Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry

Aaron Adalja is an Associate Professor of Applied Economics and Policy at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Professor Adalja earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests cover a range of topics in food and agricultural economics, where he combines consumer theory, industrial organization, and marketing to tackle empirical questions in food labeling, food safety, marketing policy, and agri-food supply chain sustainability.

Before entering academe, Professor Adalja worked as a chef de partie at Per Se, the New York City flagship of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, an experience that catalyzed his passion for hospitality and food economics. He draws on this background to teach courses in the Nolan School’s Food and Beverage Management curriculum, enriching the classroom with practical insights from the restaurant industry.

Born in Egypt, Denise Naguib attended the University of Oregon, earning a B.S. in Geography with an emphasis on environmental impacts. Ms. Naguib became involved with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, implementing environmental programs globally. She moved to the Cayman Islands to implement Cousteau’s program and then to Washington, D.C. to expand the program and strategy for The Ritz-Carlton. At Marriot, Ms. Naguib progressed from corporate director roles in environmental and sustainability policy to become a vice president within global operations, where she continues to work on projects in support of sustainability goals.

Based in Chicago, Geraldine Guichardo is Global Head of Research for JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group and Head of Americas Hotels Research. She has eight years’ experience in hospitality real estate. Ms. Guichardo leads the firm’s hotel research platform and is the expert provider of market intelligence and trends for internal and external stakeholders. She is responsible for the production of the group’s research report suite, monitoring key industry indicators to include hotel transaction volume and developing custom analytics to inform client strategies and help position the firm as a thought leader. Ms. Guichardo is also leading the digitization of key research resources leveraged by the global Hotels & Hospitality Group to stay abreast of the latest lodging and transaction trends. In addition, she works closely with the C-suite within the Hotels & Hospitality Group to support and advise their client relationship management and business development efforts.

Jake Shirmer is a senior manager and sustainability specialist with Deloitte Consulting, where he leads GHG emissions and broader environmental sustainability measurement, sustainability strategy, and reporting services. He has 12 years of management and environmental consulting experience helping companies across industries stand up and advance sustainability-driven transformations to enable cost savings, risk resilience, and reputational impact. Mr. Shirmer holds an MBA with a Sustainable Global Enterprise concentration from Cornell University and B.A. in Environmental Studies and Economics from Bucknell University.

Patrick Flynn is the Vice President of Sustainability for Salesforce, the global leader in customer relationship management (CRM), where he defines and leads the execution of Salesforce’s environmental strategy. Patrick has held impact roles in green building design, venture capital and immediately prior to Salesforce led sustainability for a data center colocation company. Flynn holds an MBA from MIT as well as a BS in Engineering from Stanford University.