<p>Eddie Bergman is president of Innovative Development Services, a firm focusing on NYC real estate management and global hospitality marketing. Eddie is also CEO of Proxima Hospitality Group, a restaurant management company which owns Hill and Bay in NYC.</p> <p>In 1999, Eddie co‐founded and currently serves as president of the board of Miracle Corners of the World, an NGO with a vision for communities around the world to achieve greater levels of education, improved health, and increased economic security. From 2006 to 2015, Eddie served as executive director of the Africa Travel Association (ATA), a leading global travel trade association dedicated to promoting tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa partnerships. During this period, ATA organized 11 Global Congresses, bringing thousands of industry stakeholders to Africa and facilitating public-private partnerships.</p> <p>Eddie serves on the advisory boards of NYU’s School of Professional Studies, Tisch Center of Hospitality, Africa House, and Gallatin School of Individualized Study. In addition, he serves on the boards of AHED: Alliance for Hospitality Equity and Diversity and the Brotherhood Synagogue, and has served on the boards of the Museum for African Art, Rubin Museum of Art, Synergos Institute, and Shared Interest.</p> <p>Eddie received his Master of Arts from NYU’s Gallatin School with a major in Social Entrepreneurship, and his Bachelor of Arts in Hotel and Tourism Management from NYU’s SPS Tisch Center, where he was a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar. He has received several humanitarian awards for his work, including the 2009 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.</p>