Our Executive Team
CATO is driven by a passionate group of industry leaders and volunteers who donate their time and ideas to advocate for an industry that is diverse and resilient, and provides a fair and level playing field for all parties involved.
Meet Our Team
Jean Hébert
CATO Executive Director
Jean has 40 years of experience in federal and provincial public administrations, serving as a political advisor and Chief of Staff. He excels in strategic planning, government relations, and advocacy. He has extensive knowledge of government mechanics. He served on the TICO Board of Directors from 2011 to 2021 and was elected Chair from 2015 to 2021. He was also a Public Member of the Ontario Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee (JAAC). He is currently a consultant and active in his community, residing in Ottawa.
Brett Walker
CATO Chair
Brett started his career in travel more than 30 years ago. Apart from his current position as General Manager, International Operations for Collette, he has always been an advocate for the industry and served more than 5 years for the TICO Board. Since 2019 he holds the chair position for CATO which continues to transform under Brett’s leadership, most notably in advocating for government support throughout the pandemic, unveiling new branding, mission and a more enhanced, progressive mandate.
David Green
CATO Vice Chair
David is the Managing Director for G Adventures in Canada and is also the Global VP for Sales and Customer Operations. As an MBA graduate, he has almost 30 years’ experience in business strategy across retail, travel retail and travel wholesale backgrounds. David is a passionate supporter of driving positive change within the industry, including helping businesses, agents and customers to do more to support community tourism and sustainability.
Richard Edwards
CATO Treasurer
Richard is the Controller for The Travel Corporation (Canada) (TTC). He has more than 30 years of progressive accounting experience, including financial reporting, audit, budgeting, payroll, general accounting and insurance. Apart from his work with CATO, Richard volunteered for many years on the TICO board, as Chair of TICO’s Audit, Technology & Risk Management Committee and also the Business Strategy Committee. netus