ITAC announces several leadership changes and additions

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) has made several recent changes to its leadership team.

The first promotion announced is Sébastien (Séb) Desnoyers-Picard into the role of vice president of operations. This is a new position for the organization.

Desnoyers-Picard brings with him more than 15 years in tourism, media relations, communications and international marketing experience where he’s known for creating important alliances with various financial partners to create support and sales conversion programs for the industries he represented. Previously, he held the position of the chief marketing officer for ITAC where he helped launch The Original Original marketing campaign and led advocacy support to secure government and partner funding for the Indigenous tourism industry at large. The bi-lingual leader has been with ITAC for five years, the last three spent in the chief marketing officer role.

The second promotion is Teresa Ryder moving to director of partnerships.
“This promotion is a natural progression for Teresa who has proven herself time and time again, that she is a natural leader and key member of our leadership team,” said Keith Henry, president and CEO of ITAC. “Teresa has led the development of significant partnerships and implemented innovative programs that benefit the Indigenous tourism industry like Rise and the Stimulus Grant Funding. We’re so proud of her accomplishment so far and cannot wait to see where she takes us next.”

The final two appointments include Suzanne Reeves who is stepping into the role of director of marketing and Tara Saunders as the director of business development.

As director of marketing, Suzanne will be responsible for overseeing the marketing initiatives of ITAC, which bring attention and resources to the country’s Indigenous-led tourism sector. Tara Saunders, former ITAC board member, will be responsible for overseeing the development and stability of Indigenous tourism across Canada as well as product development and grant initiatives to support Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs and Indigenous communities investing in tourism.