The U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed the firings of five Brand USA board members, including board Chair Elliott Ferguson, who also leads Destination DC.
“Pursuant to the Brand USA bylaws, the service of five members of the Board of Directors has ended,” said a spokesperson for the department, which oversees Brand USA, in a prepared statement. “The Department of Commerce thanks them for their service and looks forward to bringing the best and brightest leaders to the Brand USA Board to grow travel and tourism across the United States.”
The following five board members were terminated via email from the 11-member board April 25:
- Chair Elliott Ferguson, President and CEO of Destination DC
- Vice Chair Lauren Bailey, CEO of Upward Projects
- Kristen Esposito, principal of Esposito Global Partners
- Allen Orr, founder of Orr Immigration Law
- Tim Mapes, chief marketing and communications officer at Delta Air Lines
Ferguson in particular was a leading proponent of meetings and tourism industry DEI, and referred comments on the action to the Department of Commerce.
In a December interview with Meetings Today following his appointment as chair of the Brand USA board, Ferguson, who has previously chaired U.S. Travel Association, said his mission would be to broaden the focus of the tourism marketing organization to increase its efforts drawing international meetings to the U.S.
[Related: Brand USA Chair Ferguson Seeks to Broaden Its Focus]
He also stressed the importance of DEI efforts in attracting young workers especially to the hospitality industry. The Trump Administration has made a priority of dismantling DEI programs in both the public and private sectors during its first months in power.
“I am the executive in residence at the Marriott-Sorensen Center for Hospitality Leadership at Howard University, and the gift from the Marriott Foundation to Howard is tied to the effort to bring more minority students or expose more minority students to hospitality,” Ferguson said in the interview. “But to look at verticals such as the engineering school, the architecture school, the marine biology programs—there are career opportunities within hospitality. The ‘aha’ moment is not necessarily there for 90% of the planet that doesn't truly understand the impact of hospitality in creating jobs and the diversity of jobs that exist.”
Leisure tourism, especially, has been impacted by the threat of tariffs imposed on major trading partners such as Canada, Mexico and China, with initial reports pointing also to a decline in business travel to the U.S.
