Jenna Arcidiacono
Owner, Amore Trattoria Italiana & Founder, Food Hugs
Jenna’s first job was slinging chili dogs and root beer floats at Cook’s Drive-In in Kentwood. Slowly, she began realizing that cooking was more than just a way to pay for her stirrup pants, music cassettes and perms. After High School she attended MSU and again found herself working in restaurants near campus. Wanting to live in a big city after graduation, she moved to San Francisco where she fell in love a handsome Italian who was visiting from Milan. She moved to Italy with him spending 3 years in the kitchen with her new mother-in-law, her passion for Italian Casalinga cuisine grew stronger. Moving back to the US Jenna realized it was time to take the leap and open Amore Trattoria Italiana . Her personal touch by meeting her guests in the dining room became part of the experience and her connection to the community. During COVID Jenna started Food Hugs feeding frontline workers during the COVID pandemic. She continues to learn by hosting culinary trips all over Italy twice a year. If you see a sparkly pink SUV on the streets with a “Food Hug“ license plate, that’s her.
Nicole Gitler
Program Developer, futurePREP’d
Nicole Gitler is a Program Developer for the futurePREP’d Program in the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District. Working in education for the past 22 years, Nicole helps teachers bring industry relevance, Design Thinking, Project Based Learning and the Skills4Success into their classrooms. Working with 400+ educators, over 100 industry partners, and thousands of students, Nicole and the futurePREP’d team are making sure students are ready for their next steps. She holds a bachelors degree from Albion College in Economics and a masters degree in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. Living in Holland, Nicole enjoys spending time with her family by being outdoors, playing in Lake Michigan and traveling around the world.
Marcus Fila
Associate Professor, Hope College & a Speaker | Researcher | Consultant
Marcus is a speaker, researcher, and consultant on reducing work stress, unwanted employee turnover, and on successfully diversifying the workforce. His interest in these subjects developed during ten years in business development and senior executive recruitment positions in the US and UK. As a headhunter, he was “paid to make turnover happen”, and quickly found that unaddressed forms of work stress were at the root of many of his successful assignments. However, Marcus became more interested in fixing the mess caused by excessive and unnecessary work stress than simply moving people away from it, and onto another potentially broken situation. He made a career switch to academia to focus on these subjects, and is now an Associate Professor of Management at Hope College, as well as the Director of their Leadership Minor program. Marcus’ research on work stress, employee turnover, and successfully diversifying the workforce has been published in leading international journals and book volumes, and he regularly speaks on these issues at conferences, and to companies and foundations. His personal website is easeworkstress.com.
Helen Mills
Partner, Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC
Helen “Lizzie” Mills is a Partner at Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC, specializing in management-side labor and employment law. She is passionate about labor and employment matters and proactively works with employers to address (and avoid!) tough situations before they arise. Whether it’s negotiating the terms of a complex labor contract or defending an employer against an unlawful discrimination claim, Lizzie avidly represents her clients’ interests efficiently and effectively. Lizzie is highly regarded in her field and routinely presents on issues related to labor and employment matters across the state.
HTM DEGREE PANELIST DISCUSSION
Karthikeyan Namasivayam
Director of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Michigan State University
Karthik has worked in the hospitality industry for over 40 years. He has held various positions including as consultant, entrepreneur, faculty, academic administration, and hospitality management jobs across three continents – Europe, Asia, and North America. His experiences include economy and luxury full service hospitality operations. He has taught in the US, Switzerland, India and China at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has delivered tailored Executive Education programs for national corporates. Karthik is widely published in leading hospitality and marketing journals and is well cited. He received the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education Bradford Wiley Best Published Paper award. Karthik obtained his Master’s and PhD in Hospitality Administration from Cornell University. He has undergraduate degrees in Economics from Madras University and Hospitality Management from Institute of Catering Technology, Chennai, India. He speaks Tamil, Hindi, German, and a bit of French and Italian. He is a keen high altitude hiker, mountaineer, and an amateur photographer.
Amy Dorey
Director of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Ferris State University
Amy M. Dorey, MBA, is the Hospitality Management Program Director and an Associate Professor at Ferris State University. She has the following education: • MBA, Ferris State University, Business Administration, Advanced Studies Quality Management • Certificate, Ferris State University, Advanced Studies in Quality Management • BS, Central Michigan University, Biology and Environmental Science Amy has given several oral presentations on topics regarding Women in Recreation, Robotics Competitions, Safety/Sanitation in Food Service, Hospitality Education, Etiquette in Dining, and more that you can read here: https://www.ferris.edu/business/profiles/marketing/amy-dorey.html.