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2008, Roberts was inducted into Morehouse College’s Renaiss- ance Leaders Hall of Fame, and in 2007 was awarded the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Over the past 30 years, Roberts has amassed a $500 million business empire including television stations, downtown lofts, a historic theatre, the Roberts Hotel Group, the largest commercial office building out- side of downtown St. Louis, strip malls, and a resort com- munity in the Bahamas. He is currently a member of President Obama’s National Council on Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Federal Communications Commission’s Diversity Council. He serves or has served on the Board of Directors of the following organizations: International Council of Shopping Centers, Trustee; National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers – Chairman; and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters JOHN ROLFE is a native Kansan, born and raised inWichita. Since October 2001, he has served as president and CEOofGoWichita Convention & Visitors Bureau. Before joining the CVB, he was vice president of Economic Development for the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and served as deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce for five years. His experience also includes more than 12 years in the hospitality industry, including serving as Director of Finance andAdministration at both theWichita and San Jose (CA) Convention andVisitors Bureaus.He’s currently serving on the DMAI (Destination Marketing Association International) Board ofDirectors. Rolfe is a graduate ofWichita StateUniversity,holding a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is involved with various civic organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission, the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, Travel Industry Association of Kansas (Immediate Past President),Governor’s Council on Travel &Tourism, andWichitaCollegiate School. John also serves on the Mayor’s Downtown Revitalization Steering Committee. He ismarried to FeliciaRolfe and they have two daugh- ters. In his spare time,Rolfe enjoys spending time with his family, playing racquetball, dining out, and traveling. FRANCES HARRIS SMILEY, CTIS, TMP, a 30+ year career Alabama State Employee is the supervisor of the eight Alabama Welcome Centers and serves as the coordinator of the State’s Heritage Tourism Program. She has served as the assistant director of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and prior to this appointment she served on the Governor’s Cabinet for Tourism in the Siegleman Administration. She was respon- sible for the state’s group tour marketing initiatives for 22 years. She is the author of the nation’s first Black Heritage Tourism Guide In 1994, she received the Phoenix Award from the American Society of Travel Writers, a delegate to the Nation’s First White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. In August 1997 she received the Nation’s first “Trailblazer Pioneer Award for Multicultural Tourism,” from the Multicultural Tourism Conference, and the award is henceforth named, “The Frances Smiley Trailblazer Award.” Smiley was recognized by Black Meetings and Tourism magazine as one of the “Most Influential African Americans in Tourism” in the United States in ‘97-’09. In July of 1999 She was inducted in the Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame, in May 2003 into the West Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame, and in May of 2008 received the APEX Award for outstanding service to the industry from BM&T. MONICA SMITH was hired in July 2010 as the new president/CEO to realign the 30-year-old Macon CVB’s sales, services, marketing and branding efforts, particularly in regards to meetings business with the city’s newest convention hotel adjacent to its 110,000-sq. ft. convention center. A graduate of Cornell University, Smith is a member of MPI,DMAI,HSMAI, ASAE, NCBMP, CMCA and the Georgia Association of CVBs, and has earned designa- tions as CMP,CASE and CDME. ROBERT L. STEELE, III, has served as president and COO of the American Hotel & Lodging Educ- ational Institute (AHLEI), since November 2008. AHLEI is a sub- sidiary of the American Hotel & LodgingAssociation (AH&LA). As president and COO, Steele oversees the day-to-day opera- tions of the Educational Institute, as well as develops the overall vision and strategies in conjunc- tionwith the board of trustees.Steele’s responsibilities also Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 63