RADIXX - Key Persons
Ann Bruder - Chief Legal Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Chief Legal Officer ( CLO ) for Sabre
As executive vice president (EVP) and chief legal officer (CLO) for Sabre, Ann Bruder leads the company's global legal organization overseeing governance, business transactions, commercial matters, litigation, public policy and government affairs. The steadfast counsel and expertise her team provides is critical in supporting, protecting and guiding our vision to be held as the premier global technology platform in travel.
Ann joined Sabre from Avantax, formerly Blucora, where she served as Chief Legal, Development & Administrative Officer, managing the company's legal, government affairs, development, business continuity, real estate, security and other administrative functions. In this role, she expanded her business acumen and transformed the company culture by facilitating a targeted application of hybrid work styles as she led that company's COVID response. With over 25 years of experience at global organizations in the technology and travel industries, Ann's astute leadership qualities and legal expertise position her well to counsel Sabre into the future.
Ann received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wyoming and her Juris Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
Outside of work, she is a Board of Trustees member for the Center for American & International Law, chairing its Audit Committee, and is a member - and previous Board member - of the International Women's Forum (Dallas Chapter), having been affiliated with both organizations for nearly 15 years. In her personal time, she enjoys attending her daughter's equestrian competitions, skiing and snowboarding, and traveling with her family. A couple of her favorite travel destinations include Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Siem Reip, Cambodia - home of the temples of Ankor Wat.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Technology Committee
- Audit Committee
- Company As a Director
Ms. Mandel joined the Company as a director in April 2020. She has served as Managing Director of Focused Point Ventures, LLC, a business advisory and consulting services organization since 2019. Additionally, Ms. Mandel currently serves on the Board of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) and as the Chairman of the Board of PureStar, a provider of laundry services and linen management to the hospitality industry, and as the Chief Financial Officer of Silverman Acquisition Corp. I, a special purpose acquisition company. From 2014 to 2018, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Wyndham Destination Network, an operating division of Wyndham Worldwide and a provider of professionally managed, unique vacation accommodations. Ms. Mandel served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Wyndham Exchange & Rentals (later known as Wyndham Destination Network), from March 2014 to November 2014 and Chief Financial Officer, Wyndham Destination Network, from January 2010 to March 2014. From August 2006 to January 2010, Ms. Mandel was Senior Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis, for Wyndham Worldwide. From February 1999 to August 2006, Ms. Mandel was Division CFO/Controller, Cendant Hospitality Services, and from October 1997 to February 1999, Ms. Mandel was Controller, Cendant Mobility.
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Technology Committee
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Travel Solutions
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Audit Committee
- Company As a Director
Mr. Bravante joined the Company as a director in December 2014. He is the co-founder and the managing member of the general partner of Bravante-Curci Investors, LP, an investment firm focusing on real estate investments in California. Mr. Bravante has held this position since 1996. Since 2005, he has also been the owner of Bravante Produce, a grower, packer and shipper of premium California table grapes and citrus. Previously, he served as chairman of the board of ExpressJet Holdings, Inc. from 2005 to 2010 and was a member of its board from 2004 to 2010. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Bravante was President and Chief Operating Officer of Colony Advisors, Inc., a real estate asset management company, and prior to that he was President and Chief Operating Officer of America Real Estate Group, Inc., where he led strategic management, restructuring and disposition of assets. He serves as a director of KBS Growth & Income REIT, Inc., a real estate investment trust.
Job Titles:
- Lead Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Technology Committee
- Chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee
- Company As a Director
- Governance and Nominating Committee
Mr. Saretsky joined the Company as a director in July 2020. He retired in March 2018 from WestJet as President and Chief Executive Officer, a position he held since April 2010 after having joined WestJet in June 2009. During Mr. Saretsky's tenure, WestJet doubled in size, started a regional airline subsidiary, inaugurated long haul international operations, all while achieving an investment-grade credit rating and recognition from Waterstone Human Capital for Canada's Most admired corporate culture. He was named Alberta's Business Person of the Year for 2012 by Alberta Venture magazine. In 2013, Mr. Saretsky was also named Top New CEO of the Year by Canadian Business Magazine, an award bestowed on a CEO who has transformed his company within the first five years of his appointment. In addition, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Concordia University in 2014 and was the recipient of the David Foster Foundation Visionary Award as Canada's National Business Leader of the Year in 2015. Mr. Saretsky began his career in aviation with Canadian Airlines in 1985, after a short period in Commercial Banking, and rose through the ranks to the position of Vice-President, Airports, and Vice-President, Marketing, before joining Alaska Airlines in 1998 as Senior Vice-President, Marketing & Planning and then Executive Vice-President of Flight Operations and Marketing, responsible for the airline's flight crews, operations, and consumer programs and activities. He led the development of Alaska Airlines' alliance strategy and was instrumental in building new airline and tour operator partnerships. Mr. Saretsky has served as a board member of the Conference Board of Canada, Calgary Telus Convention Centre, Tourism Vancouver, and the University of British Columbia (UBC) and is currently Board Chair of the Wood Buffalo Economic Development Corporation and a Director of RECARO, a German Industrial Company.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Technology Committee
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Audit Committee
Mr. Couturier has served on our board of directors since December 2017. Mr. Couturier is a private investor and product strategy consultant. He currently serves as president of Kerney Partners, a consulting firm. From 2012 to 2016, he was executive vice president, research and development, at Amadeus, an airline reservation systems provider. From 2007 to 2012, he was executive vice president of SAP AG's technology group and head of research.
He also serves as a board member for SimCorp A/S, a public Danish software company, and has held management positions at a number of IT companies including Business Objects, the worldwide leader of business intelligence solutions, now part of SAP, S1 Corporation, a provider of payment software for financial institutions, and XRT, a leading European treasury management software company, now part of the Sage Group PLC.
Mr. Couturier began his career at IBM in 1982, where he held various engineering and business positions until 1997.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Compensation Committee
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Governance and Nominating Committee
- Executive Committee
Mr. Scott joined the Company as a director in July 2020. He is an experienced executive in the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries with more than 25 years of consumer facing business expertise across complex global, multi-unit, multi-brand enterprises. Mr. Scott is a founder and Chairman of Park House, a new private social club business located in Dallas, TX which is redefining the private social club model. He is also Chairman of A&O Hotels, the largest European hybrid hotel and hostel platform which owns and operates 40 assets with more than 25,000 beds and 7,000 rooms throughout Europe. Most recently Mr. Scott served from 2012 through 2015 as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Belmond Ltd., previously Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., a publicly listed company engaged in the ownership and management of a global portfolio of 46 luxury hotel, restaurants, tourist trains and cruise businesses in 22 countries. Prior to joining Belmond Ltd., he served from 2003 until 2011 as President and Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, an international luxury hotel ownership and management company. Mr. Scott previously served on the board of Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, a private hotel and restaurant management company, SMU COX School of Business, and Cedar Fair Entertainment, a leading North American amusement park owner and operator, and currently serves as a director of Subway Restaurants.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Member of the Governance and Nominating Committee
- Governance and Nominating Committee / Compensation Committee
- Senior Partner of TPG
Mr. Peterson is a Senior Partner of TPG and Managing Partner of TPG Pace Group, which oversees investments in three publicly traded companies. He served as Sabre's Chairman of the Board from January 2020 to April 2022. Mr. Peterson previously served as Lead Independent Director during 2017. After rejoining TPG in 2004, Mr. Peterson led investments for the firm in technology, media, financial services and travel sectors and oversaw TPG's European operations from 2010 until 2017. Prior to 2004, he was a co-founder and the president and CEO of Hotwire.com. He led the business from its launch in 2000 through its sale to InterActiveCorp (now Expedia) in 2003. Before Hotwire, Mr. Peterson was a principal at TPG in San Francisco, and from 1992 to 1995 he was a financial analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Peterson is currently a director of Playa Hotels and Resorts and serves as Chairman of Accel Entertainment.
Job Titles:
- Chief Communications and Corporate Responsibility Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Technology Committee
- President
- Executive Committee
- President and CEO of Sabre
- Sabre As President
Kurt Ekert is president and CEO of Sabre, a leading technology platform to the travel and hospitality industry. He was appointed CEO in April 2023 and leads a global team of highly talented colleagues.
Kurt joined Sabre as president in January 2022, bringing 25 years of global operating leadership and governance experience in technology, travel and tourism, and a track record of growth and turnaround performance.
Before joining Sabre, Kurt spent five years as President & CEO of CWT, where he engineered a digital transformation, while delivering significant growth, highlighted by $7 billion of new business wins. Prior to CWT, Kurt was EVP & Chief Commercial Officer at Travelport, where he led the operational turnaround that enabled a successful IPO in 2014. His industry experience also includes senior executive positions at GTA and Orbitz Worldwide, as well as executive roles at Cendant and Continental Airlines. Kurt has held prominent industry governance positions as Chairman of the U.S. Department of Commerce Travel & Tourism Advisory Board, and as a director of eNett, Carlson Travel Inc., the World Travel & Tourism Council, and the UNGA Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.
Kurt holds a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the University of South Carolina, and saw active duty as a U.S. army officer. He is a current board of directors' member for Sabre, Passur Aerospace and ZYTLYN Technologies.
Outside of work, Kurt enjoys sports, history, reading, traveling and spending time with his family.
Member of the Technology Committee
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Technology Committee
- Audit Committee
- Company As a Director
Ms. Newhouse joined the Company as a director in April 2021. She has served as Chief Executive Officer of Xtreme Solutions, Inc. since 2002. Xtreme Solutions, Inc. is a leading information technology and cybersecurity firm that specializes in ethical hacking, training, and providing cyber solutions consultancy to the federal and private sectors. She served in the United States Army, where she focused on national security, including working with several information security task forces teams. In 2019, Ms. Newhouse founded ShoulderUp, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and supporting women in their entrepreneurial journeys. Ms. Newhouse currently serves on the board of the Technology Association of Georgia, is a member of the Business Executives for National Security and of the Women Presidents' Organization, and serves on the Board of Directors of Girls Inc.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Member of the Governance and Nominating Committee
- Company As Director
- Governance and Nominating Committee / Compensation Committee
Ms. Gonzalez joined the Company as director in October of 2022. She is the former Executive Vice President, Law & Corporate Affairs and General Counsel of Starbucks Corporation, serving in the role from 2018 to 2022. While at Starbucks, she actively shaped, influenced and executed the company's revenue, earnings and growth ambitions. Prior to Starbucks, Ms. Gonzalez served as Chief Administration Officer at Sabre Corporation, where she was responsible for human resources, corporate communications, legal strategy, regulatory affairs, corporate compliance and government affairs. She joined Sabre in 2014 as Executive Vice President, General Counsel. Her key accomplishments at Sabre include supporting the restructuring of resources to provide an appropriate foundation for growth, as well as guiding the Company through significant anti-trust matters. Before Sabre, Ms. Gonzalez served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Dean Foods, Senior Vice President and Group Counsel with Affiliated Computer Services, and Partner with law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. She currently serves on the board of Electronic Arts and advisory board of PODER25, a sub-organization of the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Travel Solutions
Job Titles:
- President, Hospitality Solutions
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Chairman of the Executive Committee
- Executive Chair of the Board
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Executive Committee
Mr. Menke currently serves as Sabre's Executive Chair of the Board. Previously, he was appointed as President and CEO of Sabre in 2016 and transitioned to the CEO and Executive Chair roles in early 2022. In 2015, Mr. Menke joined the Company as president of Sabre Travel Network, Sabre's largest line of business. Under his leadership, the Company won major new business opportunities, increased global market share and secured Sabre's position as the leading global distribution system in North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. He also led technology innovation that enabled global airline, hotel and travel agency customers to advance their customer experience, revenue generation capabilities and operational efficiencies.
Before joining Sabre, Mr. Menke spent more than 20 years in executive leadership roles in the airline industry. He served as Chief Executive Officer at Frontier Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines and held senior-level marketing, operations, customer experience, strategy, planning, sales, distribution and revenue management, most notably with Air Canada and Hawaiian Airlines. He also served as Executive Vice President at IHS Inc., a global information technology company.
Mr. Menke holds a bachelor's degree in economics and aviation management from Ohio State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Member of the Governance and Nominating Committee
- Company As a Director
- Executive Committee
Ms. Sturgis joined the Company as a director in April 2021. She has served as the Chief Revenue Officer of Lyte, Inc., a ticketing/consumer technology platform, since 2021. She has over twenty-five years of experience as a technology and marketing leader at some of the world's largest tech companies. Prior to Lyte, Ms. Sturgis was a founding executive at Yext (NYSE: Yext) where she worked from 2011 to 2019, serving in multiple roles, including SVP of Sales and Services, Chief Customer Officer, and most recently, CEO of Yext Europe. She has previously held executive positions at Oracle, Gartner, Right Media, and Yahoo!, where she was Vice President of Account Management for North America in charge of the North American Search business. She is currently an independent director for The Container Store and Kustomer, a private company based in New York City. She has served on multiple boards including Dailyworth.com, Student Transportation of America, Step Up Women's Network, and Chair of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board. Ms. Sturgis currently serves as a trustee for the Georgia Tech Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Technology Committee
- Audit Committee
- Company As a Director
Mr. Rowe joined the Company as a director in May 2016. He has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Workday, Inc. since June 2023. Previously, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of VMware, Inc. from March 2016 to June 2023 and as its interim Chief Executive Officer from February 2021 to May 2021. Before joining VMware, Mr. Rowe served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of EMC Corporation from October 2014 through February 2016. Prior to joining EMC, he was Vice President of North American Sales of Apple Inc. from May 2012 to May 2014. Mr. Rowe was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United Continental Holdings, Inc., an airline holdings company, from October 2010 until April 2012 and was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Continental Airlines from August 2008 to September 2010. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.