James Farrah

James juntou-se ao IHG em janeiro 2024 e é responsável por liderar o crescimento do IHG's superior luxo e Premium através das Américas pedido, incluindo Six Senses, Regent Hotels & Resorts e Branded Residencial em todas as marcas. Antes de juntar-se ao IHG, James fez parte do Marriott International e ocupou cargos no departamento jurídico e na organização desenvolvimento como vice-presidente de hotel de luxo e desenvolvimento residencial da marca em toda a América do Norte. Antes de entrar para o setor de hotelaria, James era associado no grupo de prática imobiliário no Arnaldo & Porter LLP em Washington, DC James concluiu o curso de licenciatura e JD pela Universidade de Georgetown. Ele mora nos arredores de Washington e gosta de passar tempo com a família, ao ar livre, viajar, conhecer novas culturas e ficar de olho nas oportunidades de desenvolvimento de luxo.

John Faught

John directs the expansion of IHG’s mainstream brands in southern Texas. Over his 22 years with IHG, he has developed hotels throughout America’s heartland in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. A lifelong hotel industry professional, John previously served as the Director of Franchise Sales and Development, Mountain Region, for Wyndham Hotels (previously HFS, Inc.). Outside of the office, John spends his free time with his five children and traveling to new destinations.

Estefania Fausto

Estefania joined IHG in 2013 as an assistant in Development upon graduating from Universidad de Guadalajara with a degree in tourism administration. As a business development manager, she supports franchise sales and development in Mexico for the growth of all brands across the country. Her duties also include driving strategic negotiations of all retentions in Mexico, Latin America & the Caribbean. Estefania is originally from California but moved to Mexico at the age of 5. She enjoys soccer, painting, discovering new restaurants, and traveling with her daughters and partner. 

Pedro Freire

Pedro Freire has over 20 years of significant experience in the hotel industry.

Before joining IHG team, Pedro was a Vice President of Asset Management at hotelAVE. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the company´s assignments throughout Latin America, which included All-Inclusive and luxury resorts and hotels, totaling more than $1 billion invested and encompassing three thousand keys.

Before hAVE, Pedro has worked for near 15 years at JLL, where he oversaw the Advisory, Asset Management and Investment Sales activities for Hotels & Hospitality team in Brazil. With JLL, Pedro has participated of a wide-variety of valuations and feasibility studies, as well as operator selection processes, management and franchise contract negotiations and asset management assignments, ranging from budget and limited-service properties to luxury hotels and branded residences, destination all-inclusive resorts and luxury second homes in Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

Additionally, he has been involved in hotel transactions, capital raising and IPO processes related to the development of hotels and resorts with branded residences and second homes.

Prior to joining JLL, Pedro worked as Manager, Acquisitions & Development – Latin America for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where he participated in franchise and management agreements negotiations and prepared market research and financial analysis for investment opportunities in Brazil and Latin America.

Previously, Pedro worked as sales account executive at the Gran Meliá Mofarrej in São Paulo, Brazil and as a Revenue Management trainee at Marriott Brazil.

Pedro has also completed hotel operations internships at the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria in Rome, Italy and at the Hotel Astor in Switzerland.

Pedro has a MBA from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo and graduated with Merit from the Les Roches International School of Hotel Management School in Switzerland. He has also undertaken further study in Real Estate Investment, in the Professional Development Program, at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil. He is proficient in Portuguese and English, fluent in Spanish and communicates well in French and Italian.

In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, son, and friends. He also likes running and walking, watching movies, reading, and traveling.

Cooper Gantt

Cooper is responsible for expediting the growth of IHG’s mainstream brands across the Midwest region of the United States. Advancing within IHG, Cooper’s previous experience includes the role of Business Development Manager where she strove to expand existing franchisee portfolios and identify opportunity markets for future development. Prior to that, she also excelled in various positions as part of IHG's Global Sales Organization. Cooper holds a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management with a minor in Business Administration from Auburn University. In her free time, she enjoys chanting “War Eagle” in support of her beloved Auburn Tigers football team.

Normann Hauck

Normann Hauck atua como Diretor de Desenvolvimento Regional para Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas e Tennessee. Antes de se juntar à equipe de desenvolvimento, Normann trabalhou no IHG por três anos como Gerente de Viabilidade em Análise de Investimento. Normann traz mais de 14 anos de experiência operacional internacional em hotéis para a função, trabalhando com algumas das mais conhecidas marcas de hotéis no setor no Reino Unido e nos Estados Unidos. Enquanto trabalhava no Reino Unido, Normann ocupou a função de Diretor de Operações em um hotel independente, onde gerenciava as operações cotidianas. Depois de viver na Europa por 9 anos, Normann voltou para os Estados Unidos para assumir um cargo de Analista. Outras cidades onde Normann já trabalhou incluem Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, DC, Glasgow, Birmingham e Londres. Ele atualmente reside em Atlanta, Georgia , onde além de sua função de desenvolvimento, ele leciona na Georgia State University no programa Masters of Global Hospitality Management.

Carolyn Hervert

Carolyn is responsible for the growth of our lifestyle collections and premium brands across the Southwestern region of the US. Prior to joining IHG, Carolyn spent several years as the Senior Investment Director for NuovoRE, a private owner and developer of historic adaptive reuse lifestyle and luxury hotels across the country. During her tenure, Carolyn was responsible for both asset management of the existing hotel portfolio and development of the pipeline projects, while specializing in Opportunity Zone and Historic Tax Credit investments. As one of the first hires, she created investment models and projections to quickly scale the company. Prior to its merger with Hyatt, Carolyn developed hotels on behalf of Two Roads Hospitality to expand Thompson, AlilA, Joie de Vivre, tommie and Destination brands across the US and Mexico. Carolyn also worked for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB), where she asset managed properties with a focus on the Western region. Carolyn graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Hotel Administration and is an advisory board member for the Cornell Real Estate Council (CREC Women). She lives with her husband in Denver where they enjoy hiking, skiing, running, and spending time with friends.

Aubrey Hiebert

Aubrey é gerente sênior de desenvolvimento de negócios no IHG Hotels & Resorts com sede em Atlanta, GA. Ela apóia o desenvolvimento das atividades de luxo e Premium do IHG, bem como as atividades de crescimento das equipes dos EUA e Canadá. Antes de sua função atual, Aubrey foi gerente da equipe de transações e ativos do IHG. Antes de começar a trabalhar no IHG em 2019, Aubrey trabalhou como Analyst no Hilton em McLean, VA. Aubrey se especializou em Administração de Hotéis na Cornell University.

Arik Kono

Arik spearheads new-build and conversion hotel development activity across the southern United States and the Caribbean for IHG’s upscale brands. With over 20 years of experience, Arik specializes in hotel real estate development. As Vice President, North America Development and Acquisitions for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Arik delivered against global growth objectives by expanding the development pipeline across all segments and project types. He was responsible for developing seven of Starwood’s nine franchise brands, including Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, Element, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, and Luxury Collection in the United States and the Caribbean. During football season, Arik never misses an opportunity to watch his alma mater, the University of Alabama. Additionally, he is an avid golfer and enjoys traveling and spending time at home with his two dogs.