Education Day 2022 Traveler’s Returning to Travel Panel Bios
Traveler’s Returning to Travel Panel Bios
Will Tate is owner and partner at GoldSpring Consulting. He began his career at Ernst & Young. Will moved to Dresser Industries where he led global operational and financial audits across 30 countries. He then served as global travel manager for Dresser, consolidating a global travel spend of $100+million. In 2000, Will joined Management Alternatives, Inc., where he served as senior vice president and also developed a software solution to quantify the effectiveness of travel management programs in a multi-dimensional format.
A thought leader and sought-out expert in the travel industry, Will frequently moderates and speaks at industry events. He has taught many industry courses and co-authored the GBTA course “Fundamentals of Business Travel Management.” Will is a Certified Public Accountant and received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Texas Tech University
Joelle Latcu, Sr. Manager of HR Experience, has been with KinderCare Learning Companies (KLC) for 16 years. She manages the company’s Travel, Meetings, Corporate Events, Employee Recognition, and Community Partnerships. Prior to her current role, she was a Senior Account Executive at River City Travel in Portland, Oregon and spent the first nine years of her career in the hospitality industry. Joelle has more than 26 years of experience in Travel and Meetings, overseeing an average spend of $12+MM annually for a workforce of 30,000 employees. She attended Washington State University where she received her bachelor’s degree in in Child Consumer and Family Studies with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. Joelle is in her happy place, when creating memorable experiences for her co-workers!
Nick Smith is Vice President, Program Management at BCD travel, responsible for a team of program managers and clients across the West Region. A UK native, Nick began his travel industry career at Scandinavian Airways before moving to British Airways UK&I Sales as Key Account Manager. Nick spent three years at Travelport including the launch of Travelport’s Leisure agent platform, before moving to online travel agency Expedia. Nick moved to the United States during his twelve year tenure at Expedia, where he was responsible for growing partner relationships at Expedia Partner Solutions and leading Expedia’s Travel Agent Program for North America and LATAM.
