Tourism
& More Team Members: Given in Alphabetical
Order by Last Name
Ericka Amorim
Citizen of:
Brazil
Languages:
Portugus, English, limited Spanish
Ericka Amorim
is a native of Brazil who currently resides in Portugal. Amorim is an expert in
marketing and international business with a heavy emphasis in tourism
marketing. As such Amorim understands the need for tourism security as a
marketing tool in a highly unstable world. Amorim is currently studying for her
Ph.D at the Universidade Nova in Lisbon, Portugal.
Amorim has
published various scholarly and applied articles dealing with issues such as
marketing one's tourism product, and tourism planning, and management issues in
tourism. Amorim has also taught courses at the university level in these areas
of expertise. Amorim speaks Portuguese and can work in English as a second
language. She also has a reading knowledge of Spanish.
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Tomer Benito
Citizen of: Israel
Languages: English, Hebrew
Tomer Benito brings the
practical aspect of security in tourism with vast experience and hands-on
knowledge. Mr. Benito served as a Staff Sergeant in a special unit of the IDF's
(Israel Defense Forces) Paratrooper Brigade. Benito was in charge of the IDF's
Elite Officers School Medical and Emergency Team and received the President
Award for Excellence in Service. He joined the ISA (Israel Security Agency -
Shin Beit).
In 2002 he was assigned to
LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, as a security officer and expert
profiler. He received specialized training in areas such as explosives and both
passenger and air freight screenings. During his service at LAX, Mr. Benito was
part of the terrorist attack mitigation that occurred at the terminal in July
2002.
Among his duties as an
instructor and consultant, Mr. Benito has developed training programs and
initiatives that have been implemented by organizations worldwide. He designed,
developed, and delivered training and development initiatives to various
agencies and multinational organizations. Mr. Benito's main objectives was to
change the mindset towards threats and to thwart terrorism in its field of
operation-the psychological warfare. He is the mastermind behind The Art of
Deterrence, a Homeland Security approved program for threat mitigation as well
as several others. Mr. Benito's programs credit his audiences with Continuing
Education Units (CEU) provided by San Diego State University.
Benito is the author of
Rain for the Wicked-a fictitious training novel, various training manuals,
and several articles in leading magazines. He is an expert in public speaking,
security engineering, and articulation of vulnerabilities. Mr. Benito pays
special attention to the three E's in his programs-Engaging, Entertaining, and
Educating. Mr. Benito is currently focusing on the effectiveness of deterrence
measures on the targets selected for terrorism.
Benito holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Geography from the University of Haifa, Israel and a Master of Arts in
Geographical Information Systems from California State University, Northridge.
His focus in the field of study was spatial distribution of terrorists and
vulnerable spaces.
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Dr. Richard Feenstra
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Dr. Richard Feenstra is an
expert in organizational development and event risk management. Feenstra is a
former police officer and was a non-commissioned officer in the United States
Army. Feenstra combines education with practical experience working in security
and risk management. Feenstra has worked for over 10 years at one of the
largest convention centers in the world. Feenstra received his bachelor's degree
and Master's degree from Texas A&M University and his PhD in educational
psychology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Feenstra is also a
certified Fire Inspector.
Feenstra brings to Tourism &
More a wide variety of skills and is T&M certified to teach courses on crowd
management, event risk analysis, operational planning, event security, event
leadership, security hospitality, cultural diversity, investigations, and report
writing. Feenstra has also provided his services working with organizations
in developing nationally recognized industry regulations, standards and best
practices.
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Eduardo Leite
Citizen of: Portugal
Languages: Portuguese, some English
Leite is Tourism & More's
Vice President for Europe and its specialist in sports tourism and event
security. Leite is T&M's expert in Sports and Educational Tourism.Eduardo Leite
of Nova Gaia (Espinos), Portugal brings his world-class athletic skills,
business acumen, and educational achievement to the world of sports security and
tourism. Leite received his bachelor of art and MBA degree in Business from
Portugal's Fernando Pessoa University. His is also holds degrees in accounting
and administration. He currently is completing a Ph.D in finance at Portugal's
Universidade Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro in Vila Real, Portugal.
In 2002, Leite founded "The
Technical and Scientific Foundation for Sport" (FTDC) and the academic journal,
Motricidade. Soon afterwards he founded Enterpriser, an international
holding company with properties in both in Europe and Latin America.
As such, he has lectured in
many nations around the world including: Brazil, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Portugal,
the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts, and the United States. During these lectures
Leite has stressed the importance of tourism education and how sports can be
used as a tourism economic development tool.
Leite knows sports from the
inside out. He began his professional football (Soccer) career in 1989. During
the next decade his professional sports career permitted him to play for such
Portuguese football clubs as Gil Vicente, Desportivo das Aves, Feirense,
Sanjoanense and Arrifanense. It also allowed him to view tourism security
issues from both the fans' and the athlete's perspective. Leite also acts as a
legal advisor to the courts in Santa Maria da Feira. Leite uses this inside
knowledge of sports plus his academic and research skills to help tourism
professionals understand and work with issues dealing with security, tourism and
major events security, and economic development.
Leite is highly involved in
his community. His civic and charitable contributions include his having served
as the president of Santa Maria da Feira's cultural center, President of his
community's Orphan aid society and treasurer of the Fogaa society and secretary
of his local Business Association. He currently works as an advisor to his
community's planning board. He brings a sense of warmth and love of sport with
a businessman's keen eye for detail.
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Major General Ashok Hukku,
Citizen of: India
Languages: English, Hindi
Major
General Ashok Hukku (R), Y.S.M is a former infantry officer of the Indian army
who has seen extensive counter insurgency operations in India and Sri Lanka. He
has done five assignments in Kashmir and an equal number in Eastern India. He
participated in the war for the liberation of Bangla Desh in 1971. As a Colonel
he commanded an infantry battalion as a part of IPKF in Sri Lanka where he was
awarded the Yudh Sewa Medal (Y.S.M.).
He served at the Indian Military Academy
as an instructor for two years. Thereafter he was selected to attend the Defence
Services Staff College at Wellington, India. He was assigned to a general
staff-appointment at infantry brigade HQ and later at a Corps HQ responsible
for perspective planning and training at higher formation level.
As a deputy
brigade commander he participated in counter insurgency operations in Kashmir,
was thereafter promoted to the rank of a Brigadier and assigned the command of
an Independent Infantry Brigade Group also in Kashmir.
After his command tenure
he was selected as the Military Attache to France and posted at the Embassy of
India in Paris with concurrent accreditation to BENELUX. This gave him an
opportunity to study NATO as an organization and its operations. In France he
was also responsible for bilateral defense dialogue between India and
France.
On returning to India he was promoted to the rank of a Major General
and assigned the command of a mountain division that went on to participate in
the Kargil war of 1999 in Kashmir and thereafter took up counter insurgency
operations there.
After another general staff appointment at the HQ of the
Western Army he was appointed as the Chief Military Intelligence Advisor in the
Cabinet Secretariat at New Delhi. He retired from there in 2005 and was called
as a Centre Director at the National Technical Research Organization in New
Delhi. He sought voluntary retirement from that job in 2007 and settled down in
the city of Pune.
Hukku holds degrees of M.Sc.(Defence Studies) from the
University of Madras and an M.B.A. from the University of Pune.
Post
retirement he has been participating in international seminars. In Feb 2008, he
was invited by Konrad Adenaeur Foundation to Germany to give a talk on
"Strategic Stability in South Asia." 04-06 Feb 2009 he spoke on "Water
Security, Crisis Management Post Mumbai Attack of 26/11," at a high level
symposium conducted at United Nations HQ in New York. The talk is available on
Youtube.
Maj Gen Ashok Hukku is the Vice Chairman of TechVision Security
Consultants Pvt Ltd. He is also a founding members of WORLD PEACE AND SECURITY
ORGANIZATION being now established in New York.
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Chet Lunner
Citizen of: USA
Language:
English
Chet
Lunner is an specialist
in collaborative intelligence fusion, media
relations, intergovernmental affairs,
marketing and information management with an
emphasis on State, Local and Tribal
relations.
He is a member of the Board of Advisors at
National Security Associates Worldwide (www.nsaww.com),
an Affiliate with Command Consulting Group (www.commandcg.com)
and a Senior Advisor to the Homeland
Security and Defense Business Council
(http://www.homelandcouncil.org).
Lunner has
had a strikingly
entrepneurial career in federal service, most recently as a Deputy Under
Secretary of Homeland
Security
in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, helping
build a
national network of fusion centers to enhance
information and intelligence sharing between DHS and its
partners
in state, local and tribal governments and the private
sector. Lunner first came to Washington in 1986 as a national news
correspondent, then entered federal service, where he has been
a senior
aide to one highly respected Member of Congress and
three
Cabinet secretaries.
In 2010, he was certified by the Director of National Intelligence as a Senior
Intelligence Officer and member of the DNI senior leadership corps with
internationally recognized expertise in collaboration and information-sharing.
Lunner was an
acting Assistant Secretary and headed up
the DHS
Office of State and Local Government Coordination, where he oversaw
nationwide
intergovernmental liaison between Secretary Michael Chertoff and key
officials
including Governors, Homeland Security Advisors, Mayors, County Executives,
fire
service and police leaders.
He has also
served as Assistant Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration for Maritime and Land Security. In that post, he built the TSA
division
which
developed security policy and practices for the non-aviation elements of the
national
transportation system including rail, transit, highways, pipelines, and the
postal
and
shipping sector.
From 2001 to
2003, Lunner served as Director of Communications for the U.S.
Department
of Transportation, and as a member of Secretary of Transportation Norman
Minetas
senior leadership team. He helped design and stand up the Transportation
Security
Administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and played a key role
in the
expansion of the Federal Air Marshals Service. He is also well-known in American
Indian
Country, where he has worked extensively in Native American affairs as a
journalist, in Congress, and as a member of White House and DHS working groups.
A veteran member
of the Senior Executive Service, Lunner is a recipient of the Transportation
9-11 Medal for his service at DOT in response to the 2001 attacks. He
holds the
honorary rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Maritime Service, is a member of
the
International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs
Association,
and serves
on their homeland security committees.
Prior to his
executive branch service, Lunner spent seven years on Capitol Hill as
communications director and Chief of Staff to former Rep. Amory Houghton (NY).
He is a graduate
of the Director of National Intelligences Intelligence Community Senior
Leadership
Program, he has served as a Senior
Fellow at
Georgetown
Universitys Center for Peace and Security Studies and was the
DHS
representative to the Henry
L.
Stimson
Centers
international homeland security project with the Kingdom of Sweden.
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_________________________________________________________________________________
Radall W. Mack, CPP, CFE,
CHS-III
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Mack is the Vice President
of Tourism & More in charge of the Pacific Rim. Mack has over 30 years
experience in management, design & engineering, contracting, safety, security,
and law enforcement. He has chaired a number of safety/security conferences
held in Hawaii and was invited to speak at the Hawaiis Governors Safety
Conference on The Emerging Trends for Safety & Security. Mack participated in
the NAVAA (Visitors Crime Victims Conference). He has designed & engineered
safety/security systems and program for the hospitality industry, medical
facilities, and state facilities using the latest state of the art technology.
Mack is certified as a Risk
Assessment Manager by Sandia Laboratories. He is certified by the American
Society for Industrial Security (ASIS International) as a Certified Protection
Professional (CPP) and by the American College of Forensic Examiners as a
Certified Homeland Security specialist, level III. Some of Macks projects
include the University of Hawaii, John Burns School of Medicine, three state
harbor projects for the Department of Land and Natural resources, Harbor
Division, Maui County Municipal Building, Maui Satellite City Hall, and Maui
Water Department. He was recently appointed by the Governor of Hawaii and
confirmed by its Senate to serve as member of the State Board of Private
Detectives and Guards. Since his retirement in 1995 from the federal
government, he has been involved with safety/security consulting for many large
organizations, testifying as an expert witness on a number of premise liability
cases, and working as the Director of Security for several major hotels. His
design and engineering background allows him to develop drawings and plans. In
2005 he was honored as a TOP COP by the Hawaii Coalition of Law Enforcement
and Security Agencies for giving rescue breathing to save the life of a Japanese
tourist.
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Dr. Tom Marrs,
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Dr. Tom Marrs is a licensed
psychologist and an expert in the use of applied psychology. Marrs applies his
psychological background with a specialty in sports psychology to the Tourism
&More team. Marrs is a former coach of the US National Olympic Development Team
for Sport Shooting. As part of his work, Marrs has traveled extensively in
Africa, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas. Marrs has worked on both the athletic
and administrative side of his sport and through his sports work brings valuable
business acumen to the Tourism & More team.
Marrs received his Ph.D.
from Texas A&M University, where he works with the Employee Assistance Program
providing services to over 10,000 ethnically and socio-economically diverse
faculty and staff. In this capacity, Marrs provides clinical services as well
as facilitating focus groups, supervisory and communications training, and
mediation for the various university departments.
Marrs is a specialist in
human resources and organizational psychology, with specific knowledge in
communication techniques, management efficacy, dealing with difficult employees,
conflict management and resolution, and drug and alcohol issues.
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Ray Mey
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Raymond S. Mey is
internationally recognized as a law enforcement and security professional. He
has extensive experience in Counterterrorism investigations, Major Event
Security, Crisis Management and Hostage Rescue. Mey's distinguished 23 year
career with the FBI included assignments with 3 FBI Field Offices, FBI
Headquarters (FBIHQ) Counterterrorism Division and 4 overseas Legat Offices.
Mr.
Mey is a 9 year veteran of the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). During
his tenure on HRT, Mr. Mey held a variety positions to include Assistant Team
Leader and S-3, Training and Operations Officer. Additionally, Mey is a FBI
certified SWAT Instructor, Hostage Negotiator, Crisis Management Coordinator,
Defensive Tactics Instructor and Certified Police Instructor. Mey has held
several key leadership positions during his FBI career, to include FBIHQ
Terrorism Supervisor, Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Supervisor, Assistant
Inspector in Place, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, and Interim FBIHQ
Counterterrorism Division Section Chief. Most notably Mey was appointed in 1998
by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, to the position of FBI Manager for
Counterterrorism Planning and Operations supporting the 2002 Winter Olympics in
Salt Lake City, Utah. The FBI was designated by Presidential Decision Directive
(PDD) 62 to lead all federal Counterterrorism investigative, crisis management
and hostage rescue efforts supporting this prestigious event.
From the period of 1996 to
2006, Mey led the inception and development of the FBI's Special Events
Management Program. Mey served in leadership and management roles for the FBI
in every Olympic Games over this 10 year period to include FBIHQ Manager for the
96 Atlanta Olympics, US Government Crisis Coordinator for the 98 Nagano
Olympics, FBI Crisis Management Team member for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, FBI
Program Manager for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, FBI Deputy On Scene Commander
for the 2004 Athens Olympics and FBI Olympic Coordinator for the 2006 Torino
Olympics.
After his retirement in 2006, Mey served as the Security Advisor to
the 2016 Chicago Olympic Games bid from 2006 - 2009. Additionally, Mey has
provided extensive Security and Crisis Management related consult and training
to numerous Fortune 500 companies and governments throughout the world. Mey
currently provides specialized instruction and consultation on behalf the
National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security and the U.S. State
Department Anti Terrorism Assistance Program.
Mr. Mey is the President of
Security Consultants International Corporation. He also serves as a Senior
Program Manager with The Soufan Group. Mey has provided Major Event Security,
Critical Incident Management and Specialized Counterterrorism Consultation and
Assessments on behalf the U.S. Government to over 20 countries throughout the
world.
Mey is the recipient of
several FBI distinguished service awards to include the FBI Medal of Bravery and
the U.S. Department of Justice Medal of Merit. Mey holds a Bachelors Degree
(BA) in Sociology/Psychology from the University of Rhode Island and a Masters
Degree (MA) in Psychology from Rhode Island College.
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Ramn Portela,
Citizen of Cuba and Nicaragua
Languages: Spanish
Portela is Tourism &Mores
Vice President for Central America and a specialist in hotels and restaurants
management. Portela specializes in areas as: F&B, hotel hospitality, tourism
quality control, big events organization and economic development. He is also an
expert in such outdoor tourism as hunting, fishing and scuba diving.
Portela is brings a vast
wealth of knowledge to his clients and students in the area of hotel and
restaurant managers and executives chefs. Portela;s world vision comes from his
training both in the Caribbean and in Europe. He developed many of his
techniques both in Havana and Varadero, Cuba, brings a touch of the Caribbean to
wherever he goes. In 1983 Portela received his bachelor s degree in the fields
of tourism economics and international tourism organization from Bulgarias High
National Institute of Economy Dimiter Blagoev in Varna. Portela resides in
Managua, Nicaragua. He is the former Dean of the Tourism faculty of the
University of Economy Sciences (Managua, Nicaragua).
Portela is highly involved
in Central American tourism development. As such he consults throughout the
nation on hotel and restaurant development. In 2009 he organized the Central
American Seminar of Tourism and Citizen security.
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Michael S. Pincus,
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Michael S. Pincus is an
Information Technology executive, strategist, and content analyst, who has given
professional counsel to government, defense, and commercial enterprises in many
fields over the last 25 years. Operating through his US company
Mnemotrix Systems, Inc.,
which is a full service Enterprise Systems company begun in 1986 as a B2B
technology developer and integrator for Advanced Information Systems
applications, he provides custom intelligent agent database, and information
mining, fusion and analysis services hosted and distributed over the Internet to
corporate clients world-wide. Pincus hosts a multitude of applications and
back-end "thick" solutions for commercial business intelligence and other types
of strategic information needs including social media sentiment decoding for a
multitude of U.S. and foreign companies, as well as providing mission critical
studies and trend analysis.
Pincus
work includes advanced methods in data mining and fusion, for retrieving and
correlating text and images using concepts and ideas and in natural language. He
is an expert in devising data and information mining algorithms (intelligent
agent software) which can locate and automatically connect ideas, metaphors,
concepts and themes to other similar ideas and motifs in news, creative
literature, technical, scientific and medical material, and many other bodies of
mission-critical and strategic data including the extraction of sentiment and
trends from social media.
He has designed and
implemented advanced text and computing applications for NASA, the US Dept of
Agriculture, the Dept of Energy, the Dept of Defense and other branches of the
U.S. Government, for private corporations and educational institutions
worldwide, and contributed to much of the early R&D in Artificial Intelligence
in the field of Information Mining and Strategic Data Fusion.
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Terry Revella,
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Terrance Revella has had
over 30 years of law enforcement experience with the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation Police Captain before retiring. Revella has also
worked as part of the New York State Office of Homeland Security. He is a
survivor of the September 11th
(2001) World Trade Center Disaster. Revella also served as the New York State
Health and Safety Officer, and as New Yorks Governors liaison for the entire
Ground Zero clean-up operation.
Revella has been
instrumental in the development of numerous anti-terrorism programs. Many of
these programs are being used throughout the world. His presentation on Public
Building Security has been utilized by various law enforcement agencies in
Australia, England. Prior to his retirement, Revella spearheaded a program to
create a National Law Enforcement Identification Card which would facilitate the
identification of emergency personnel responding to major incidents in
jurisdictions not their own.
While employed by the New
York State Department of Corrections, Revella helped establish the Harriman
Training Academy, and served as its Behavioral Modification Officer (Officer in
Charge of the Recruits).
Revella service as a police
commander for over 15 years has given him a wide range of knowledge in multiple
forms of event and tourism security. He was the Governors liaison to the New
York Citys Office of Emergency Management for all major incidents including:
ferry accidents, New Years Eve in Times Square, parades, building collapses,
building explosions, and an outbreak of the West Nile Virus, where he worked
closely with Mayor Rudolph Guiliani. He has performed dignitary protection for
the Republican National Convention, foreign dignitaries, as well as the
President of the United States.
Revella is a Marine Corps,
Vietnam Veteran. He is the most decorated member of the Department of
Environmental Conservation, having also been awarded the Samuel S. Taylor award,
the departments Medal of Honor. He is a member of International Chiefs of
Police Association, the New York State Chiefs of Police Association, the
International Narcotics Officers Association, the New York State Fraternal Order
of Police,, the American Legion, Delta Epsilon Tau and the Gold Key National
Honor Society.
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Nathaniel L. Tarlow, Esq
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English, Spanish
Nathaniel "Nate" Tarlow is
an attorney and one of the founding partners of the law firm Laird Valdez, LLP
in Houston, Texas. Due to his travels throughout the world and his sensitivity
to international cultural issues Tarlow brings a wealth of knowledge to the
tourism industry and combines legal knowledge with tourism knowledge. Tarlow has
traveled the world and learn about tourism and how it affects local economies
and customs.
In his Houston Texas
practice, Tarlow represents a very diverse clientele and is accustomed to
approaching legal matters and business matters from a culturally appropriate and
international perspective. Some of Tarlow's achievements have garnered him
recognition and awards both inside the United States and also internationally.
In 2008, Tarlow was designated as one of the top 10 heroes of the Republic of
Honduras by the "El Heraldo" newspaper for a legal victory involving a deported
Honduran citizen. Tarlow's law practice has a strong international component and
represents clients of various national and ethnic backgrounds.
Tarlow is a graduate of the
University of Texas at Austin, with a double major in History and in Latin
American Studies. During his university years, Tarlow worked for the Texas Rural
Development Council and honed his skills as a writer and communicator. Tarlow is
fluent in both English and Spanish. Upon graduation, Tarlow came to understand
multiple aspects of the tourism industry through his work in the marketing
department of the Mirage Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, Nevada), and also as a
bi-lingual tour guide with the United States Federal Government at the Hoover
Dam. These work experiences helped Tarlow to understand the needs of various
aspects of the tourism industry and the impact of customer service within the
industry. Tarlow has utilized good people skills and the ability to interact
productively with people from diverse racial, cultural, and socioeconomic
backgrounds as a part of his legal practice.
Tarlow graduated from South
Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas in 2004. During law school, Mr. Tarlow
clerked under Justice Linda R. Yanez of the Thirteenth District Court of Appeals
and also worked for the law firm of Schneider and McKinney, PC. Tarlow was
awarded the American Jurisprudence Award twice during law school, and was a
leading advocate for his team in their first place finish in the Spurgeon Bell
Memorial Mock Trial tournament. After passing the bar exam and helping to found
the Laird Valez law firm, Tarlow traveled throughout much of Asia and Africa.
Tarlow bring a wealth of knowledge to the world of tourism through legal skills
and his numerous international travels.
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Don Taussig, CPP, CIPM,
Citizen of: USA
Languages: Czech, English
Don Taussig brings Tourism
& More some 35 (+) years of security, risk management, executive protection,
event planning, travel and tourism security, emergency management, continuity of
operations and law enforcement experience in number domestic and international
roles. Don is Board Certified in Security Management.
Most recently Don retired as
the Chief Security Officer for the Bureau of Reclamation, managing policy
integration for strategic risk-reduction goals for 460 multi-site critical
energy infrastructures operation. While there, he guided the development of risk
profiles for operational infrastructure and delivered risk-based security
solutions and related corporate security services to include support for
emergency management and law enforcement activities. Don is adept at developing
controls for addressing corporate need and risk profile. He has hands on
experience in crisis management and continuity planning, investigations, risk
quantification, trouble-shooting, problem-solving, and negotiating. Don has
provided consulting services for the development, risk benchmarking, capacity
planning, executive protection, event planning and security related training.
He's a seasoned security professional at the strategic, policy and operational
levels and he can help balance risks and the delicate equilibrium between
business objectives and costs. Taussig is a former Deputy Sheriff with Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department. His security leadership roles
include:Director of Security, Executive Office of the President. Don established
an international-focused executive protection program to support foreign trade
negotiations and he directed complex security activities for overseas trade
negotiations and high-risk events. He established intelligence based information
sharing process with WTO, UN and World Bank and he synchronized continuity and
emergency planning functions with core white house contingency plans
. Security
Officer and Project Manager, US State Department. Don successfully delivered
multimillion-dollar security upgrade projects on time and within budget in
Kuwait, Israel, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Nepal, Tunis, Bangladesh,
United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Ivory Coast, Jordan,
Morocco, Japan, China, Indonesia and for other high-risk diplomatic
facilities.Security Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency. At FEMA Don
directed security planning for support of disaster response and recovery
activities and he was the lead security official on the National Disaster
Response Team. Taussig is retired from the US Army's Military Police Corps.
While on active duty he provided security leadership competencies at the
tactical and strategic levels. Don was the lead DOD SME for issues related to
executive protection. As part of a taskforce, he wrote DOD and Army policies and
procedures on executive protection programs. He helped to establishe three full
time protective details for high-risk officials. He championed the creation of
the first DOD executive protection course, which is still delivering world class
training to students from around the globe. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for
service in the Gulf War. Don formerly provided expert security services on
travel security, executive protection, risk management and event planning. His
key consulting assignments include: Israel, for Critical Infrastructure
protection; New Zealand for Americas Cup; Chile for Asia-Pacific Summit; Canada,
Vancouver, BC for Winter Olympics and other high-profile events. Don is a member
of International Society for Risk Analysis, International Foundation for
Cultural Property Protection, ASIS International and he is one of the founding
members of CSO Roundtable.
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Jacobo Turquie,
Citizen of Mexico
Languages: English, Spanish
Turquie is a graduate of
"The Culinary Institute of America" in Hyde Park, NY on December 1994 with an
AOS (Associate in Occupational Studies) degree and also study Business
Administration in Tourism at the "Universidad Autnoma de Guadalajara" in
Guadalajara, Mexico.Turquie began his career as a Maitre d at "Las Alamedas"
Restaurant in Houston, TX in 1995 after graduating and then went back to his
native city as Chef de Cuisine at "Spiceys" Restaurant in Acapulco, Mexico in
1996.He received an invitation to be part of a team to open a brand new property
in Kingston, Jamaica and was named Executive Chef at Crowne Plaza Hotel from
1997 through 1998. Destiny brought him back to Mexico and served as Food &
Beverage Manager at "Turstica Baja Cabo" in Los Cabos, Mexico from 1998 thru
2001. Turquie became independent and started to do Food & Beverage consulting in
different venues like "El Patio" Restaurant in San Jos del Cabo, "Casa Natalia"
Boutique Hotel in San Jos del Cabo, "Casa del Mar" Beach Club & Spa Resort in
Los Cabos to name a few. He is the actual founder of the concept and partner at
"La Panga Antigua" Restaurant & Bar in Downtown Historic District in San Jose
del Cabo, Mexico which is a very well known Restaurant with a high reputation,
awards and still in business up to today.
www.lapanga.com. Some achievements lately will be one of the winner of
the 1st US Meat Export Federation Cooking Contest in Mexico City in the year
2000 under Nutrition category, Founder and President of the Chefs Association in
Baja California Sur for two years, Vice-President for CANIRAC (Restaurant
Chamber) Los Cabos chapter for three years, active member for Slow Food Los
Cabos and he also served as Secretary of Tourism for the State of Baja
California Sur for almost a year before the new Government Administration got in
place in April 2011. Whit this position he has been invited to participate in
various Conventions and Conferences related to Tourism and its development in
the State of Baja California and throughout Mexico.
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Dr Jeff
Wilks, BA (Hons), PhD, LLB (Hons),
Citizen of: Australia
Languages: English
Jeff is a qualified lawyer
and psychologist specializing in tourism health, safety and security. He grew up
in Papua New Guinea where his family ran a transport and tourism business. His
early training was in cross-cultural psychology, which earned him a PhD from the
University of Queensland, Australia and confirmed a love of travel. Jeff has led
risk management programs in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United
States, as well as closer to home in Asia Pacific. An active marine safety
practitioner, Jeff has worked as a scuba diving instructor on the Great Barrier
Reef and in 2004 was awarded an International Life
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Scott Wygant
Citizen of: USA
Languages: English
Scott Wygant brings to the
travel and tourism industry a lifetime of drug enforcement specialization.
Wygant's award winning professional law enforcement career includes over 24
years of service and advanced training as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Supervisory Special Agent, and Foreign Attach in Bolivia and Brazil. Wygant
received his Bachelor of Arts from Hawaii Loa College in Kaneohe, Hawaii and has
done master degree level work at Portland, State University, in Portland,
Oregon. He is a graduate of both the FBI and DEA academies in Quantico,
Virginia.
Currently, Wygant serves as a mentor and Rule of Law Instructor in
Afghanistan. Wygant is instructing the Afghan National Police in conducting
complex conspiracy investigations and helping to establish a strong Police
presence throughout Afghanistan. Wygant retired from the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) in February 2011 where he was serving as the US DEA Country
Attach to Brazil. He managed the operation for the world's fifth largest
international DEA organization. He advised and had oversight of DEA's
investigation of complex criminal organizations and international drug
trafficking and money laundering organizations in Brazil. As such, Wygant
brings a wealth of international experience to the tourism industry as it
grapples with the issues such as illegal substances and visitor surety. During
his 24 year career with the Drug Enforcement Administration Wygant has worked in
Washington State, Colorado, California, Washington D.C. and internationally all
over Central and South America and Asia both investigating international drug
trafficking groups and training foreign police officers in conducting complex
drug investigations. Because of his technical expertise he has taught and
advised law enforcement investigators in the use of infrared and thermal imaging
technologies. Wygant also served as a military Intelligence Analyst with United
States Navy.
Wygant is recognized as an expert witness for the US Federal
Courts. He is a specialist marijuana growing investigations. As a DEA specialist
Wygant has also investigated international drug trafficking organizations and
money launderers throughout the world. Among Wygant's many areas of expertise
are some of the skills most needed in the world of tourism security. These
areas of expertise include: corporate drug security, issues of organized crime,
controlled delivery operations and smuggling, pharmaceutical investigations, and
money
