About the Series
The Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series was established at Georgia State’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality, in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, by founder and CEO of Noble Investment Group, Mit Shah, in honor of his father, Dr. Bharat Shah, a highly respected and well-known leader and philanthropist.
As an immigrant to the United States, Dr. Shah’s vision for this series was to share the intimate and diverse personal journeys of icons whose stories of struggle, perseverance, commitment, and faith have led to the realization of the American Dream. The series has served as an inspiration to the hospitality and business community and particularly to our nation’s college students - our future leaders.
Over the years, Mit has brought thousands of students and industry stewards into a living room for candid conversations with his father; the late Mark Elliott, President of Hodges Ward Elliott; Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Tom Baltimore, President, Chairman, and CEO of Park Hotels & Resorts; the late Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International; Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton; Vince Carter and Grant Hill, world-renowned NBA and NCAA basketball legends, business leaders, and philanthropists; Sara Blakely, founder and executive chairwoman of SPANX, and Jesse Itzler, New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur; Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust; and most recently, Jim Risoleo, President and CEO of Host Hotels & Resorts.
The series is held at the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, one of the nation’s leading gatherings of hospitality, travel, and business leaders.
About Noble Investment Group
Noble is an award-winning real estate investment manager specializing in the travel and hospitality sector. With a track record spanning three decades, Noble has invested nearly $6.0 billion in communities throughout the country, adding value across cycles and supporting the significant creation of jobs. PERE has named Noble one of the Top 200 Global Investment Managers, and the firm has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
As a fiduciary to institutional investors, including foremost pensions plans, endowments, foundations, wealth management firms, and insurance companies, Noble's endeavors help to preserve and grow our limited partners' capital, which assists in providing retirement benefits for our country's teachers, law enforcement, firefighters, other pensioners, and financial resources for students to attend college. For more information, please visit www.nobleinvestment.com.
About the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference
The Hunter Conference is our industry-leading event tailored to education and networking for hotel owners, developers and investors. More than 2,000 hospitality professionals gather annually in Atlanta to learn, connect and build their businesses, creating a unique opportunity for industry professionals to forge new partnerships and expand their horizons. With presentations from leaders and luminaries, the Hunter Conference is the hotel industry’s can’t miss event of the year. For more information, please visit www.hunterconference.co.
About Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Administration
The Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Administration within the J. Mack Robinson College of Business are co-founders of the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. Georgia State University provides its world-class faculty and more than 52,000 students from over 130 nations and territories with unsurpassed connections to opportunities in one of the 21st century’s great global cities. A national leader in graduating students from diverse backgrounds, including more than 3,000 international students, more African American students graduate each year from Georgia State than any other public or nonprofit higher education institution in the United States. Georgia State is the #1 public or nonprofit university in Georgia to confer undergraduate and graduate degrees to African Americans, Asians, and Latinos. It is ranked the #2 most innovative university and #1 public university for its strong commitment to undergraduate teaching. For more information, please visit www.robinson.gsu.edu.
