Karen Gilbride is the Global Vice President of avid™ hotels and Atwell Suites™ within the IHG® Hotels & Resorts portfolio, focused on the launch of the company’s two newest mainstream brands. In her role, Karen leads a team responsible for the overall brand strategy, definition and delivery of the end-to-end guest experience, hotel brand design and the marketing and commercial performance of both brands. In her over 20 year career with IHG, Karen has held several leadership roles across the organization. Most recently, Karen led Multi-brand Guest Experience within the Americas and held several leadership roles within the Global Brands & Marketing organization on the Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts and Hotel Indigo® teams. Karen has also held positions across different business functions and regions of the company including Global Human Resources, developing tools and programs that support the delivery of brands through people such as service culture initiatives, recruitment strategies and education for the front line, along with several years in hotel operations and on-property, regional leadership.
Karen holds a Master of Science degree in Adult Education & Human Resource Development from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.