Governing Board
The purpose of the eXplore Lawrence Governing Board is to provide operational, personnel, and financial oversight of the operations of the Convention and Visitors Bureau for the City of Lawrence. The eXplore Lawrence Governing Board was adopted by Resolution No. 7142 on September 15, 2015. Ordinance No. 9731, was adopted on November 5, 2019, repealing Resolution No. 7142.
The eXplore Lawrence Governing Board shall have seven (7) voting members, comprising the following positions: two representatives of the hotel industry in the City; one representative of the tourism industry in the City; a representative from the cultural industry in the City; one representative of a university or educational institution located in the City; one representative of the sports and recreational industry in the City; and one representative from the service/event management industry in the City. In addition, the Board shall have four ex officio, non-voting members. The ex officio members shall include: one member of the City's Governing Body, who shall be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Governing Body; the City Manager, or his or her designee; the Director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc., or his or her designee; and the CEO of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, or his or her designee.
Go here to view the eXplore Lawrence Governing Board agenda and minutes.
Governing Board Members
Tina Tourtillott, Haskell University
ttourtillott@haskell.edu
785-550-3360
01/01/24 – 12/31/26
Local University/Educational Institution
Andrew Gaschler, Kansas Athletics
drew.gaschler@ku.edu
785-312-1418
01/01/24 – 12/31/26
Sports/Recreational Industry
Emily Peterson, Lawrence Restaurant Association
emily.werner@gmail.com
01/01/26 – 12/31/28
Tourism Industry
Katie Vandervelde, Oak View Group
katie.vandervelde@oakviewgroup.com
01/06/26 – 12/31/27
Service/Event Management Industry
Heather Shull, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
hshull@hulsinghotels.com
785-749-8934
01/01/25 – 12/31/27
Full Service Hotel
Marlo Angell, Lawrence Arts Center
marlo@lawrenceartscenter.org
01/01/26 – 12/31/28
Cultural Industry
Faith Bridges, Stone Hill Lawrence, Trademark Collection by Wyndham
f.bridges@kmghotels.com
09/08/26 – 12/31/26
Limited Service Hotel
Brad Finkeldei, Mayor
bfinkeldei@lawrenceks.gov
785-550-9699
12/16/25 – 12/08/26
Ex-Officio
Margann Bennett, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce
mbennett@lawrencechamber.com
785-865-4411
Ex-Officio
Lindsay Hart, City of Lawrence
lihart@lawrenceks.gov
Ex-Officio
Mike Logan, Downtown Lawrence Inc.
mike@thegranada.com
Ex-Officio
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.
