Erika Gonzalez
Minor Details
Erika Gonzalez
25 years young
Colombian-American
2.25 majors, one Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management and one Certificate of Environmental Studies later - ready to conquer the world.
Global Engagement
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The Sustainable Hospitality Challenge
A global pandemic wasn't enough to stop innovative thinkers from all over the world from participating in the Sustainable Hospitality Challenge. View our investors' deck in the "Files" section to see our vision.
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Learn more about the challenge here:
The Soustainability Club at FIU
Bridging the gap between environmentalists and the hospitality industry. Our purpose is to give students the tools to make sustainable choices in and outside of the home via cooking lessons, engaging with local hospitality communities that share the same passion, and more regarding sustainability and hospitality/tourism! This organization came to fruition when I approached Chef John Noble Masi with an idea for a sustainable cooking class. This was brought to the table while conducting my research for the STARS report at FIU. He suggested we make it an ongoing thing, I recruited some e-board members, and Sous was born!
This photo was from our cooking demonstration last fall where we made a delicious pumpkin pasta!
Tau Sigma National Honor Society
As the programming chair for Tau Sigma National Honor Society, it was my duty to ensure that our students were up to date with professional development events on campus and assisting with events. Naturally, I made sure that our Relay for Life tent had vegan options and that our induction ceremony only used compostable cutlery as our first green initiative.
I took my responsibilities one step further and created our first-ever newsletter: highlighting all monthly events and including healthy tips to leading a more mindful lifestyle. This included making sure they were aware of counseling and psychological services on campus.
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World Happiness Summit: 2019
Founded in 2016, WOHASU® LLC focuses on increasing happiness and wellbeing at the individual, organizational, community and civic levels.
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I had the pleasure to volunteer at this event when learning about it from Dr. Sandro Formica. He taught a personal empowerment class where his good friend, Karen Guggenheim, was a guest speaker. I was chosen as an intern for the event, which might be one of my favorite events ever attended. We had neurologists, life coaches, and everyone in between delivering important information on the importance of happiness and how to sustain it.
Without being able to sustain ourselves, how can we sustain anything or anyone around us?
South Beach Wine and Food Festival: 2019 - Wine Seminars
An immersive, hands-on experience with event management and winemakers such as M. Chapoutier and Kendall-Jackson. Overseeing a wonderful team of volunteers to execute the events and seeing how seminars like this come into action from beginning to end was amazing.
South Beach Wine and Food Festival: 2018 - Food Rescue
One of the most meaningful experiences was being able to collect leftover food items from a large-scale event and donating it to the Miami Rescue Mission. We not only prevented food from going into the landfill, but contributed to sustaining the community. That's the double whammy that I love to see!
Global Learning
Hospitality Facilities Environmental Systems
A comprehensive survey of engineering, maintenance, and efficiency controls in hotels, restaurants. Emphasizes the importance of Operations Facilities Engineering Management and the environment will help students understand the global impact of climate change.
Between this and Social Responsibility, my love for sustainability/corporate responsibility came to surface. One does not really understand the efforts that go into the hospitality industry. Once you explore this topic, you also open your eyes to all of the possibilities!! Dr. Scanlon is actually our mentor for the Sustainable Hospitality Challenge, and I am so glad to have her guidance on this project.
Hospitality Law
A basic course in hotel, motel, and restaurant law emphasizing risk management and security. The student is introduced to the fundamental laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the hospitality industry. Case study approach is used to develop an awareness and understanding of the legal problems confronting the manager and executive in policy and decision making.
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Hospitality law can be very diverse in terms of what it covers. We can focus on discrimination in the workplace, or maritime law when we think of cruise lines. Negligence can be huge in the industry if we aren't on our toes when it comes to food allergies in a restaurant or construction in a hotel.
Hospitality Marketing Strategy
Examines marketing principles, theories and concepts and the use of management principles and techniques of analysis, planning, implementation and control to maximize marketing effectiveness in hospitality organizations in a global, intercultural environment.
Dr. Sherry Andre has to be in my list of Top 5 professors, if not my favorite professor. Experiential learning is the way to go, especially in the hospitality industry. When you have to opportunity to work with the same team throughout the semester, you learn strengths, weaknesses, and communication skills that are crucial to help each other move forward.
The opportunity to participate in X-Culture was certainly challenging as we had to collaborate time zones to hold meetings, but at the end of the project, one of my classmates and I were invited to attend the X-Culture Symposium in Singapore. Sadly, COVID-19 hit right before so we had to attend virtually. However, it was an honor to gain that distinction overall.
Social Responsibility in the Hospitality Industry
Examines hospitality companies' social responsibility to their communities and planet. This course examines hospitality's global companies and global issues that will affect their communities and business.
Dr. John Buschman is truly an inspiration! Not only did he open our eyes to corporate responsibility, but made sure that we got first-hand experience. Thanks to this class, I was able to have an unforgettable experience when I helped a team to beautify the gardens at Jesse J. McCrary Elementary School. It is an experiential garden with an herb spiral and banana trees which I think every school should have! Additionally, I worked directly with him as a Food Rescue volunteer during SOBEWFF. Not to mention the collaborative ideas when coming up with Soustainability!
While I was enrolled in his class, he earned his Ph.D. at the end of the semester!
Sustainable Tourism Practices
In-depth study of contemporary issues pertaining to tourism based on the natural environment. Explores management strategies suitable for controlling a growing industry.
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An eye-opening class that raised awareness of the effect that tourism has had on Venice and the absolutely gorgeous efforts of the Chaa Creek Lodge in Belize.
Files
Investors' Deck: Sustainable Hospitality Challenge
Pitch deck prepared for the Sustainable Hospitality Challenge hosted by the Hague Hotel School
Policy Brief: Florida’s Responsible Hospitality Development and Renovation Act
Policy brief to amend Florida's Responsible Building Act to ensure that privately-owned buildings, specifically hotels and restaurants, follow LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards.
Resume
PDF version of work experience and education.
Sustainability and Stakeholder Relations in Service Organizations
Paper highlighting how sustainability is related to all stakeholders using information from consumer habits and surveys regarding the topic.
X-Culture: Lake Louise Ski Resort - Marketing Strategy
Project completed in collaboration with students from all over the world to tap into a new market to increase winter sales.
Capstone: The Office of University Sustainability
STARS Intern
My experience at the Office of University Sustainability as the lead intern for the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System was one of the most valuable experiences that I have had at FIU. Though we went into full lockdown due to COVID-19 3 months after I began, my time with the office was very valuable and all the extra downtime made it easy to fully immerse myself into this project.
While I mainly focused on conducting point-by-point comparisons and making suggestions on how to move us from silver to gold, I was lucky enough to do work in the nature preserve and network with many like-minded individuals in the process. My professional network has grown tremendously in the path that I wanted it to and have been able to use my past professional experience to learn and develop valuable skills for the future.
Implementing sustainable initiatives at institutes of higher education is CRUCIAL. Not only for the wellbeing of the planet as we offset or mitigate our carbon output, but once students of all majors see the effort their university is putting towards greener operations, the more intrigued they become in adapting their own habits. From this internship, The Soustainability Club was formed, and I was able to begin the outline for our Green Event Guidelines to be implemented once events began to take place on campus again.
I would highly encourage everyone with a passion to make a difference to volunteer or intern with their university's office of sustainability at least for one semester of their college career to gain valuable experience and meaningful connections.
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Experience
Executive Assistant, Ecopod
November 2020 - March 2021
·   Execute a variety of tasks for a fast-growing start-up company including keeping track of bills, handling customer and supplier relations, and creating marketing materials.
·   Maximize productivity rates by actively providing feedback on operational concerns. Â
·   Create job postings and screen potential interns/employees before making recommendations to hiring managers.
Lead Intern: STARS and Green Office Certification
December 2019 - December 2020
·   Conducted point by point research comparisons with STARS (Sustainability Tracking and Rating System) Gold-ranked peer institutions and noted how FIU could earn more credits in different categories.
·   Created and implemented events, programs, and initiatives regarding sustainability on campus.
·   Led weekly meetings and review projects, pinpointing areas of improvement for sustainable operations in different areas of the university.
·   Initiated working relationships with various university stakeholders - administrative, staff, faculty, and student groups and support in identifying and achieving point increases.
Sustainability Influencer/Part-Time Shift Leader
August 2019 - March 2020
Developed a team of 5 people to implement new green initiatives throughout the restaurant by reducing waste and utilizing recycling bins.
Refined previous standard operating procedures in order to boost employee morale and increase guest satisfaction.
Communicated areas of improvement to management, creating new challenges for employees.
Speaker Relations Intern, World Happiness Summit
February 2019 - March 2019
·      Prepared a total of 40 guest speakers before stage-time over 3 days by providing them with technical equipment, refreshments, and scripts if necessary.
·      Conducted a sweep during presentations to ensure microphones and projectors were functioning correctly.
·      Worked closely with a team of 4 to oversee operations of the summit including organizing merchandise tables, monitoring breakout sessions, and guiding guests to their next activity.
Event Management Intern, South Beach Food and Wine Festival
January 2019 - March 2019
·      Participated in site visits before event to plan operations, e.g., to select volunteer meeting rooms and storage rooms.
·      Took inventory of approximately 60 different wines and sorted by producer to ensure proper distribution during seminars.
·      Led a team of 12 in preparing and breaking down meeting rooms bi-hourly according to schedule over a 4-day weekend by measuring wine pours, distributing giveaway items, and resetting tables.
Guest Services Agent, Mandarin Oriental Miami
May 2018 - December 2018
·   Monitored each check-in/check-out process in a 326-room property for consistency and accuracy.
·   Encouraged guests to upgrade to suites or lengthen stay to maximize revenue.
·   Contacted housekeeping, maintenance, or security team when guests report problems or incidents.
·   Ensured that all guests are treated above and beyond expectations, adhering to Forbes standards (i.e. taking note of VIP status, special preferences, proper language, and etiquette.)
·   Successfully passed American Express secret shopper inspection: Summer 2018
Supervisor: Reservations and Front Office, The Mayfair at Coconut Grove
June 2016 - March 2018
·   Monitored each reservation and check-in/check-out process for consistency and accuracy.
·   Led a team of 6 in successfully transitioning from Epitome Property Management System to Infor Hospitality Management System.
·   Coordinated reservations/room blocks for airline crews and group events such as weddings and business conferences.
·   Encouraged guests to book directly by offering competitive rates, maintaining constant communication with the Revenue Manager to ensure best available rates.
·   Worked closely with the accounting department to ensure proper payment and billing procedures were followed.
·   Thoroughly trained new hires on standard operating procedures, ensuring errors were corrected while maintaining motivation.
·   Sent daily e-mails highlighting the day's events and hotel statistics (occupancy forecast, average daily rate, etc)
Software skills: Proficiency in Microsoft Office(Word/Excel/PowerPoint) and Google Suite, Social Media, Infor HMS, Opera
Organizations: Tau Sigma National Honor Society, The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, National Society for Leadership and Success
Certifications: CLEO Climate Change Speaker
Awards/Accomplishments: Dean’s List (7), Global Learning Medallion, Invitee: 2020 X-Culture Symposium
Education
Bachelor of Science: Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University
GPA: 3.73, Magna Cum Laude
Coursework in Sustainable Tourism, Revenue Management, Marketing Strategy for the Hospitality Industry
Certificate: Environmental Studies, Florida International University
Coursework in Sustainable Development, Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Policy, Human Organizations and Ecosystem Management
"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Contact
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