Leora Halpern Lanz
Lan Elliott
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Leora is a globally recognized hospitality marketing strategist, educator, and author. She wrote Developing Your Marketing Mindset: Real-World Lessons from Hospitality (2025), an Amazon International Best Status title and New England Book Festival Business Book of the Year, and Marketing Mindset in Motion: Inspired by Hospitality (2026). As Associate Professor of the Practice at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration, where she teaches Experiential Marketing and Hospitality Digital Marketing Strategies. Since joining BU in 2015, she has held senior academic leadership roles and developed and launched new courses, concentrations, and graduate programs. Previously, Leora founded LHL Communications and spent 15 years as Global Director of Marketing & Communications for global hospitality consulting giant HVS. Her career also includes senior PR roles with ITT Sheraton Hotels of New York and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (today, Meet Boston). A board member of the Center for Responsible Hospitality, she has received numerous industry honors for leadership and education.
Lan Elliott is an experienced hotel real estate and transactions executive, representing hotel owners and hotel brand companies for over 30 years. Lan's hotel ownership experience includes Acacia Hospitality LLC, a hotel investment company she co-founded, and 10 years at Host Hotels & Resorts, where she closed on over $7 billion of transactions. Lan previously held roles at IHG, W Hotels, and KPMG. Lan is dedicated to advancing women in hospitality leadership. In 2024 she led and launched the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance’s Speaker Directory, an industry-changing resource to drive greater diversity across conference stages, and she commended teaching
Introduction to Hotel Ownership at university hotel schools to foster more diverse leadership in hospitality real estate. Lan was named one of IHI’s 100 Most Inspirational Leaders in Hospitality Travel. She is also a speaker and podcast guest, contributor to trade publications, and serves on conference and hospitality school advisory boards. |
Davonne Reaves
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Davonne Reaves is a trailblazer in the hospitality industry and the Founder and Chief Hospitality Strategist of The Vonne Group. With more than 15 years of experience, she has risen from front desk agent to award-winning hotel consultant, asset manager, and owner of three hotels. Davonne is also the visionary behind Vesterr, the first Black-owned crowdfunding platform for hotel investments, and Stay Black Experience, one of the largest directories of Black-owned hotels. Previously, she managed hotel portfolios exceeding $1 billion in assets at CHMWarnick. Today, she leverages this expertise to educate and empower the Black community to pursue hotel investment and ownership. Davonne has reached over 4,000 aspiring investors and helped many achieve ownership across the U.S.
Her work has been featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, MarketWatch, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She serves on the board of Georgia State University’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality and resides in Atlanta with her son, Jamir. |