The members of the Black Travel Alliance Research Committee includes:
Research Committee Chair: Ursula Petula Barzey, Founder & Digital Content Creator at CaribbeanAndCo.com
Ursula developed a love of quantitative research while working as a research assistant for the Program for Research on Black Americans during her four years at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. For her senior honors thesis, she conducted original research to determine whether the race of a political candidate affects the coverage by analyzing the 1984 Helms-Hunt and 1990 Helms-Gantt Senate races. Now working as a digital marketing consultant, research and data analysis are at the center of her work with mostly travel and lifestyle brands. Ursula is also the founder of the award-winning digital platform and blog Caribbean & Co.
Additional Research Committee Members include:
Patricia King, Blogger at SavvyTraveling.com
Patricia King has a graduate degree in journalism and spent years working as a freelance reporter and editor after working as a staff reporter. Retired, she shares her love for travel at Savvy Travelling, writing about multigenerational, solo, best-value, and medical tourism travel.
Martinique Lewis, Diversity in Travel Consultant at MartySandiego.com
Martinique Lewis is a diversity in travel consultant, content creator, and Influencer Manager. Trusted amongst her peers as a “connector,” she is always connecting the dots to ensure the travel industry is mindful of diversity and not just as a ‘Buzz word.”
Kerwin McKenzie, Author, Content Creator, Speaker at Cruisinaltitude.com
Kerwin is an ex-airline employee (Delta, ATA, Continental, and United) who is now a travel content creator working with travel brands. He’s flown 180 airlines and visited 125 countries/territories. He consults on frequent traveler loyalty programs and airline travel strategies.
Former Research Committee Members include:
Gabby Beckford, Gen Z Travel Expert at PacksLight.com
Gabby received her Bachelor of Statistics from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017 and a Certificate in Middle Eastern studies and User Design. Her professional experience includes work as a Biomedical Engineer for the U.S. Navy and a Data Quality Engineer for a notable government contractor. She is a long-time NSBE member of 6 years. Most recently, she has conducted and interpreted data from surveys for her own brand Packs Light, focused on Gen Z travel, and results are pending.
Donna-Kay Delahaye, Travel Blogger, Photographer, Digital Content Creator at HuesOfDelahaye.com.
Donna-Kay Delahaye has a Master in Pharmaceutical Science from Kingston University with tens of years of experience in quantitative clinical research. She is currently working as a Pharmacovigilance manager in the area of respiratory for both development and compounds.