The Aspen Institute

This global crisis has created a catalyst of change in consumer behaviors and expectations in the food and tourism industries. Join Fellows from the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network as they discuss the values-based leadership decisions they’ve made that impact their employees and customer safety while employing new strategies to diversify their revenue streams. Learn how they are adapting their business models for the new post-crisis world. Hear about what they have implemented and ways to prepare your company for success. Moderated by Joanna Rees, Managing Partner, West Ventures and joined by panelists: Morgan Flatley, Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s USA; Alex Wilcox, Co-Founder and CEO of JSX; and Max Goldberg, Co-owner of Strategic Hospitality.

Morgan Flatley

Morgan Flatley is the Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald’s USA where she plays an integral role in advancing the company’s growth strategies through marketing plans and insight-driven innovations. Since joining McDonald’s in May 2017, Morgan successfully launched fresh beef quarter pound burgers, put an intense focus on creative excellence and built the capabilities and process to put data and insights at the heart of all the marketing programs. Prior to this role, Morgan served as SVP, Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Group, where she was responsible for accelerating growth globally for PepsiCo’s flagship nutrition brands – Quaker, Tropicana and Naked. Before joining the Global Nutrition Group, Morgan was Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo’s iconic Gatorade brand. She has been recognized as one of Ad Week’s “30 Most Powerful Women in Sport.” She is a 2017 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Max Goldberg

Max is Co-Owner of Strategic Hospitality in Nashville, TN. Founded in 2006, Strategic Hospitality includes The Patterson House, The Catbird Seat, Merchants, Pinewood Social, Bastion, Henrietta Red, The Band Box, The Country Club at The Band Box, Locust. The Party Line, Airport Restaurant Concepts and most recently the Downtown Sporting Club. The company employs over 700 people across its venues. Max sits on the board of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, the Community Foundation, Oz Arts and the Habitat for Humanity Advisory Council. Max has been recognized as one of Forbes 30 Under 30, Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40, Nashville Business Journal Power 100 and has been nominated twelve times and was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Awards for outstanding restaurateur 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. He is a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Alex Wilcox

Alex Wilcox is Co-Founder & CEO of JSX. For over three decades, Alex has identified and developed disruptive business models and enhancements that have vastly improved air travel for millions. As a founder of JetBlue in 1998, Alex brought much-needed innovation to the low fare carrier sector with the introduction of LiveTV and all-leather seating. In 2016, Alex saw an opportunity to offer a simpler and quicker alternative to flying short distances. Today, JSX operates regularly scheduled flights among major West Coast destinations including Orange County, The Bay Area, LA, Vegas, and seasonally to Mammoth Mountain, Palm Springs and beyond from private terminals, at costs comparable to a traditional airline seat. A graduate of University of Vermont, Alex is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He is a member of the Lone Star chapter of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Joanna Rees

Joanna Rees is a Managing Partner at West, a venture studio that specializes in the end-to-end process of designing, building, and launching purpose-driven brands including Twitter, Square, Impossible Foods, Prelude Fertility, Chegg, Torch and Go Fund Me to name a few. She currently serves on the corporate board of FICO (NYSE: FICO), Tentrr, Prelude Fertility, Boon Supply, and Mursion. Joanna is also a Senior Advisor of the B Team and she led the formation and capital raise for Endeavor Catalyst. Joanna was a candidate for Mayor of San Francisco in November 2011. She was the founder of VSP Capital and served on the board of more than 25 venture-backed companies across a broad range of industries. She also served on the board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). She has significant experience in finance and investment banking and has also held several senior marketing management positions with Groupe Danone and DMB&B. She was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and a 2002 Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute, where she also serves as a seminar moderator. Joanna serves on the non-profit board of Endeavor Global and Chairs the board of The Representation Project. She earned her MBA from Columbia University and a BS from Duke University.