Jeff has spent the bulk of his career in executive roles within the transportation and distribution space. Based in Dallas, Jeff spent 14 years with American Airlines, managed the legal separation of Sabre, Inc. from AA and left to become EVP and Chief Financial Officer of the stand-alone company in 2000. Over his 11 years at Sabre, both as Chief Financial Officer and as EVP Corporate Development, Jeff managed the Sabre initial public offering, completed over 25 acquisitions and divestitures of over $8 billion in value, served on the Board of Travelocity, managed the globalization of the Sabre organization, and completed sale of the company to a group of private equity firms, thereby taking Sabre, Inc. private. Jeff serveds on the Boards of Rent-A-Center, a $2.8 billion public rent-to-own retail space company and of Getty Images.

Prior to becoming the chairman of Derive Ventures, Jeff was a General Partner at Thayer Ventures since 2012.  Thayer Ventures invests in travel and hospitality focused start-up tech companies, including hotels, restaurants, travel, cruise and gaming.

Jeff is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from the Northwestern’s Kellogg Business School. He serveds as Chair of Parents Advisory Committee of Carleton College and as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees. He is Treasurer and Board member of Fort Worden Hospitality, a conference and events center for music, arts, nature, community, weddings, food and drink in Port Townsend, Washington.

Noah Fosse joined Derive Ventures in 2022. Prior to joining Derive, Noah worked at Eastdil Secured as an investment banker on the M&A/Corporate Advisory group. At Eastdil Secured, he worked on various transactions including the $3.6B sale of BlueRock Residential to Blackstone. Prior to Eastdil Secured, Noah earned his masters in real estate finance and sustainable development from the University of Michigan. Noah also earned his bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and was a member of the Stephen M. Ross Real Estate fund and the men’s varsity lacrosse team.

Michael has spent 10 years in travel technology and hospitality startups and is currently the founder of Storied Collection, a luxury accommodation soft brand for historic castles, estates, and chateaux hotels. Previously, he was director of business development at Rented.com (exit) and NoiseAware. He is a two time Phocuswright 35 under 35 leader and a host of Good Morning Hospitality, a top 5 Hospitality podcast globally.

Michael is a graduate from Auburn University.

Brian De Lowe is currently President and Co-Founder of Proper Hospitality, which operates and brands high-end lifestyle hospitality experiences under its Proper, Avalon, and Hotel June brands. He is also President and Co-Founder of Kor Real Estate Partners, a fully-integrated real estate investment, development and management firm that is well regarded for its use of creative design and distinctive branding to bring enhanced value to its investments in hotels, multifamily, and other lifestyle real estate assets. As President at Proper Hospitality, Brian De Lowe is responsible for overall corporate strategy and the conceptualization and development of the Proper and Hotel June brands. He also oversees all operational divisions and leads the sourcing and execution of new business and strategic partnerships. At Kor, Brian leads corporate strategy and the sourcing and execution of all real estate acquisitions & partnerships, having successfully closed over $1 billion of lifestyle real estate projects since re-launching Kor in 2012.

Brian is a graduate of University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. He is also a member of YPO Santa Barbara Chapter.

Rob is currently the Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of the José Andrés Group (f/k/a Think Food Group), an innovative management company that has grown over decades into a global leader in food hospitality. The José Andrés Group is responsible more than 30 restaurants in DC, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Orlando and the Bahamas. Rob was twice named the Restaurateur of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and received the Richard Melman Award for Innovation by Restaurant Hospitality. Rob also Co-Founded with José Andrés and serves as the Chairman to World Central Kitchen, a not-for-profit non-governmental organization devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. In 2015, Rob founded FoodTech Angels to fund and support innovative early-stage companies that leverage technology to change the world of food. Rob has also been an advisor and mentor to several early-stage tech and food companies at Halcyon Incubator, TechStars, FTW Ventures and Yale Entrepreneurial Institute.

Rob is a graduate of Yale University and has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. He is also a member of YPO/WPO and served as the Chapter Chair of the US Capital Chapter. He serves as Trustee & Finance Chair at Shakespeare Theater Company and Director of Duane Wilder Foundation.

Rick Hoffman is a tenured hospitality executive after serving a 22-year career at Marriott. In March 2022, he retired from his position as Global Officer Business Development. From 2004 through 2021, Rick held the title of Executive Vice President – Mergers, Acquisitions & Business Development, where he was responsible for leading and supervising the Company’s mergers and acquisition strategy and execution, and developing new business opportunities for the Company. He led the Marriott team in successfully negotiating and closing the Company’s acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2016, the largest M&A transaction in the hospitality industry at over $13 billion. Rick had a lead role in the Company’s acquisitions of Delta Hotels & Resorts (Canada), Protea Hotels (Sub-Saharan Africa), Gaylord Hotels (United States) and AC Hotels (Spain and Italy). Rick also negotiated the Edition brand partnership with Ian Schrager, the Moxy Hotel brand agreement with Inter IKEA, and led the Marriott team in creating the Autograph Collection concept.

In addition to his M&A work, Rick was Marriott’s lead representative on the business side in start-up technology investments and innovative partnerships. He led the Marriott team in creating an industry consortium on hospitality procurement that became Avendra and participated in the sale of Avendra to Aramark in 2019 for $1.2 billion. Following the Starwood merger, Rick led the Marriott team in negotiating new co-brand credit card agreements with J.P. Morgan Chase and American Express. He has supervised the Company’s investment in more than a dozen technology-related companies and funds, including fund investments with leading hospitality industry participants Thayer Ventures, Fifth Wall and Valor Siren funds. Most recently, Rick lead and industry consortium (with Hilton, IHG and Accor) in taking a majority investment in Groups 360, and technology-based solution for efficient booking of group business in the hotel industry and then served on the Company’s board.

Prior to joining Marriott, Rick was an attorney for 19 years with the Washington, D.C., law-firm of Williams & Connolly. His practice included complex commercial litigation and media related matters for print, motion picture and television clients. He served as Marriott’s lead counsel in several litigation matters prior to joining the Company.

Rick graduated from the University of Michigan Law School (Magna Cum Laude) and received his undergraduate degree from Washington University (St. Louis) (Suma Cum Laude). Rick currently sits on the mid-Atlantic regional board for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and previously served on Executive Committee as Chairman of the Finance Committee University of Maryland Medical System.

Krissy is a visionary, influential hospitality leader and active participant in the REIT industry for 25+ years. Krissy retired from her role as COO of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE) in 2020 to focus on corporate board work, impactful philanthropic leadership and venture investing and advising. She is an experienced public company board member, serving on the Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE) and Spirit Realty Capital (SRC) Boards of Directors. She was previously recognized as one of the most influential women in lodging by Hotel Management and Lodging magazines. She served ten years as the President of the Courtyard Franchise Advisory Council and was also a founding member of the Hilton and Marriott Distribution Advisory Councils. She continues to provide thought leadership as a member of the Consumer Innovation Forum, the Forward Women's Initiative and the Hospitality Investment Roundtable.

She currently serves on the boards of the YMCA of Greater Richmond (Chair), UVA Foundation, McIntire School of Commerce Foundation, Startup Virginia and NextUp. Ms. Gathright holds a Bachelor of Science degree, Graduate with Distinction, in Accounting from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Peter is a lifelong hospitality veteran and started his career at Marriott in the world of finance supporting the company’s M&A efforts. Peter gained a deep understanding of the luxury industry and international operations during his time as the CFO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.  Later, his knowledge and wealth of expertise enabled him to successfully lead the Marriott/Starwood integration as Managing Director. Most recently, Peter was the CEO of Design Hotels, a highly curated portfolio of independent, design-driven hotels that function as social hubs and spaces for purposeful experiences.  Under his leadership the company launched Further, a laboratory for collaborative culture, and won a Skift Innovation award for its original Virtual Retreats. Through these experiences Peter saw an opportunity to help forward-thinking entrepreneurs capture emerging trends by leveraging his background and expertise.  Consequently, he formed the Eclectic Companies, an advisory firm offering a wide variety of strategic services, across industries, all rooted in hospitality.

Peter is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and holds an MBA from the University of Maryland.  He is an avid swimmer and cyclist, and loves to travel and explore new places. He also enjoys a strong espresso, a good glass of wine or a neat pour of bourbon while listening to an eclectic collection of music.

Rob is seasoned executive and advisor in marketplace and tech-enabled services businesses. He’s deeply familiar with vacation rental and home services markets from his roles as CFO of Evolve (the largest vacation rental property management platform in North America with >30,000 homes) and in several leadership positions at HomeAdvisor. Both companies grew multi-fold during his tenure to hundreds of millions in revenue. He’s also been an advisor, investor, and board member to several startups and CEO of one (Sustainable Beverage Technologies - a beertech company!), so appreciates the challenges companies face from pre-revenue through to larger scale.

Currently, Rob is CFO of OpenLoop, a marketplace/software/services hybrid in the rapidly growing and evolving digital healthcare space. Before jumping into industry, Rob spent his early career at global management consulting firm, L.E.K. Consulting, and a large mid-market private equity firm (Audax).

Rob is a graduate of Harvard University and has his MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. As a Boston native, Rob is still basking in the glow of the Patriots' Tom Brady years and the Red Sox breaking the curse in 2004. He now lives in Denver with his wife and two daughters. They love to travel as a family and have stayed in Airbnbs all over the world while Airbnbing out their own home.

Ellen is an accomplished executive, board member, and start-up advisor with a proven track record in leading companies of all sizes. Ellen has served on over 10 private and public company boards primarily in the travel technology and hospitality industries (including CWT, Extended Stay America, PROS, Farelogix, Travel & Transport, and Routehappy). Currently, she chairs the Human Resources & Compensation committee for CWT, a leading Business-to-Business travel management platform, and also serves on the Technology Committee. Ellen is the chair of the Audit Committee for Sojern, a direct demand engine for travel. In 2022, Ellen was named to the PhocusWright Hall of Fame in 2022, joining a group of 8 leaders who have helped transform the travel technology industry.

Ellen’s unwavering dedication to philanthropic endeavors underscores her holistic approach to making a positive impact within and beyond the business realm. Ellen is a lifetime member of the Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She served for eight years on the board North Texas Public Broadcasting, chairing the finance committee and serving on the Executive Committee. She served on the board of Trustees of Preston Hollow Presbyterian School for 6 years, including as Vice President. She was on the board of the National Business Travel Association Foundation for three years and served for two years as its chair and has served several terms on the Business Travel News Advisory Board. She has also served as a mentor at Menttium, an organization dedicated to improving professional performance of high potential female executives.