Leadership

POWERING OUR MISSION

Meet the Faces Behind Travel Unity

Travel Unity has an extensive network of thoughtful individuals from various backgrounds and identities. Our staff, Directors, and Advisors work diligently on our mission to make the world of travel welcoming to everyone.

Meet Our Team

Bio

roni@travelunity.org

+1 (212) 923-7704

Roni Weiss was born in Long Island, New York and grew up in Snohomish County, Washington, north of Seattle.

At the age of 10, Roni began attending Edmonds Community College (now Edmonds College), receiving his Associate’s of Arts and Science with Honors at the age of 12. He graduated from Lynnwood High School at the age of 15, then attended the University of Washington, receiving double Bachelor’s of Arts degrees in Drama and English at the age of 18.

Through years of world travels, Roni visited 70+ countries, including every country in Europe, six of seven continents, and taught English in Italy, France, Taiwan, and Chile, both to youth and professionals.

In 2011, Roni founded RW Social, a marketing and consulting company for the travel industry and nonprofits. From 2011 to 2016, Roni worked with Africa Travel Association (now Africa Tourism Association), assisting with and speaking at ATA’s events in NYC, DC, and multiple African countries.

In 2013, RW Social launched the New York Travel Festival, an event focused on innovation and sustainability in the world of travel, which served as the genesis for Travel Unity, where he now serves as Executive Director.

Roni lives in Westchester County, NY with his partner, Lauren, and their four children.

Bio

samantha@travelunity.org

+1 (212) 923-7704

Samantha Hammond is a Luxury Travel Advisor and the Owner of Jus Adventures Travel Services, a New York-based travel agency that specializes in leisure travel, destination weddings, honeymoons, group travel, and corporate meetings and incentives. In 2017, Samantha launched the host agency division of Jus Adventures, where she currently trains and mentors over 80 home-based Travel Agents.

Samantha is a member of Female Leaders in Travel and Travel Allies Society. She has been invited as a guest to many industry conferences including The Travel Industry Exchange, The Romance Travel Forum, The NY Travel Fest, Sotic 2018, and the Travel Agent Forum.

When she is not training other travel agents or guest speaking, Hammond continuously travels the world partnering with countless resorts and tourism boards to get first-hand experiences of the destinations and properties that she recommends to her clients.

Bio

chi@travelunity.org

+1 (212) 923-7704

Chi Lo has developed a career in sustainable tourism, building expertise in tourism standards and certification, community wellbeing, culture, and wildlife. Chi works closely with tourism sector entities to help better their responsible business practices.

Over the years, she has been involved with numerous travel trade and non-profit organizations including Travelife for Tour Operators (ECEAT), Green Destinations, Planet Happiness, World Tourism Association for Cultural Heritage (WTACH), Destination Stewardship Center, Travelife for Accommodation (ABTA), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA), Africa Travel Association (now Africa Tourism Association), Center for Responsible Travel, and more. She has also served as a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Executive Committee and Board, and currently sits on the Council’s Communications & Membership Working Group. She is recognized in Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network‘s Circle of Experts and as a Sustainability Mentor by Sanctuary Resorts.

Chi lives in Seattle with her young family and is always planning their next great adventure.

Chi’s role at Travel Unity is to oversee the management of Certified by Travel Unity.

Bio

+1 (212) 923-7704

Dr. Christa Mahlobo is a Provost’s postdoctoral research fellow in the The Humanities and Human Flourishing Lab at The University of Pennsylvania. Christa earned her PhD at The Pennsylvania State University where her research focused on flourishing in African Americans, mindfulness, and the well-being effects of leisure, parks, and recreation spaces. She has over 10 years of experience in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work from doing DEIJ work at non-profits and within university contexts. At TU, Christa does programming and delivery around DEI workshops.

Bio

+1 (212) 923-7704

Vandana Agrawal is a growth consultant, specializing in DEI, International Business, and Marketing projects. Creating solutions that improve business outcomes and employee engagement, Vandana’s work focuses on prioritizing strategic goals while balancing operational realities, transforming teams to scale, and addressing complex issues with communication, teamwork, and planning.

Vandana is the former Vice President, International at Highlights for Children, where she also launched the company’s DEI Council, guiding new employee education, recruitment, and marketing review initiatives. Under her leadership, Highlights International went from emerging to established growth, through infrastructure improvements, marketing campaigns and the introduction of a reading edtech platform. Vandana worked with partners in more than 40 countries, with particular experience in Asia, Middle East and Europe.

Vandana lives in Columbus, Ohio where she is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at The Ohio State University Fisher School of Business. She also was a broadcast journalist, writing and producing for news outlets such as CNN and Fox News in New York. Vandana has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts from the University of Missouri and a Master of Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

Bio

Board of Directors

Board Elections to take place in June 2023.
Travel Unity’s voting body is the Board of Directors, comprised of:

Our Advisors

Travel Unity maintains a global Board of Advisors, comprised of

Travel Unity provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment terms and conditions, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.