Meet The Team
Nico
NICHOLAS
Our CEO
Chief Eco Officer
Co Founder
A business entrepreneur, Nico has continuously strived to build the best companies in a multitude of sectors, which has been justly acknowledged through various nominations & awards received over the years. An influential leader & ideas guy with a can-do attitude who creates business with integrity & passion. A culture of ‘Business for Good’ is his new ambition.
Elkie
NICHOLAS
CTH
Chief Tree Hugger
Co Founder
A marketing & branding professional with a positive & tenacious entrepreneurial spirit. Elkie has worked in a variety of sectors all over the world including more recently in education, travel & technology . As a dynamic creator of numerous award-winning products, she is now channelling her extensive experience & knowledge to support her love of nature & travel.
Giannis
PARASKEVOPOULOS
CTO
Our Techie
A chief technology officer & professional software engineer who studied Computer Science at the TEI of Piraeus in Athens. He has a natural fascination & curiosity for software development, keeping up with new trends and technologies. His expertise & knowledge has come through working on a range of different projects in banking, entertainment press & travel.
Toria
HOUSTON
Senior
Partner Hugger United Kingdom
After 8 years of retail management, Toria has now entered the travel industry with the hopes to make a positive difference to an industry the world so heavily relies on. Toria has used her years of management to showcase her passion for networking & building businesses, passions she now proudly shares with the Trees4Travel team. Toria has always had a desire to leave a positive (& green) mark on the world & sees Trees4Travel as a powerful, motivating, & educational way to do so.
Dale
NUFER
Our Forest
Branch Manager
Dale accrued a plethora of skills from resolving difficult situations under pressure, to organisation, problem solving & staff management during his 30 year career in the UK Metropolitan Police, Dale’s over-riding passion has always been for nature & the environment so sees this as an excellent opportunity to merge his skill set & passion into one ensuring the success of our projects.
Jack
THIRKELL
Our Ecology &
Environmental Advisor
Jack is a published research scientist with an academic background in biology and wildlife conservation, Jack holds a MSc and is currently finishing his PhD. He has a love of sports, food and responsible travel. His passions are centered around promoting biodiversity conservation and environmental health.
Clelia
GOODCHILD
Our Film Creator
& Researcher
A multilingual (French, Spanish, Portuguese, English) filmmaker & writer. Her passion for nature & travel is the driving force of her work. Clelia has collaborated on a wide range of projects, from the conservation of the Atlantic Rainforest with STR Brazil & Voices for Nature, to Accessible Travel with Accomable (now part of Airbnb). Her film work has also earned the recognition of Institutions such as the UN.
Samantha
CARREIRA
PR
Tree Whisperer
North America
Samantha is a bilingual (English & Portuguese) motivated & driven professional who has spent 6 successful years working in the travel & tourism industry, developing her expertise in public relations, marketing & social media. She is passionate about wildlife conservation & animal welfare, having spent many years volunteering with the non-profit organization, World Animal Protection. .
MAROTTA
WILSON
Susan
Cari
WEBB
Chief
Tree Hugger
North America
Susan has been in the tourism industry for many years, starting off as a booking executive in corporate travel. Since then she has proudly worked for some of Canada’s most successful & respected tour operators & retailers. Susan is President of Vox International, a travel marketing and account management service & is also active in many industry associations, elected as President Skal Canada & President Discover America Canada. She is on advisory boards for the Tourism & Hospitality Programs at Canadian Colleges & Universities to help lead the next generation of tourism professionals. Her passion for sustainability & leaving a positive impact on the world is what started her on her goal of making VoX Travelife certified by April 2022.
Partner Hugger North America
As a graduate from Ryerson University, Cari holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Hospitality Management. Her career in the travel industry spans over 20 years working for many influential companies. Since joining VoX in 2005, Cari has developed sales strategies for many key accounts. Her extensive background in the travel industry & her excellent communication & presentation skills makes her a great asset to VoX International. Cari has always had a love for nature & is passionate about sustainable travel which makes Trees4Travel the perfect fit for her.
Jacqueline
KUEHNEL
Sustainable Travel Advisor
Jacqueline’s professional travel & tourism career spans over thirty years in Canada & the USA. In her role as Business Development Director at VoX International, she brings extensive experience in the global leisure travel sector including destination development, supply chain procurement, tour packaging, revenue management, sales & marketing, operations as well as implementation of best practices for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & sustainable tourism.
Jacqueline has also consulted on climate change, implemented Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) structures & worked with organizations to support sustainable tourism development.
Renée
Partner Hugger North America
Renée has been in the tourism industry for over 25 years. She organizes sales & marketing activities, working closely with the travel trade & media stakeholders in Québec. Since 2011, she has been a volunteer member of the City of Beaconsfield’s Environmental Advisory Committee (BEAC) whose mission is to develop & propose strategies for a more sustainable community through improved environmental responsibility. Renée is also a key member of VoX’s Travelife committee & is currently responsible for developing & executing trainings to staff to bring awareness about environmental issues & encourage the team to lower their impact at work & in their everyday lives. Renee is also an avid bird watcher & a true ambassador for the planet.
Rüdiger
BEYER
German Travel
Market
Rüdiger has more than 30 years of experience in the hotel & travel industry. He has held international management positions as general manager & sales/marketing expert. Rüdiger holds a degree in business administration for hotel management. He is German by birth & speaks English, Italian and French, among other languages.
Werner
MEYER
German Travel Market
Werner has over 30 years’ experience in operational, strategic & marketing positions in the travel industry. He started his career in hotel management where he held positions including Rooms Division Manager with Steigenberger Hotels, Vice President Marketing at Worldhotels, Managing Director of Your Hotels Worldwide, founded Busy Rooms a 360-degree CRS & runs Mars-at-Work Marketing, a travel consultancy for international customers in the industry.
Simon
TATTERSALL
CFO
Our Numbers Guy
Simon is a U.K. Chartered Accountant who has been MD & FD of several businesses across a range of sectors. Previous roles include being on the management team at Deloitte & MD of Egon Ronay's Hotel & Restaurant Guides in the UK. During the last 25 years, Simon has been involved in a number of start-up and young businesses in various roles including Founder, MD, FD & Advisor.