Beauchine to Head NBTA Foundation

Alexandria, VA (January 8, 2008) -- The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today announced new members for 2008 of the Board of Trustees of the NBTA Foundation, NBTA’s education and research foundation.

NBTA President & CEO, Kevin Maguire, CCTE, said, “As President of NBTA, I am pleased to appoint to the board of the NBTA Foundation these well-respected industry leaders, whose collective industry expertise and insights will further the foundation’s ability to advance the corporate travel profession. The NBTA Foundation has a unique and important role as the industry’s leading education and research foundation, and I look forward to working with Fay and our fellow board members to serve the industry.”

New NBTA Foundation Board Chair, Fay Beauchine, Executive Vice President, Carlson Companies, said “I am honored to have the opportunity to advance the NBTA Foundation’s mission to serve the industry through research and education. With an outstanding board of industry leaders, we will continue to enhance the success the foundation has built over the last years -- an unparalleled scholarship program and unique research projects that benefit NBTA members, foundation donors, and the industry as a whole.”

Beauchine also thanked the following outgoing board members for their contributions to the NBTA Foundation’s work on behalf of the industry: Ellen Keszler, Richard Wooten, Lockheed Martin Corporation; Sheri Carlsen, CCTE, American Institute for Foreign Study; Pam Elledge, Delta Air Lines; Andrew McGraw, American Express Company; and Peter Turso, Seaside Consulting LLC. Their leadership helped the foundation raise and award $90,000 in scholarships in 2007, conduct important industry research and enhance the one-of-a-kind Managed Travel Index® (MTI) & Benchmarking Tool.

Beauchine said, “I especially want to thank Ellen Keszler for her leadership as Chair of the NBTA Foundation Board of Trustees. I served the board previously, and since then I have seen the excellent work the foundation has done under Ellen’s leadership. In addition to awarding record scholarship dollars and conducting important industry research, Ellen led the effort to enhance the Global Leadership Professional program to make it a designation program. The change added a one-year group project, enabling participants to apply to current industry challenges the knowledge gained in classroom sessions at the Wharton School over two years. After presenting their group findings, participants earn the professional title GLP, indicating they have completed the business travel industry’s only master’s-level education program.”

The NBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). The foundation was established in 1997 to support NBTA’s members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the NBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The foundation offers the only master’s-level accredited course and professional designation for the corporate travel professional, the Global Leadership Professional (GLP) program, in partnership with The Wharton School. The industry’s leading benchmarking resource – the Managed Travel Index® (MTI) & Benchmarking Tool – is offered by the foundation. The NBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see www.nbtafoundation.org.