Ideas and Inspiration for Healthier Meetings

Jeniffer Bello, CMP
President/CEO
JB Experiences

Jeniffer Bello is a highly accomplished meeting planner and event producer with a career spanning over 20 years. With her extensive experience in hospitality, arts, media, marketing, sports, and entertainment, she has honed her skills in creating unforgettable experiences. Jeniffer excels in program strategy, meeting management, and event production, with a focus on experiential design and wellness. She has a multicultural background, and her passion for diversity and inclusion is evident in her work, as she strives to make every event meaningful and impactful for all attendees. As a destination consultant, Jeniffer thrives at venue sourcing, negotiation, and logistics planning, and her work in media production and digital marketing enhances her ability to generate outstanding and unique programs created with purpose.

Jeniffer has been recognized for her work and expertise, recently receiving the 2022 Smart Meetings Meeting Professional of the Year award as “Event Maverick” and she is also a 2022 Smart Women Winner in the Entrepreneur Category.

Paul Gabriel Nunez
Director of Spa, Fitness and Wellness
JW Marriott Marco Island
Spa Advisory Council of the Americas

After over 30 years of dedication to Spa and Wellness, Paul has learned one crucial concept: people want to feel better. It does not matter if it is physical, mental, or spiritual; they just want to feel better.

Through his experience in massage therapy, education, and spa management, Paul has understood that spa professionals can make a difference in people’s lives. He started his career as a massage therapist in Charlotte, NC, then transitioned into a Global Educator for Aveda from 1999 to 2005.

Paul then moved to St. Petersburg, FL. to run the massage clinic and spa program at the Aveda Institute. Florida kept Paul occupied for several years, managing properties in the Miami area. But soon, he got the call to be the Director of Spa for the Four Seasons Costa Rica, which was an exciting challenge in a stunningly beautiful country for the next two years.

One of the most interesting roles came next as Paul moved back to the US to open an Ayurvedic Wellness Retreat Center for the Art of Living Foundation in Boone, NC. This experience deepened his knowledge of meditation, yoga, and holistic treatments. Paul also helped develop intricate wellness retreats for groups of people while working with Ayurvedic doctors.

Paul now works for Marriott International as the Director of Spa and Wellness at JW Marriott Marco Island. This resort excels in delivering exceptional spa treatments and unique wellness offerings. Paul also is a leading member of the Marriott Spa Advisory Council, works with multiple spa properties across North and South America, and is a contributing member of the Marriott CALA (Caribbean Latin America) Rooms Advisory Council, helping to shape the direction of spas for that region.

Finally, in what Paul feels is one of his most intriguing functions, he is working as a consultant with a robotics company developing AI-enhanced systems that could potentially change the future of the massage and spa industry.

Maura Zhang, CIS, CITP, RYT
Midwest Sales Representative for Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB
Synergy-Connect

Maura Domínguez-Zhang, CIS, CITP is part of the Midwest Sales Representatives team for the Naples Marco Island Everglades CVB. She is a travel industry leader with 20+ years in luxury-tier hospitality sales and marketing, hotel operations and travel industry sales. Maura’s hotel experience includes the top luxury hotel companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Kimpton, Biltmore, Noble House hotels and Benchmark, where she earned achievement awards such as Chairman’s Club, Platinum Club, Attitude & Determination Awards.

Maura has a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University and has been a lecturing guest speaker at FIU School of Hospitality, contributor for MPI Chicago’s newsletter, editor of SITE Florida & Caribbean newsletter and speaker at SITE Global Conferences 2020 and 2023. She maintains active roles in SITE and MPI. Earned both CIS & CITP, and is past President of SITE FL & Caribbean chapter. In 2017, Maura helped launch Synergy-Connect, a boutique representation firm for emerging destinations. She is co-founder and managing partner at Synergy-Connect which currently represents Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB and Curacao Tourist Board, as well as DMCs in Latin America’s top destinations through their brand LatinPlus DMC Group (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama and Peru).

Maura is also a Positive Impact ambassador for sustainability, health and wellness in events. In August 2020, after losing her father to Covid, Maura completed the 200HR yoga teacher training and is now a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She is keen on continuing education and has been certified in Yin Yoga, Trauma Informed Yoga, Sound Healing, a Reiki Master, and Event Wellness Design, among other modalities. Yoga and Healing Arts have made her stronger in body, mind and soul to believe in her own power to heal and overcome grief, obstacles, fear and anxiety. Maura’s practice includes mindfulness, meditation, music, piano and sound healing, mantras and breath work. This transformative experience has given her a new perspective and purpose, and Maura is sharing this love and light with friends and family (including her husband Chuck and fur baby Stormi), as well as her travel industry family. Maura is excited to transcend boundaries and merge her passions of travel, wellness and events into future workshops, retreats and more through Welldom Inc (established in 2021 to consult, create and curate well-being experiences for events).

Rachael Riggs, CMP, DES, SEPC
Maritz Global Events, General Manager

For over 25 years, Rachael’s passion has been creating holistic and sustainable event experiences, motivating people to be the best versions of themselves while caring for the environment. As General Manager, Environmental Strategy and the subject matter expert on Wellbeing Design, Riggs is responsible for Maritz, LLC.  corporate sustainability (ESG) reporting and compliance.  Additionally, Riggs co – created a carbon footprint measurement tool that measures the footprint of an event. With this tool, Riggs works with clients to provides design insights to lessen the impact of an event.  Riggs also works with clients to design event experiences that care for the whole person and so they can perform at their peak.

Rachael is the recipient of awards from the Events Industry Council, Professional Convention Management Association, and Smart Meetings Magazine. She currently serves on the Events Industry Council APEX Commission leading the Wellbeing Working Group, Global Wellness Institutes’ Workplace Wellbeing Working Group, and the Net Zero Carbon Events Standards of Measurement Working Group. An avid long-distance runner, she has 5 half-marathons and a triathlon to her credit. Rachael resides in Chicago, Illinois.