Innovate

A long-time operating exec, startup advisor, investor and road warrior, Cara Whitehill is actively involved in numerous corners of the travel tech industry. At Thayer Investment Partners, the leading travel technology venture capital firm, she leads partnership and business development initiatives with its strategic investors, portfolio companies and emerging startups across the travel and hospitality ecosystem. As a former leader at Expedia, Travelocity, Deem and venture-backed startup Traxo, Cara is a frequent speaker, panelist and startup pitch judge for PhocusWright, Business Travel News and other industry events, guest lecturer for NYU’s Hospitality Innovation program, and co-host of Travel Tech Insider podcast. She is also an angel investor backing early- and growth-stage B2B startups across the travel tech, enterprise software and healthcare sectors.

Kerri’s passion lies at the intersection of innovation, travel technology, and business growth. As a seasoned executive and advocate for startups, she brings a unique blend of industry expertise, strategic vision, and hands-on experience to the evolving travel tech landscape.**

With a career spanning global organizations and high-growth startups, Kerri has deep expertise in new business development, travel technology, strategic partnerships, growth strategies, and global program management. Her ability to identify emerging opportunities and drive transformational initiatives has made her a sought-after leader in the travel and hospitality space.

Most recently, as Head of Amadeus Launchpad – Americas, Kerri designed and led a startup acceleration program that fostered global innovation, supported emerging business models, and drove revenue growth through strategic collaboration. Alongside her corporate leadership, she has been an active advisor and investor, supporting startups in their go-to-market strategies and scaling efforts.

Prior to her time at Amadeus North America, Kerri held various leadership roles at Amadeus globally, as well as within the travel technology and distribution sectors, including Orbitz Worldwide and ebookers ( a soon to be sunset brand of the Expedia Group). She has played a pivotal role in executing industry-changing technologies, forging strategic alliances, and developing new commercial models that have reshaped the travel ecosystem.

Now, as a **fractional leader**, Kerri leverages her expertise to help startups and established businesses navigate growth, optimize strategic initiatives, and drive revenue generation. She is also an active advocate for travel tech startups, serving as a mentor, advisor, and consultant with GAIN, where she supports entrepreneurs in building and scaling disruptive solutions.

Known for her ability to cultivate strong relationships and foster industry collaboration, Kerri is dedicated to shaping the future of travel and hospitality by empowering innovators and businesses to thrive in an ever-evolving market.

Matt Zito is a M&A Broker, Travel CEO Coach and Startup Advisor. Matt has a unique perspective into the travel industry as he’s been a former founder/owner/operator, a travel technology investor and now an active buyer and seller of travel companies. Business colleagues call him the “Super-Connector.”

A lifetime travel tech entrepreneur with 2 exits and founder of Travel Startups Incubator®, a travel technology incubator. Today, Matt focuses on M&A as both a buy-side and sell-side broker. Matt works with startups helping fundraise and teaching the next generation of startup founders about how the travel industry works through TSi’s 4-Week Acceleration Program. 

Matt leverages a global network built over a lifetime in travel that includes, 600+ buyers of travel companies, 350+ investors and 7,000+ travel executives that subscribe to TSi’s M&A and Investment email newsletters.

Miriam works on the forefront of product and service improvements that deliver value for companies of all sizes by driving effective corporate travel programs. In her role as Vice President, Partnerships & Research, Miriam leads research and introduces concepts aimed at engendering a culture of innovation throughout the organization. She draws deep foundational insight into the buyer’s perspective from her eight years spent as a corporate travel manager. With this knowledge she oversees the BCD Marketplace and Developer Hub, managing a vetted selection of contemporary corporate travel solutions as well as valuable travel data and insights.

Her industry experience and technology savvy, combined with a provocative communication style, keeps her in high demand as a speaker, panelist and judge, including at ACTE, GBTA, and the Phocuswright Innovation Summit. Miriam uses a curriculum she developed to teach students at Metro State University in Denver, where she is enthusiastically grooming the next generation of talent. She was named a 2018 Corporate Travel Innovator by Skift, a global travel industry publication.

Roman is the Managing Director of Belvera Partners, a PR consultancy focused solely on the travel tech space. He founded Belvera in 2021 following almost 20 years in PR at companies like Amadeus and Hotelbeds. Belvera now has over 30 clients around the world providing tech to hospitality, aviation, tours & activities, and other areas of the travel sector – and a core team of 11 staff. Roman holds a degree in history from Cambridge and is a bilingual Spanish speaker based in Mallorca, Spain.

I am currently Chief Strategy Officer responsible for driving innovation across expense and travel solutions. I was formerly CEO and Founder of TRIPBAM, the leading air and hotel spend optimization and analytics service for corporations and travel agencies. Based upon TRIPBAM any my past success, I was recently inducted into the Business Travel Hall of Fame.

I was a founding member of two technology related companies within travel. The first, CTI, in Houston, Texas provided travel systems and services to fortune 1000 companies. The company was later purchased by American Express. The second company was Travel Technologies Group (TTG) based in Dallas, TX. The company grew to $25M in annual revenues before merging with two other companies to form TRX. TRX employed 1,600 in 14 countries and processed over 80% of the corporate travel transactions in the U.S. TRX held a successful IPO in 2003.

After TRX, I became the Regional Vice President for ACS managing the Travel and Transportation division. This region included over $250M in revenue and over 2,300 employees servicing 13 major airlines and four of the largest travel distributors across both domestic and offshore locations. After ACS, I became Managing Director for North America for WNS Global Services and responsible for the company’s revenues and profits in the U.S. WNS specializes in providing a broad set of offshore BPO services such as F&A, contact center, research and analytics to travel, retail, banking, insurance, logistics, and healthcare related companies.