Convene Hospitality Group is led by a fearless executive team of visionaries, strategists, and doers with a collective 114 years of experience in the hospitality sector. Driven by unwavering tenacity and grit, CHG leadership is dedicated to scaling a hospitality empire.
Ryan Simonetti is the President and CEO of Convene Hospitality Group. Under Ryan’s leadership, CHG has become the largest single provider of non-hotel meeting and event venues in the US and UK with a network of nearly 40 locations across nine cities.
After a dynamic career spanning real estate finance, acquisitions, and development, Ryan co-founded the Convene brand in 2009 with the goal of bringing lifestyle hospitality into commercial real estate assets. His vision has helped revolutionize the industry, working with top landlords to deliver increased value to their assets - and premium experiences to tenants and clients - by thoughtfully combining design, technology, and hospitality to create extraordinary meeting, event, and workplace experiences.
Ryan has been named to Crain’s New York “Most Notable in Real Estate” list, Commercial Observer’s Power PropTech List, Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40, Inc. magazine’s 30 Under 30, and was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year® New York. Beyond CHG, Ryan is the co-founder and chairman of Ease Capital and an active supporter of CoreNet Global.
Ryan graduated from Villanova University with a B.B.A. in Finance and Economics. His professional career began in the global real estate group at Lehman Brothers; he then joined Gramercy Capital Corp. where he was responsible for direct investments and the asset management of a billion-dollar loan portfolio, including $600 million of hospitality-related real estate investments.
As Chief Financial Officer of Convene Hospitality Group, Al Bentley oversees the finance and accounting organizations as well as legal, procurement, and other operational activities. Bentley, a CPA, is a seasoned international finance professional with more than 35 years of experience across the hospitality, real estate, and retail sectors.
Patrick Conroy is the Chief Technology Officer at Convene Hospitality Group where he oversees everything from technology infrastructure to security and privacy, business systems, and digital product development. As a technology leader, he has spent the last 25 years building and growing technology organizations ranging from telecom to SaaS.
Margaret Rafferty serves as Chief People Officer at Convene Hospitality Group overseeing the organization’s People Operations, Benefits, Culture, Talent Acquisition, and Learning and Development teams. With nearly 25 years of experience, she has spent the entirety of her career managing the HR function for prominent hospitality companies.
As UK Managing Director of Convene Hospitality Group, Niamh Martin oversees site operations, financial performance, and growth of the company’s UK business. She has nearly 20 years of experience working across lifestyle hospitality brands, including operational oversight of 22 restaurants across London, Manchester and Birmingham as well as the development of new F&B concepts from inception to opening.
Jamies Frankis, senior vice president of product at Convene Hospitality Group is responsible for the design, product standards, and packaging across the company’s portfolio of brands. Under his leadership, the CHG Product Team curates the company’s elevated workday experience delivery and operational standards, designs thoughtful spaces that inspire creativity and collaboration, and defines product metrics and pricing.
Brian Holland, senior vice president of real estate at Convene Hospitality Group is responsible for expanding the company’s global portfolio of brands via market growth, landlord partnerships, and acquisitions. His experience across the real estate sector is all-encompassing from site selection through to entitlements, capitalization, construction, management, and disposition.
Phoenix Porcelli, senior vice president of sales at Convene Hospitality Group, oversees a global team of more than 85 sales professionals supporting nearly 40 locations. She led the development and expansion of the Enterprise Sales Team, Inbound Sales Team, and Commercial Enablement Team to maximize the company’s global sales capabilities and cultivate a cohesive cross-brand-selling strategy. Phoenix is also a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP).
Courtenay Wendell is senior vice president of U.S. Operations for Convene Hospitality Group where she oversees a team of nearly 450 across 26 locations responsible for bringing meetings and events to life for clients. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, she brings an unprecedented level of operational excellence to the organization.