Governing Board

The eXplore Lawrence Governing Board shall have seven (7) voting members, comprising the following positions: A representative employed by a full-service hotel within the city limits of Lawrence; a representative employed by a limited-service hotel within the city limits of Lawrence; a member of the elected body of the Lawrence City Commission; a representative from the cultural industry in Lawrence; a representative of a local university or educational institution; a representative of the sports and/or recreational industry in Lawrence; and a representative from the service/event management industry in Lawrence.

Go here to view the eXplore Lawrence Governing Board agenda and minutes.

Governing Board Members

Anthea Scouffas
anthea@ku.edu
785.864.2795 3/21/23 – 12/31/25
Cultural Industry

Heidi Champagne
Heidi.Champagne@Marriott.com
785.841.2700
1/1/24 – 12/31/26 - Second Term 
Hotel

Drew Gashler drew.gaschler@ku.edu
01/01/24 – 12/31/26
Sports/Recreational Industry

Tina Tourtillott
ttourtillott@haskell.edu
785.550.3360 

01/01/24 – 12/31/26
Local University/Educational Institution

Ivan Simac
ivan.simac@countryinn.com
785.749.6010
2/11/20 – 12/31/24 Second Term
Hotel

Mike Logan
mike@thegranada.com
785.550.5693  10/16/18 – 12/31/24 *Extended Term 
Service/Event Mgmt Industry

David Hayob dhayob@ku.edu
12/13/2022 – 12/31/25
Representative of Tourism Industry

Porter Arneill
Parneill@lawrenceks.org
785.832.3453
Ex-Officio – City Manager’s Office

Amber Sellers
asellers@lawrenceks.org
785.813.1381
Ex-Officio – City Commission

Kathy Gerstner
Ex-Officio – Lawrence Chamber

Andrew Holt
director@downtownlawrence.com
785.842.3883
Ex-Officio – Downtown Lawrence, Inc.

Staff Liaison

Kim Anspach, Executive Director
kanspach@explorelawrence.com
785.856.2389

For the purposes of membership, the hotelier representation will be defined as: Full-service hotels are generally mid-price, upscale or luxury hotels with a restaurant, lounge facilities and meeting space as well as minimum service levels often including bell service and room service. These hotels report food-and-beverage revenue as well as exclusive meeting space for conferences/conventions.

A limited-service hotel (also known as select-service or focused-service hotels), are generally rooms-only operations, (i.e., without food-and-beverage service) and may operate a business center for customers with a small meeting space./

The eXplore Lawrence Governing Board shall have seven (7) voting members, comprising the following positions: A representative employed by a full-service hotel within the city limits of Lawrence; a representative employed by a limited-service hotel within the city limits of Lawrence; a member of the elected body of the Lawrence City Commission; a representative from the cultural industry in Lawrence; a representative of a local university or educational institution; a representative of the sports and/or recreational industry in Lawrence; and a representative from the service/event management industry in Lawrence.