalization within eighteen months of opening. Drew was next named pre-opening General Manager for the Residence Inn Capitol, Washington, DC, while serving concurrently as Market Manager – Extended Stay Hotels. Residence Inn Capitol got off to an impressive start, capturing market share premiums within three weeks of opening and ultimately recapitalizing within four months of opening, retiring eighty percent of original equity.
Drew was named Vice President – Operations in April 2005, with all select-service and extended-stay hotels reporting to him. In March 2006, he assumed responsibility for the entire Donohoe Hospitality Services portfolio as Vice President – Hotel Operations, and in November 2006 he was named Executive Vice President.
ED PROENZA
Ed is Senior Vice President of Ensemble Hotel Partners, LLC, where he is responsible for asset management and hotel development. Ed utilizes his extensive marketing and hotel operations background to maximize results for owners and investors. As an executive member of the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ed is the Bureau's liaison with city officials on the development of tourism for the city of Long Beach. He also directs a hotel alliance committee working on union issues within the city of Long Beach and their impact on tourism.
Before joining Ensemble, Ed was General Manager of the Long Beach Hilton Hotel & Executive Meeting Center. He also served as General Manager of the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Rockville, Maryland, where the owner, Thayer Lodging Group, named him General Manager of the Year.
Ed spent nineteen years with Marriott International, including stints as General Manager of the Crystal City Marriott and the Durham Marriott. He was also corporate Director of Sales, Reservations, and Revenue Management for the Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands. He held numerous other operations and marketing positions in full-service hotels and was regional director of marketing for Courtyard by Marriott on the west coast. Ed graduated from Florida International University’s School of Hotel Management.
