Team Structure
Visit California Executive Leadership
Sets the vision, business objectives, and guardrails the entire system operates within.
Caroline Beteta
President & CEO
Matt Sabbatini
Chief Operating Officer
Lynn Carpenter
SVP of Marketing
Ryan Becker
SVP of Communications & Strategy
Leona Reed
VP of Global Marketing
Approves: Annual strategy, strategic priorities, budget, hero brand creative, major shifts, Quarterly Brand Summit recommendations
Agency Executive Leadership & Oversight
Ensures the system runs smoothly — integrating teams, resolving issues, maintaining consistency. Part of the Strategy phase and Quarterly Brand Summit for strategic guidance and alignment.
Shipyard
Matt Bruot
President
Shipyard
Tammy Haughey
Managing Partner (Contract Manager)
Shipyard
Will Gelner
Chief Creative Officer
Havas
David Fasola
Managing Partner
People, Inc.
Mark Josephson
Senior Vice President
MMGY
Julie Freeman
Executive Vice President
Approves: Cross-team adjustments within guardrails; resolves escalations; strategic guidance at Foundation and Quarterly Calibration
Strategic Core Leadership Team
Working side by side — one team, one plan, one set of outcomes.
Turns leadership direction into one unified global plan and guides the program day-to-day. This team functions as the core of the RACI — leading integrated decisions, setting direction, and ensuring all partners work from the same strategy.
Erika DiProfio
AVP of Global Brand Advertising (Integration Lead)
Gwynne Spann
Director of Content Marketing (Owned)
Jason Matthews
Director of Global Advertising (Paid)
Angie Pappas
AVP of External Affairs & Media Relations (Earned)
Bethany Bond
Director of International Marketing (G2L)
Lisa Cesaro
Director of International Marketing (G2L)
Amanda Moul
Integrated Account Lead
Kristen Knape
Brand Strategy Lead
Kerry Krasts
Creative Lead
Jess Sheehan
Paid Lead
Julie Georgas
Global-to-Local Strategy Lead
Kylie Krizmanic
Owned Lead
Derek Klaus
Earned Lead
ResponsIbilities
Champions of global brand stewardship, cross-channel collaboration, and local agility
Build the unified strategic plan and Joint Strategy Brief shared across all partners
Recommend and optimize budget allocations across channels and markets
Create shared KPIs and a unified scorecard used across all partners
Work hand-in-hand with Visit California's internal Centers of Excellence (COEs)
Work hand-in-hand with Intelligence Engine leads to translate research, cultural intelligence, and audience insights into clear direction
Establish global-to-local guardrails for consistency with room for adaptation
Lead Quarterly Brand Summit and weekly prioritization
Action Teams
Executing as one team across channels and markets.
Turn strategy into execution across channels and markets. Aligned through the Joint Strategy Brief, shared KPIs, coordinated handoffs, and consistent brand enablement tools.
Account Team Members
Day-to-day coordination across all Action Teams, Pulse Summary assembly and distribution
Creative & Content
Brittany Johnstone
Kerry Krasts
Paid Media
Jason Matthews
Eric Towers
Owned
Gwynne Spann
Kylie Krizmanic
Earned
Kristen Bonilla
Derek Klaus
Global-to-Local
Bethany Bond
Lisa Cesaro
Julie Georgas
International Teams
Production
Brittany Johnstone
David Morrissey
Liz Ross
ResponsIbilities
Work from the Joint Strategy Brief and shared KPIs
Operate within shared SOPs for workflows, tools, routing, and global enablement
Follow standardized paid, owned, earned, global content handoffs
Connect cultural, platform, and performance signals into weekly Brand Pulse
Decision Rights: Execute autonomously; escalate when decisions exceed brand guardrails
Always-On Intelligence Engines
Four continuous-intelligence systems that monitor culture, traveler behavior, performance signals, and emerging innovation. They create a shared source of truth that keeps the program cohesive globally and
responsive locally.
Research Engine
The Insight Foundation
Brand tracking, audience studies, message testing, competitive analysis.
Heather Huckeba
Cori Mering
SMARInsights
Cultural Insights Engine
The Relevance Decoder (AI Hive)
Monitors culture, conversation, platforms, and creators. Identifies where the brand can naturally show up.
TBD
Kristen Knape
Julie Georgas
Data & Analytics Engine
The Performance Compass
Consolidates channel results, audience behavior, content performance, and attribution.
Heather Huckeba
Jason Matthews
Rich McMullen
Datafy
Innovation Engine
The Future Builder
Explores new creative technologies, production methods, and emerging platforms.
TBD
Matty Ayers
ONE CALIFORNIA
OPERATIONAL PLAYBOOK