EBI TEAM
Roger Charles, BA, MA, MBA, CBA ,CMC
Senior Consultant | President
Roger brings 20+ years of senior executive experience to the position of President. He has working experience in more than 40 countries and has lived in Africa, Europe and North America. During this time, he has had to confront numerous operational challenges to the organisations for which he worked, ranging from September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and its impact on the IYHF global network to currency fluctuations for organisations operating in more than 80 countries with millions of customers.
Roger has worked with a range of governments, local, provincial, national and international, to develop policies and procedures to mitigate risk to those customers. He brings this experience to EBI Group Inc. In addition to his position as President of EBI Group, he is involved with local post secondary institutions as both teacher and mentor. He also sits on the boards and committees of a number of voluntary organisations.
Joël Marier, CAE, Adm. A.
Senior Consultant |Vice-President
At the international level, he recently stepped down as Secretary General of The Centre for Information and Development for Youth Hostels in Latin America (CIDAJAL) based in Buenos Aires. Today he sits on the ISO committee on tourism and related services and is the President of the World Heritage Hostels Secretariat based in Quebec City, in which he was key to developing a binding agreement between the Organization of World Heritage Cities and the International Youth Hostel Federation.
Since 2014, as entrepreneur and co-owner, Joël has redeveloped a small tourism business in Niagara Falls, Canada and has been active with local communities to promote sustainable tourism strategies.
Iddan Kroll BSc, MA
Consultant | Associate
Iddan now serves as EBI Groups’ Chief Risk and Operations Analyst – his insights and experience in operations research, various ISO Standards, applied statistics and optimisation techniques, have all played an instrumental part in developing our flagship quality system for groups travelling -“QUAYT”.
Iddan has travelled and worked extensively in his 12 years International career in over 40 countries- he had performed quality audits and standards inspections in many of them– his unique past experience helps EBI Group be well informed as to various local law and quality requirements.
Iddan’s main contribution to our company is by providing his hand-on technical capabilities to ensure your operation level and risk mitigation capabilities are well corresponding to all quality registrars and law and stakeholders’ expectations and requirements.
Damasi Mfugale MA
Consultant | Associate
Masters in International Hospitality and Tourism Management
With twenty years of professional tourism and hospitality experience in Switzerland, the USA, Tanzania and South Africa, Damasi has progressive advancement and consistent achievement within private sector and government funded agencies and institutions. He has extensive work experience as a Chairman, Member of Boards and Director in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Damasi has an excellent reputation in defining corporate direction, providing leadership by engaging employees, being customer focused and promoting individual and institutional objectives attainment. An inclusive and collaborative leader and a manager that strives to build strong commitment, competence and motivation; at the same time fixing success processes to safeguard productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and quality to achieve the essential performance results and organizational mission.
Possessing extensive professional local and international networks supported by outstanding qualification in building and managing business partnerships, helped organizations to relate better to the industry stakeholders.
Alison (Grant) Partridge, BA
Consultant | Associate
In 1979, she set up her own PR agency that represented US and Canadian airlines, tour operators and travel companies in the UK and Europe. Returning to Canada in 1993, Alison coordinated the ’94 WYSTC Conference in Vancouver among other projects for Canadian Universities Travel Service, until she took on the role of Director of PR & Marketing for The Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, the most visited, privately owned attraction in Canada. She travelled widely, internationally and domestically and developed a vast network of contacts that spanned the tourism/travel world as well as the International world of horticulture.
After leaving Butchart’s, she set up a garden tourism consultancy, Going Gardens, and in 2011 moved both companies back to England. She is the founding patron of The International Garden Tourism Network (IGTN), was President of SKÅL International UK 2014 and 2015, sits as Chair of the Passenger Services Sub-Committee of the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee and looks forward to contributing to the work of the EBI group.
Jim Schneider BBA MBA
Consultant | Associate
James has extensive experience leading marketing, branding and public relations initiatives for both ongoing and rebranding opportunities. Each of these included a complete marketing strategy that encompassed both internal and external branding, media and public relation initiatives. He has launched and rebranded multiple brands in the hospitality, media and sports industry. He has established international strategic marketing plans that include customer segmentation and identification of potential markets.
James is a passionate volunteer in his community, has chaired the United Way Campaign twice raising cumulatively in excess of $9 million. He has served on multiple boards and committees including the Saanich Governance Review Committee, Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Kaleidoscope Theatre Company and Volunteer Victoria. He has experience leading the marketing committees in multiple non-profits including a college foundation, health foundation, Junior A hockey club, regional libraries and multiple United Way organization
John Powell, BSc, CA, DCHA FCA
Consultant | Associate
After spending roughly the first quarter of his finance and general management career working in “blue-chip” professional services (London-based Big 4 accountancy, audit and management consultancy) and the middle half in industry and commerce (largely customer-facing international consumer electronics / fmcg) board-level roles, the last dozen years or so has been spent operating in the not-for-profit sector (recognised by John’s Diploma of Charity Accounting – DChA accreditation) predominantly at director level, including a period as acting CEO of Hostelling
International (HI). His strategic and operational financial management experience includes extensive knowledge of and direct responsibility for:
- Corporate strategy and planning – proactive and reactive transformation / change management in both the commercial and non-profit sectors.
- Financial management – internal and external financial reporting, budgets and forecasts, treasury function, risk management, KPIs, internal and external audit.
- IT – responsibility for overseeing the introduction of major new IT initiatives including in-house designed and built ERP systems, externally developed website and CRM membership database platforms, partnered internet site / web based booking-engine and most recently migration to the cloud – Microsoft Dynamics and Office 365.
- External liaison / legal – Company Secretary, contract negotiations, due diligence, employment law, health and safety plus Companies House, Charity Commission and HMRC regulatory compliance.
- Governance – Company Secretary responsible for contract negotiations, due diligence, employment issues, health and safety plus UK Companies House, Charity Commission and HMRC regulatory compliance. He is currently trustee of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the independent Audit and Risk committee member of RTBI and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), both UK-based, well-respected international professional membership bodies.
- Leadership – staff line-management and supervision, team-building, mentoring and enhanced inter-departmental co-operation.
- Property / facilities management – including property acquisition and disposal.
He is currently the independent Audit and Risk committee member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), both UK-based, well-respected international professional membership organisations.
