NEW YORK—Highgate, a leading global real estate investment and hospitality management company, recently announced the appointment of Marianne Balfe to Vice President of Sustainability. In this new role, Balfe will be responsible for driving Highgate’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy across the company’s guest experience, construction projects, external reporting, and corporate culture—with the goal of ensuring Highgate remains a leader in sustainable business practices. The hire reflects Highgate’s continued commitment to driving resiliency and sustainability in global hospitality. Balfe’s strategic vision and capability to achieve and maintain strong ESG performance will not only deliver efficiencies, cost savings and other...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—LEO A DALY, the international planning, architecture, engineering and interiors firm, announced the promotion of Kristina Crawley, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, to Vice President, Global Commercial Practice Leader. In this role, Crawley will lead the firm’s commercial and workplace design practice in all matters of business strategy, client management and design delivery worldwide. She is based in Washington, D.C. Crawley is an architect with 17 years of experience leading complex commercial mixed-use, hospitality, retail, restaurant and workplace projects in North America, Asia, and the Middle East. Since 2016, she has served as commercial market sector leader for the Washington,...

LAKE FOREST, ILL.—The first hotel to plant roots in the Lake Forest community in over 92 years, and the world’s first boutique-inspired Hyatt Place property, The Forester, a Hyatt Place Hotel announced that industry veteran Marlena Karwowski has been appointed to lead the new property as General Manager. Hailing from Skaryszew, Poland, Karwowski’s passion for hospitality is unparalleled and has bloomed over two decades in the industry, serving in key roles at properties including Assistant Reservations Manager at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Reservations and Communications Manager at Hyatt Regency Chicago, Director of Sales at Hyatt House Evanston, Director of...

NEW YORK—Starwood Capital Group, a global private investment firm focused on real estate and energy, recently promoted Arash Azarbarzin to Chief Executive Officer of its subsidiary company, SH Hotels & Resorts. Azarbarzin succeeds Starwood Capital Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht as CEO of SH Hotels & Resorts. Sternlicht will remain Chairman and continue to be involved with the organization. Azarbarzin has more than 30 years of industry experience, including leadership roles at St. Regis Hotels, W Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels, and as Founding Member at SBE hotel group, among others. As President of SH Hotels & Resorts, his strategic vision,...

PENSACOLA, FLA.—Move over Al Gore, Pierce Brosnan and Erin Brockovich. Make room for Myra Moore. Moore, the shipping supervisor at Hy-Lite, has been honored with a prestigious Annual Green Award from Door and Window Market (DWM) magazine. The only individual in the country to be recognized in the 2020 awards program, Moore almost single-handedly established a recycling and reuse program at the privacy window manufacturing company in Pensacola, Fla. Each year, the editors at DWM magazine conduct extensive research to gather and compare information for those striving to make a difference through sustainability. After careful analysis, they chose Moore for...

PALMA, SPAIN—Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is a hotel chain with more than 120 four- and five-star hotels, located in the most popular holiday destinations in Europe, Africa, and America. The Iberostar hotel portfolio offers customers beachfront hotels, city hotels and heritage hotels. In addition, there is the Grand category, the highest level of luxury and excellence. Iberostar’s Wave of Change movement is an initiative based on three complementary but different action lines: eliminating the consumption of single-use plastics, promoting responsible seafood consumption and the improvement of coastal health. Leading Iberostar’s work under the Wave of Change movement is Dr....

BETHESDA, MD.—It is with profound sadness that Marriott International announces that Arne M. Sorenson, President and CEO, unexpectedly passed away on February 15, 2021. In May 2019, the company announced that Sorenson had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On February 2, 2021, Marriott shared the news that Sorenson would temporarily reduce his schedule to facilitate more demanding treatment for pancreatic cancer. Sorenson became the third CEO in Marriott’s history in 2012, and the first without the Marriott surname. A visionary leader, Sorenson put the company on a strong growth trajectory that included the $13 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels &...

DALTON, GA.—Troy Virgo, Director of Sustainability at Shaw Industries, has been selected by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) to receive a 2020 IWBI community award recognizing outstanding members of the WELL AP and WELL Faculty community. Virgo joins a group of honorees from around the globe who are leading the charge to revolutionize the way we think about our buildings, communities and organizations, and the impact they have on our health and quality of life. Virgo has served as a member of IWBI’s Materials Concept Advisory team since 2018, an advisory created to explore, better understand and ultimately, more...

Names: Kate Wilson Title: Senior Director of Sustainability Company: Vail Resorts Years with Vail Resorts: Almost three years Primary Responsibility: “I am lucky to run Commitment to Zero. We own and operate 37 resorts globally. We made a bold sustainability commitment to have a zero-net impact by 2030. I work on the strategy and implement these goals.” Organization’s most significant accomplishment in global corporate responsibility: “We reached our 50 percent waste diversion goal nine months ahead of schedule.” Organization’s most significant challenge moving forward in global corporate responsibility: “Waste is still a huge challenge for us because of where these resorts are located. Two towns...

PENSACOLA, FLA.—Innisfree Hotels, the largest beachfront hotel owner-operator on the Gulf Coast, has appointed Rusty Branch to the position of Vice President of Community Engagement. The role is newly created, and as the first to take its title, Branch will focus on bettering and giving back to the communities where Innisfree does business. “Innisfree is working hard to create generational changes in the communities where it does business—and beyond,” said Julian MacQueen, founder of Innisfree Hotels. “We wanted to create a role that was solely dedicated to moving our community-based initiatives forward, so we can create tangible, positive impact in...