With a decade-and-a-half of work in various aspects of the hospitality industry, Keri Knowles has established a strong reputation for having a singular vision and skill-set in designing and implementing unique spaces and opportunities for people to gather and interact. Keri is known for managing complex situations and dynamics to transform and optimize venues and settings that focus on facilitating meaningful and rich human connection. She is passionate about creating environments that inspire people to gather and interact, heightening social experiences. She views function, design, dining, entertainment, aesthetics, and technology as means to service this mission rather than ends in themselves. She fully embraces her role as an "experience designer" and thrives on orchestrating these elements into a fully integrated hospitality mindset. Keri has also been a catalyst for change in the industry, bridging the gaps between the habits and entrenched systems of well-established hospitality institutions and the dynamism necessary to ensure their continued growth and appeal. She has established herself as an intermediary between the disparate demands of stakeholders, taking into account and balancing the pragmatic requirements of the engineers, management of vendors and contractors, zoning and historical integrity concerns of planning boards, aesthetic-oriented requests of the design team, staff needs, and business budgetary constraints to develop and implement solutions that achieve to the best customer experience. Keri is taking the best of the traditional construction approaches and applying her own collaborative philosophy to help advance business operations in both aesthetics and approach. As a project manager, Keri oversaw all aspects of the coordination, scheduling and execution of tasks for the contractors and tradesmen whose combined work was needed to accomplish wide-scale transformations. From negotiating with vendors, ordering and securing the delivery of everything from studs to sconces, she ensured that every detail was administered properly. From showrooms to stone mills, her days are often filled with blueprints and swatches. Whether selecting materials or overseeing construction, her hands-on style has helped to keep the often unwieldy processes on-track and under control, all while maintaining clear lines of communication and project coordination. Keri brings to the table deep experience in the full life-cycle of the design and creation of social spaces, having managed projects from concept development through to day-to-day operations. She has overseen expansions, updates and adaptive reuse projects, and is well-versed in the demanding, intricate, and complex nature of commercial renovation projects. In each case, Keri’s approach prioritized the human experience of gathering, focusing on inviting ambiance, elevated design and aesthetics, welcomeness, and accessibility. Keri discovered her interest and aptitude in bringing together diverse talent, capabilities and formats during her time in academia. She developed creative, collaborative, and project management skills in her international academic work at the notable Aalto University's School of Art, Design and Architecture based in Helsinki Finland, one of the renowned design capitals of the world. She also brings to bear experience from her earlier studies at the University of the Arts, which has proven invaluable when merging the classical aesthetics of many of the historical properties on which she's worked with an interest in introducing modern multimedia technology to traditional hospitality environments. Descending from four generations of restaurateurs, Keri draws from a deep well of practical experience and "in-the-trenches" management, having seen every aspect of how a hospitality business runs.