With more than 25 years of multi-disciplinary hospitality leadership, Stuart brings a wealth of experience to executive search, having worked for several industry leading hotel, restaurant, and advisory companies. Stuart is a certified general manager with Hilton Hotels and IHG and has open, owned, and operated several restaurants and bars in the U.S., sub-Saharan Africa, and the CIS region. Stuart is a specialist and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, supporting cultural leadership diversity for the hospitality industry. One in five people working in the hospitality industry, specifically the hotel business, is Black, yet less than one percent of hospitality industry CEOs are Black executives, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and recent review of 630 hospitality companies by the Castell Project. Stuart is a founding member of the D.R.E.A.M.(Dedicated Recruitment for Hospitality Educational Equity, Alliance & Mentorships) initiative; a 501C3 organization committed to intentional recruitment of academically prepared Black students, in coordination of 30+ and growing, hospitality colleges, universities and HBCU’s; into hospitality programs, while providing mentorship, development and financial support to matriculating students – building the hospitality industries leadership bench of the future.