Choice Hotels International has announced four new leadership appointments to advance the company's corporate priorities and drive growth.
Scott Oaksmith has been promoted to SVP of real estate and finance. In this role, he will lead several strategic areas of the company, including real estate investment and asset management, as well as the company’s treasury operations. Oaksmith will work with the franchise development and brand teams to accelerate the growth trajectory of the company’s brands by strategically deploying capital in the form of hotel development, joint venture investing and lending programs with a focus on major markets and sought-after destinations. As part of his new role, Oaksmith will also assume oversight of Choice’s business intelligence group, where he will oversee the company‘s data analytics initiatives and promote a culture of data informed decision-making. Since joining Choice in 2002, Oaksmith has held numerous positions within the company, including controller, as well as SVP of finance and chief accounting officer.
Raul Ramirez has been promoted to SVP head of international and strategic & financial planning. Ramirez will assume leadership for all aspects of Choice’s international division, including building the overall strategic direction and expansion of the company's international operations. Prior to this promotion, Ramirez served as SVP of international strategic planning and global head of financial planning and analysis, where he led the finance, corporate development and business planning of the international organization. Ramirez will continue to lead the company’s financial planning function and assume oversight of Choice‘s strategy group, where he will establish the long-range strategic and financial plans for the company. He joined Choice in 2017 as the company's VP of strategic finance and financial planning and analysis.
Elizabeth Redmond has been promoted to chief accounting officer, where she will be responsible for the company’s financial reporting requirements and transforming several of the company’s critical functions, including corporate accounting, domestic and international accounting operations, financial reporting and accounting policy, and real estate accounting. Across her 13-year tenure at Choice, Redmond has overseen enterprise-wide process reengineering efforts, implemented new complex accounting standards and improved internal control structures and procedures. Redmond joined the company in 2007 and has held various key roles in the finance department, most recently as VP of financial reporting and accounting.
John Lancaster moves into the newly created position of regional VP, emerging markets, franchise development and owner relationships. In this role, he will lead Choice’s efforts to extend the opportunity of hotel ownership to underrepresented populations through the company’s emerging markets franchise development program. The company awarded—and financially supported—34 franchise agreements with minority and veteran entrepreneurs through this program last year. Lancaster will also lead the company’s reinstitution of an owners’ council specifically intended to represent and provide continued support and advocacy for these unrepresented hoteliers. Lancaster has held various roles at Choice since 2011, including most recently as regional VP of franchise development, as well as director of global sales sourcing and solutions and director of franchise development for the mid-Atlantic, New England and emerging markets.
Photo credit: Choice Hotels