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About Us

our team header 2018

The Global Collette Team

At Collette, our team of globe-trotting professionals believes that travel is the heartbeat of a well-lived life. Every day, they come to work with one mission: to create unforgettable moments for travellers. Our employees are not just passionate about travel; they are dedicated to delivering extraordinary experiences that span the globe. The team is deeply committed to enriching the communities we visit with a shared sense of social responsibility. Fueled by innovation and a spirit of adventure, our employees travel the world themselves, constantly seeking new inspirations to bring you the best experiences possible.

Meet the Collette Leadership Team

Our well-traveled leadership team spans the globe, from Collette’s Rhode Island, USA headquarters to its operations in Canada and Australia. Trusted industry leaders draw on their expertise to ensure our travel partners and guests experience the very best the world has to offer. They are dedicated to navigating the touring industry guided by creating an unrivalled premium product. As we continue to show you the world, it’s our rich history, unwavering values, and dynamic team of employees that pave the way. We are driven by one simple concept: By Travellers. For Travellers. This means: every experience is expertly planned and expertly led by destination experts; travellers get the cultural WOWs as much as the must-sees. Because we get it. At Collette, we are travellers, too.

Dan Sullivan

Dan Sullivan Executive Chairman of Collette

Dan, Past President and CEO of Collette, has over 50 years in the travel industry and was a driving force in taking Collette from a regional tour operator to a global company and an industry leader. As Executive Chairman of Collette, Dan participates in the company’s overall direction and long-term strategy in an advisory capacity to the current leadership team.

Dan is a member of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) and the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP). He chairs the Collette Foundation board, Collette's global not-for-profit, which partners with organisations working towards zero hunger, quality education, reducing inequality, and environmental sustainability. He sits on the Charitable Foundation board for Bristol County Savings Bank; is the former Chairman for Tourism Cares; serves as Co-Chairman of the Pawtucket Foundation, an organisation committed to the continued economic development of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Collette's home city; and has served on the Fairfield University Centre for Social Impact board since 2005.

Sullivan has worked for decades to instill corporate responsibility and a philanthropic mindset in Collette’s culture. An engaged supporter of not-for-profit causes including the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Hospice, Hasbro Children's Hospital and Amos House, he was inducted into the Tourism Hall of Fame for his contributions to the community, through philanthropic endeavours and significant contributions to the advancement of responsible tourism. In December 2017, Sullivan received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Travel Weekly.

Dan is a graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in marketing as well as Harvard Business School's Executive Owner/President Management program.

Dan loves Springsteen, Travelling the world and relaxing at home with family, including his 8 grandchildren.

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Jaclyn Leibl Cote

Jaclyn Leibl-Cote Chief Executive Officer & President

Jaclyn Leibl-Cote is Collette’s Chief Executive Officer and President, only the fourth CEO to head the 106-year-old company and its first female CEO. She leads Collette’s Executive and Strategic Leadership Teams, driving both the global company’s strategic direction and its day-to-day operations with a laser focus on fulfilling the company’s mission of enhancing life’s journey by creating extraordinary travel experiences.

Driven by the company values of Be Happy, Be Responsible, Be Trailblazers and Be the Legacy, Jaclyn, previously the President and Chief Customer Experience Officer, builds collaborative and innovative teams that constantly curate the best travel experiences with the customer in mind. From product evolution to brand positioning to tour delivery to our industry leading travel protection policy, she works tirelessly to ensure that Collette provides the best possible experience it can to our travellers, our employees, our partners and to the communities in which we live, work and travel. Jaclyn's leadership successfully steered the company through a global pandemic, with Collette emerging stronger and more dynamic than ever before.

An 18-year Collette veteran, Jaclyn has held leadership positions or filled roles in varied departments such as tour management, product design, call centre, customer experience, people and culture, information technology, and marketing. With her deep understanding of every team and how they contribute to the company’s collective goals, she is continually evolving the company to meet the modern traveler’s ever-changing expectations.

Jaclyn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA from Babson College. An avid supporter of women’s health initiatives, she is the Chair of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Committee and serves on the URI Arts & Sciences Advisory Council. Her absolute favourite spot is New Zealand, but her favourite role in life is the mother of three wonderful children (twins, Dylan and Brody, and daughter, Ashley) who also love exploring the world.

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Bob Colucci

Bob Colucci Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Bob has provided financial leadership for 25+ years since joining Collette initially as Controller in the late 90’s and advancing to his current role in 2015. Before joining Collette, Bob held senior financial leadership roles at Cookson Electronics, was CFO at Daly & Wolcott, and Controller at the Providence Journal Company. Bob began his career at KPMG in 1989. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Providence College and completed his MBA from Bryant University.

In addition to travel, Bob enjoys playing golf and skiing. He is an active member in the community and serves as Trustee for RI Public Expenditure Council, as Director on the boards for FHR, Elwyn and The Pawtucket Foundation as well as the Finance committee of Tourism Cares.

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Jeff Roy

Jeff Roy Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff oversees Collette’s revenue planning & operations, corporate pricing strategy, modelling, and inventory management. He is a member of the strategic leadership team and heads the product sales and marketing committee charged with goal setting and revenue generation.

Before joining Collette, Jeff served in the United States Air Force as an Airfield Operations Officer, serving his country whilst completing his MBA in Finance from Touro University. He is passionate about giving back to the industry and local community, serving on a variety of local boards and councils. In addition, he serves on the Executive Board for the United States Tour Operators Association, currently holding the position of Treasurer whilst co-chairing the Government Affairs Committee.

Away from the office, Jeff enjoys Travelling with his family, as well as hiking, fishing, skiing, and golf.

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Christian Leibl Cote

Christian Leibl-Cote Executive Vice President of Global Sales

As Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Christian is responsible for strategic global partnerships and new business development. In this role, he delivers exceptional service to Collette’s travel partners. He also oversees the customer care team, as well as the sales team, to ensure consistency throughout the company.

Christian joined Collette in 2007. He holds an MBA from Babson College and a Bachelor’s degree in business from the University of New Hampshire.

Active in the local community, Christian serves on the board of City Year Rhode Island. He is an avid sports fan and is passionate about team sports, especially youth activities. In his free time, Christian can be found spending time with his wife and three children.

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Kelly Reilly

Victoria Matiouchina Senior Vice President of Customer Experience & Insights

As Senior VP of Customer Experience & Insights, Victoria is committed to evolving the customer experience at all touchpoints of the travel journey.

She joined the team in 2019, bringing a unique blend of business insights and technical expertise and over 30 years of experience working in the travel industry. Over the course of her career she has launched and provided strategic vision, technical oversight, and hands-on leadership for highly agile customer insights and business intelligence teams.

She holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Latvia.

Victoria has a life-long passion for travel that started during her University years whilst she was working as a tour guide in Riga, Latvia. She enjoyed sharing the love for her country and taking travellers off the beaten path to immerse them into local traditions and culture.

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Denise Sablone

Denise Sablone Senior Vice President of Product and Delivery

As Senior Vice President of Product and Delivery, Denise is responsible for managing Collette’s team of over 200 Tour Managers across 165 tour products on all 7 continents we travel. In this role she oversees tour delivery through hiring, training and utilization of Tour Managers to deliver on an excellent experience for our guests, as well as a team dedicated to ensuring the entire tour runs smoothly from start to finish.

Denise joined Collette in 2017 with 20+ years of travel leadership experience. She has travelled to over 30 countries and has participated in numerous community service projects throughout her travels.

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Sheila Felice

Sheila Felice Vice President of People and Culture

As Vice President of People and Culture, Sheila leads the P&C function in alignment with Collette’s core values, mission, and vision to support organizational needs. As part of the leadership team, Sheila helps to ensure that our strategy is people focused.

Sheila joined Collette in 2023 with more than 20 years of industry experience, having led Human Resources, Risk, and Organizational Development Departments. In this role she oversees compensation, benefits, people relations, engagement, recruitment, policies, and other people centered initiatives.

Sheila holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Rhode Island, a Bachelor’s Degree in Administration of Justice from Roger Williams University, and Graduate Studies Certification in Human Resources Management from Salve Regina University.

Sheila serves on the Society of Human Resources Management Legislative Affairs Committee, and is deeply committed to the community, serving on local boards, and as an active speaker and presenter for The University of Rhode Island.

Sheila enjoys spending time with family and friends and Travelling.

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Melissa Lagesse

Melissa Lagesse Vice President Corporate Controller

As Vice President Corporate Controller, Melissa is responsible for leading a team of professionals responsible for maintaining financial records, working with external auditors, providing financial reporting, payroll processing, preparing taxes returns and fulfilling compliance requirements.

Melissa has been with Collette for 30+ years and has enjoyed being part of the ongoing evolution of Collette. Prior to coming to Collette, she earned her degree from Bryant University and began her career at KPMG.

Melissa enjoys spending time with family and her “Little” mentee from the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program.

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willie montana

Willie Montano Vice President Global Marketing

Willie Montano, Vice President of Global Marketing, has more than twenty years of experience in the travel industry. He is directly responsible for overseeing strategy through all integrated marketing campaigns.

Willie joined Collette in 2022 as Senior Director of Integrated Marketing and was promoted to Vice President Global Marketing in March of 2023, bringing vast experience to the team in the areas of paid media, social, print strategy, public relations, and digital marketing.

Prior to Collette, Willie served as Vice President of Marketing at CIE Tours International Inc. and Vice President of Marketing at Insight Holidays and Luxury Gold.

He served on the marketing committee of USTOA from 2014 to 2019 and is Past Chair and current Director Counsel for the Morris County Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey.

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brett walker gmio

Brett Walker General Manager International Operations

Brett has been a part of the Collette team for more than 35 years. He joined Collette in 1989 and was the first BDM, as well as the first employee, outside the US. Progressing through sales and leadership roles, he transitioned into operations as Collette’s activities expanded in Canada and around the world.

Brett has an MBA from the University of Guelph, LLM from the University of Toronto and an Advanced Executive Certificate in Strategic Execution from Queen’s University.

Brett is currently the Chair of the Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) and serves as Collette’s member representative as well. Prior to this, Brett was both a director and Vice Chair of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).

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ron lonsdale

Ron Lonsdale Vice President Canada

As Vice President, Ron oversees the overall strategy for Canada. A graduate of Humber College, Ron embarked on a unique journey before entering the travel industry, playing professional hockey in Europe. His passion for travel and exploration is perfectly captured by his motto: “Living the Dream and Curious Traveller.”

Ron joined Collette in 1994 as a District Sales Manager and worked his way up to become the Director of Strategic Partnerships, and now serves as Vice President.

In his current role, he is responsible for managing and expanding Collette’s strategic partnerships across Canada. He spends much of his time collaborating with trade partners and developing new affinity partnerships, which drive Collette’s growth in the Canadian market. Ron collaborates closely with both the marketing and field sales teams to ensure that strategies are aligned and that these important relationships continue to expand.

Ron’s extensive experience and dedication to his work have made him a key player in Collette’s success in the Canadian market.

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karen deveson

Karen Deveson Managing Director Australia

Karen Deveson is Collette’s first Managing Director for the Australian region. She leads a senior team across Sales, Partnerships, Marketing, and the Customer Care Centre, ensuring the global goals and vision are implemented locally. Karen is passionate about building a collaborative, happy and successful team ensuring Collette realizes its full potential in Australia – a market of great opportunity in the guided holiday sector.

A results-driven executive with over 25 years of experience in Travel, Tourism, Research, and Media industries, Karen has a proven track record of embracing and driving change. She is a dynamic leader, creative in thinking and commercial in delivery. Prior to joining Collette, Karen was Group General Manager Cruise at Helloworld, Managing Director at Insight Holidays Australia, General Manager Publishing at Seven Network, and co-founded Sycamore Research and Marketing – a boutique research and brand strategy consultancy.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Behavioural Science from LaTrobe University, is currently completing a Master of Public Health from Sydney University, and in 2020 completed the AICD Company Director’s Course.

Outside of work, Karen enjoys holidaying with her husband and three daughters. She is passionate about being a positive role model for her girls.

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david farrar

David Farrar Head of Sales Australia

Before joining Collette in 2022, David held senior sales roles in the Australian travel industry for nearly 40 years, most recently with Insight Holidays. He considers his most challenging and exciting role to date as the International Product Manager for Traveland, a major Australian travel retailer and the official travel agent globally for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the travel industry, David enjoys spending time with his wife Jackie and their adult daughters, Georgia and Hannah. He loves relaxing beach holidays and long walks during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

Originally from Melbourne, David has a passion for the St Kilda Football Club and all things AFL (Australian Rules Football).

Once a month, David and his wife volunteer overnight at Ronald McDonald House at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, assisting families with ill or injured children who require accommodation and services within the hospital environment.

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