About Us
Women in Travel Thrive is an initiative founded by a group of women in the travel industry to help reduce the impact that COVID-19 has on women’s career progression. Our primary goal is to make connections and open doors for women across the hospitality industry. Our inaugural events was the “Day of Impact” that took place January 2021. On this day, over 500 women across the travel and tourism industry participated in the THRIVE Match Network program to learn from one another and create lasting connections that thrive.
Juggling multiple demands at home, occupying more front line jobs, and the impact to the tourism industry has led to women in travel being a heavily impacted demographic in COVID-19 job losses. McKinsey reports that global female job losses related to the pandemic are expected to be 5.7% compared to 3.1% than male job losses.
“… in a gender-regressive scenario in which no action is taken to counter these effects, we estimate that global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030 than it would be if women’s unemployment simply tracked that of men in each sector. Conversely, taking action now to advance gender equality could be valuable, adding $13 trillion to global GDP in 2030 compared with the gender-regressive scenario. A middle path—taking action only after the crisis has subsided rather than now—would reduce the potential opportunity by more than $5 trillion. The cost of that delay amounts to three-fourths of the total global GDP we could potentially lose to COVID-19 this year.” – McKinsey
It is the mission of Women in Travel Thrive to prevent the potential regression of women in travel by acting now. Those interested in networking with others or learning about more of our events to support this cause can visit http://www.womenintravelthrive.com.
In addition to creating meaningful connections through mentorship, THRIVE is a non-profit organization that will accept donations to support funding these impactful networking events, but also to generate scholarship funds to support individual career coaching, resume writing, and other services that assist job seekers. Donations are being accepted here.
key dates
Founded September 2020
Inaugural Day of Impact January 26 – 28, 2021
Day of Impact June 8-10, 2021
board of directors
Silvia Camarota, Executive Director and Founding Chair
Ali Thompson, Director of Programs, Vice Chair
Claudia Infante, Director of Strategy and Development, Treasury
Shannyn Jones, Director of Thrive Hive Volunteers, Secretary and Director of Enrollment Process
Kate Lochridge, Director of Marketing
Heidi Bodalia, Director of Social Media & Engagement
Megan Paquin, Director of Public Relations
Patricia Filadelfo, Director of Fundraising
Becca Glenn, Director of Organization Partnerships
Mercedes Blanco, Director of Special Events
Stella Quintero, Director of Mentor / Mentee Enrollment East Coast
Christine Chang, Director of Mentor / Mentee Enrollment West Coast
what is a celebrity mentor?
A celebrity mentor is an executive female leader in the travel industry who is participating in Women in Travel Thrive through mentorship, speaking engagements, story features, or panel discussions. By having these celebrity mentors as a part of Women in Travel Thrive, and Day of Impact, we are creating an opportunity for mentees and job seekers to directly connect with these incredible women leaders to provide guidance and encouragement in their career journeys.
featured celebrity mentors
Dorothy Dowling, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Best Western Hotels & Resorts
Melissa Maher, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Industry Engagement, Expedia Group
Downloadable file for Featured Celebrity Mentors bios and headshots
essential facts and figures
Women make up a disproportionate number of the unemployment rate at 54%
Women are leaving the workforce at four times the rate as men.
Just in September of 2020, 865,00 women over 20 dropped out of the American workforce, compared with 216,000 men in the same age group.
women in travel thrive figures
20 founding members representing 12+ of the nation’s most highly respected travel brands
In two short weeks, WITT secured 1,110+ social media followers, and 500 participants for the inaugural Day of Impact, representing countries from across the globe.
