Ben Rafter leads growth, strategy and hotel revenue generation for Springboard Hospitality. Before joining, he was president and CEO of Aqua Hospitality and president of Aston Hotels & Resorts — the largest hotel operator in the Waikiki market. Previously, Ben grew Aqua Hospitality fivefold in less than four years, from a small Waikiki operator to the only hotel company on all six Hawaii tourism islands. Also while at Aqua, Ben completed more than 20 renovations as well as new, ground-up developments.

He was so confident of the Aqua team’s operational capabilities he placed his personal cell phone number in all of Aqua’s hotel rooms. When the company was sold to Interval Leisure Group (IILG, Aston’s parent), Ben estimated his number was accessible to more than 2 million visitors to Hawaii a year.

Prior to Aqua, he spent more than 15 years guiding successful tech companies. In various roles he created global innovation centers, acted as a principal strategist for G2000 and startup companies, and founded companies of his own. In 1996, he co-founded Innerlinx (LiveBid), which was acquired by Amazon.com. Ben began his career in the distribution department of Westin Hotels & Resorts.

Sean Williams oversees new business development and investing for Springboard Hospitality and affiliates. His professional and academic career in hospitality investment management, investment banking, and real estate private equity spans three decades across three continents.

At GreenOak he led the negotiation, structuring, acquisition and asset management for over $750 million in hotels based in the United States, including the Thompson Miami Beach, the Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles, and the award-winning Surfjack Hotel in Hawaii. As a registered Investment Advisor and Finra member, he also advised multiple public firms on M&A and special situations.

During his tenure as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Vice President at Merrill Lynch, he executed over $8 billion of acquisitions of non-performing loans, commercial real estate, public equities, and strategic investments as well as multiple joint ventures and partnerships in Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Sean is an active member of both the Urban Land Institute as well as the AHLA Hospitality Round Table. He graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and holds a Masters of Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Martti Mannoja’s 40-plus years of hospitality experience drives operational efficiencies across all Springboard Hospitality properties. Before joining the Springboard Hospitality team in 1991, he served as corporate director of reporting/assistant corporate controller for Colony Hotels & Resorts. Martti also spent 13 years with the Radisson Hotel Corporation in various senior-level financial management positions.

Rob Robinson brings more than 25 years of hospitality experience to his role of vice president of Springboard Hospitality. Rob has held multiple positions with Highgate and Kimpton Hotels, and his experience includes both property and regional-level leadership, transitions, large-scale renovations, repositioning, and rebranding.

Claudia Jackson has more than 30 years of experience in the hotel industry. She has worked with a variety of hotel companies in sales and marketing, including Embassy Suites, Intercontinental Hotel Group / Holiday Inn, Marriott, Radisson Hotels, and independent boutique properties. Prior to joining the Springboard Hospitality corporate executive team, Claudia held director of sales positions at several OLS-managed properties and also served as general manager of Le Montrose Suite Hotel in West Hollywood.

Von Deluna is a 30-year hotel industry veteran with experience managing award winning luxury and independent boutique hotels. He has served as a General Manager and as Regional Director of Operations with Kimpton Hotels for 20 years. He has also served as a Regional Vice President of Operations with Sage Hospitality. Von has experience in driving results in the luxury and lifestyle segments as well as experience with opening hotels and renovations.

Originally from Southern Louisiana, Bert attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana, majoring in Accounting.  While attending college, he began his hospitality career when he joined the management team overseeing the construction and opening of the Holiday Inn Holidome in Lafayette, Louisiana.  He went on to open his own restaurants in Beaumont, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana, after selling the businesses, he moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to further pursue his career in hospitality.

In December 2012, Bert joined Springboard Hospitality as General Manager of the Grafton on Sunset to help redevelop the hotel and Food & Beverage space, which debuted in early 2015. Later transferring to Le Parc Suites in 2017 as General Manager, he was then promoted to Regional Vice President of Operations in 2020 overseeing The West Hollywood Hotel Collection to include; Hotel Ziggy (formally Grafton on Sunset), Le Parc Suite Hotel, Montrose at Beverly Hills and Chamberlain West Hollywood.    Prior to joining Springboard, Bert worked in the San Fernando Valley for twenty-three years as the General Manager of the Beverly Garland Hotel at Universal Studios and was Vice President and General Manager of the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys.

Bert prides himself in being very active in the communities he worked in.  Serving as Chairman of the Board of the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2003/2004 and 2011/2012; serving on the board of the Mid-Valley Community Police Council; a past Chairman of the San Fernando Valley Visitors Bureau; served on the Board of the Valley Economic Alliance and VICA.  He also served on the Board for LA Convention Bureau and the steering committee to launch the Los Angeles Tourism District.  Most recently served on the board of Visit West Hollywood.

Bert has been married to his wife Tracy for 33 years, has two daughters, Kandyce and Danyelle and now the proud grandfather of Andrew and Colton.

Bio coming soon.

Ira Kleinrock has more than 40 years of hospitality experience managing branded, full-service and independent boutique hotels. Ira has extensive experience with opening hotels, construction, and renovation planning and execution. He also served as an independent, third-party asset manager and project developer for five years.

Ira has spent nearly two decades with Springboard Hospitality, managing hotels and leveraging his extensive knowledge of food and beverage, sales and marketing, and driving profitability.

Larry has 38 years of lodging industry Finance and Accounting Management experience. He oversees the Hotel Controllers, and is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of financial statements and compliance with internal controls.

Additionally, Larry coordinates the preparation of the annual budgets, participates in hotel transitions, and develops technology tools to maximize accuracy and efficiency. Prior to Springboard Hospitality, he served in Accounting and Finance management roles with several companies, including Hilton Hotels, Embassy Suites, and Viceroy Hotels and Resorts.

Sarie Mannoja has been with Springboard Hospitality since 1992. Before joining the home office in 1997, she held director of human resources positions at Le Montrose Suite Hotel, Mondrian, and the Marriott Ontario. Sarie is an expert in the complex legal and human resource issues surrounding operating in California, but her passion is leading training initiatives so the Springboard Hospitality team can deliver world-class customer service to our visitors and travelers.

Brian Jenkins drives analytics and quantitative analysis and is responsible for executing revenue-generating and cost-reduction initiatives across all Springboard Hospitality properties. Prior to joining Springboard Hospitality, Brian was a management consultant at Capco in New York, where he led global transformational change programs at top-tier banks.

Brian has a passion for travel, which has led him to visit over 30 countries, including traversing the “Iron Curtain” from Belgrade to Budapest, navigating Alaska’s Inside Passage, exploring Patagonia, and studying developing economies across Southeast Asia. Brian grew up in Seattle and received his B.A. in Finance and Economics from Columbia University

KeAlii Alexander’s career in the hospitality industry spans more than 20 years with a focus on boutique management, construction, and project management. His experience includes corporate oversight for a range of hotels and has served in leadership roles for multiple successful hotel transitions.

With over 25 years in the hospitality industry, 20 of those dedicated to the Revenue Management discipline, Scott has worked with several properties across the country ranging from select-service to ultra-luxury. A Denver native, his career started in operations as a Front Office Manager of a ‘high-touch’ luxury boutique hotel. While in Denver, Scott worked with the Iconic properties: The Brown Palace Hotel and Hotel Teatro. Falling in love with the industry, he journeyed out of operations and into Revenue Management. His career brought him out west to the Bay Area where the real-life skills of San Francisco Revenue Management helped to shape his revenue management approach. In San Francisco, he worked with the Hilton, Omni, and The Four Seasons Hotel. Scott now calls Portland, Oregon home. Working most recently with Provenance Hotels and HRI Lodging as Corporate Director of Revenue, he has stayed busy overseeing complex Independent and branded properties across the nation.

Jennifer is a dynamic and strategic professional with a track record of delivering ROI-driven initiatives for corporate, lifestyle, luxury and entertainment markets. Jennifer has a vast background from her time at Four Seasons, The Beverly Hilton, Sunset Marquis and Hotel Amarano, where she excelled to the corporate role with Springboard Hospitality she currently holds.

With more than 20 years of experience, Brandon is a hospitality veteran with a passion of demystifying the evolving hospitality global distribution landscape. Known for executing complex and high-profile projects while propelling revenue growth and profitability. Skilled in delivering top-line revenue strategies while managing the cost of customer acquisition. Brandon has solid management experience spanning multiple disciplines including Revenue Management, Distribution Optimization, Project Management, Call Center Operations, Reservation Sales and Process Improvement.

With a keen focus on developing cohesive synergies through system integration requires an approach with core principles; Strategy, Project Management and Optimization. Collaborations has no limits, therefore conquering the hospitality distribution technology landscapes demands contribution from all disciplines of the organization.

Brandon’s professional experience has provided him the opportunity to influence the hospitality industry across multiple hotel segments, IE…Economy, Select Service, Mid-Scale, Upscale and Boutique Lifestyle Luxury brands. With this diversity of brands, he has been exposed to various expectations and performance deliverables required.

Cherise is a highly accomplished Human Resources leader with over a decade of experience in hotel management and operations, working in various roles in sales, marketing, and food & beverage before finding her calling in Human Resources. She brings an infectious energy, creativity, and love of people to her role as Area Director of People & Culture for the Hawaii Region. Her passion lies in elevating the sensational culture at Springboard Hospitality that empowers, supports, and celebrates all associates, demonstrated recently by Springboard’s recognition as a Best Workplace (2021) by Pacific Business News.

Cherise is highly skilled in recruitment, training, organizational development, and leading change. She enjoys being a positive disruptor, challenging the way human resources has historically been done in order to reimagine the potential of the workplace culture. She brings a fresh, modern, innovative style to her work, with a focus on creating workplaces that are community-oriented, passion-driven, results-focused, and most importantly, fun!

Cherise cares deeply about giving back to the community, and currently serves on the Executive Board of Directors for HYPE (Hospitality’s Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs) and on SHRM Hawaii’s Workforce Development Board. She is a frequent speaker for the UH Manoa Shidler College of Business and Travel Industry Management school where she enjoys sharing her enthusiasm, experience, and insights with tomorrow’s leaders of the future.

When she isn’t busy living her career dream, you can find her and her fiancé exploring the beautiful corners of Hawaii, practicing yoga, meditating, gardening, reading, and spending quality time with loved ones.

As director of finance, Stephen Keller brings more than two decades of experience. Before Springboard Hospitality, Stephen served as corporate controller for 15 hotels, which grew to 26 in just a few years. In addition, he led the finance department for Dream Cruises Hawaii. Stephen also served as the chief financial officer for a Hawaii-based nonprofit.

William “Bill” Cygnor has been a hospitality financial professional for over 20 years who has experience in many aspects of the hospitality field.

He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management.

His career started in hotel operations and from operations he made the move to hotel finance. The operations experience has given him full understanding of how the hotel operates and what is needed from the finance team to provide guest service while maintaining a profitable business.

Bill’s hotel experience has been built over many types of operations including city center corporate hotels, resorts, boutique hotels as well as many varied types of ownerships from corporations to individually owned companies.

During his career he has worked for Kimpton, Hard Rock Hotels, Fairmont and various independent hotels throughout Chicago, Miami, Carmel and Los Angeles.

He is experienced in all aspects of financial management as well as planning, implementation and evaluation of projects and concepts.

Bio

bio to come

Initially interested in hospitality school so he could learn to become a chef like his grandfather who was a cook at the Four Seasons Georges V Hotel in Paris, Cedric graduated from La Sorbonne University with a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management. He moved to the United States after graduating and worked for Accor Hotels as a Director of Revenue in various markets before joining Commune Hotels + Resort as the San Francisco Market Area Director of Revenue. Cedric later joined Two Roads Hospitality as a Regional Director, and most recently was with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts overseeing luxury assets on the West Coast.

With a continuous passion for cooking, Cedric’s favorite dish to make is Beef Bourguignon stew with potato gratin. He also loves to travel and next on his to-do list is Jordan to see Petra.

Volkan Kaya is a hotelier with over 20 years of hospitality and hotel experience, focused on Revenue Management, Sales and Marketing, P&L financial responsibilities along with development and leadership skills. He has demonstrated the ability to make an immediate impact on companies’ bottom lines and expand business.

Volkan’s prior hospitality management experience includes revenue management positions with independent boutique hotels in Fisherman’s Wharf as Area Director of Revenue; Hilton Hotels in San Francisco, Los Angeles & San Diego between years of 2005-2016. Volkan holds degrees in Hospitality Management from University of Mersin in Turkey, as well as certifications from Cornell School of Hotel Administration for Advance Hospitality Revenue Management (2013) and Hotel Asset Management (2014); CRME title Certified Revenue Management Executive with HSMAI organization.

Alyson Wee is responsible for developing, enhancing and leading revenue management strategies and best practices for the properties located in Hawaii. She also focuses on rate building, connectivity and distribution. Prior to joining Springboard Hospitality, she served as a revenue manager for several Hawaii properties ranging from budget to upscale boutique where she successfully increased and impacted important revenue metrics and key performance indicators. She brings a fresh perspective to the hospitality industry previously working at a real estate law firm.

Paul Seo has over 20 years of experience in hospitality revenue management working for brands including Sheraton and Westin, as well as rising through the ranks at Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group from Area Revenue Manager to Corporate Director of Revenue Analytics. In addition to his vast expertise in demand forecasting and pricing strategy, he spent time as the owner/operator (and chef!) of an award-winning wine country bed & breakfast before rejoining the hotel world at Best Western International’s corporate office in revenue management, and eventually landing at Springboard Hospitality. He attended Southern Methodist University.

Ashli Musyt joined Springboard Hospitality with over ten years of experience in hospitality communications and marketing. Most recently, Ashli was at Salamander Resort & Spa managing the marketing efforts for the Forbes Five-Star resort in Middleburg, VA. Previously she held similar positions with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV as well as Palms Casino Resort. She also led public relations efforts for CityCenter Las Vegas, and MGM Resorts International’s food and beverage portfolio on The Strip.

Ashli was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV before leaving for a soccer scholarship at Idaho State University. She graduated with a BA in Mass Communications and worked for NBC after graduation in Pocatello, ID and Bismarck, ND as a news anchor and reporter.

Kelly Iverson is a vibrant and cutting-edge digital content creator and social media manager with a passion for hospitality. She has a track record of creating unique social media content that is distributed across digital platforms for continued relevancy and sales growth for Springboard Hospitality managed properties. Her vast experience in the travel space, results-driven passion for online success, and unique and tailored social media content help her excel in the role with Springboard Hospitality.

John comes from Pacific Palms Resort in City of Industry, CA where he lead the marketing efforts as a Marketing and Design Manager for 5 years. Prior to Pacific Palms Resort, he was a Graphic Designer for 10 years for a marketing agency based in Los Angeles. His hospitality marketing background combined with graphic design skills, allows him to create and deploy successful strategic marketing campaigns. He enjoys working in the hospitality industry, because of his own passion for travel and mantra that “everyday should feel like a vacation.”

coming soon.

Jackie Teo-Yoshida has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. She has previously worked at hotels such as Waikiki Sand Villa Hotel, Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach, and various assets with Aqua-Aston Hospitality. Throughout her career, Jackie has worked in various departments and has developed her skills through establishing operating procedures, overseeing reservations, leading webinars, and conducting sales. She has found her passion in sales and has experience with both the Asia and domestic markets.

Prior to joining Springboard Hospitality, Jackie led sales efforts for Espacio the Jewel of Waikiki and Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, successfully maximizing revenues while gaining the recognition of retail agents and luxury consortiums.

Susy Suescun is a strategic and results oriented sales professional with over 29 years in the hospitality industry. She is a passionate leader who is committed to driving and exceeding business results and establishing strong and longstanding client relationships and partnerships. Prior to joining Springboard Hospitality, Susy held the Director, Global Accounts position with Omni Hotels & Resorts, Director of Sales positions with both Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Hotels as well as various sales roles with Marriott Hotels.

Dynamic sales and marketing curator with expertise in bringing idea generation and new concepts to fruition. Extensive skillset ranging from business development to client relationship management. Executive leadership management overseeing sales and marketing operations with targeted revenue goals and P&L expectations.

Controller for Hawaii Region

Controller for Hawaii Region

Candace Yuen has spent more than 20 years in the travel industry, with her start at Aloha Airlines. She spent 18 years in hotel sales at Ala Moana Hotel and Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. She was working at the Richardson School of Law before joining Springboard Hospitality.

In Candace’s spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family traveling. Her favorite destinations include San Francisco, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo.