Gloria Loree
Senior Vice President Marketing Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer
Destination Canada
Following a 20-plus-year career in the arts, journalism and tourism, Gloria joined Destination Canada in 2006 to share the stories of Canada with the rest of the world. Gloria gained a reputation as a skilled strategist and passionate champion of the tourism industry. In 2019, Gloria was promoted to SVP Marketing Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer of Destination Canada, where she drives global and domestic marketing strategy.
Gloria’s leadership purpose is to have people experience the joy of effective teams. She is proud to lead a team of passionate marketers who share a common vision of inspiring those with glowing hearts to fall in love with Canada.
Destination Canada is a leading marketing and research organization, charged with sustaining a vibrant and profitable Canadian tourism industry. We act as strategy integrators between our provincial and territorial marketing partners, government partners and other sector members.
Michelle Cortez Gonzales
Fort Worth Artist
Michelle Cortez Gonzales combines painting, sewing and constructing of domestic materials to create artwork that explores family history rooted within fragmented memory. Michelle’s work is deeply inspired by her own past and upbringing in Fort Worth, Texas, where she currently lives and works.
She has exhibited her work through galleries across the DFW area and has taught art in various avenues. As a passionate advocate for art education, she has worked as a public art project manager for the Arts Council of Fort Worth and as an art teacher for Polytechnic High School. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Dallas. She is currently working with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a 2021 Community Artist.
Jess Pryles
Hardcore Carnivore
Australian-born and Texas-based Jess Pryles is a meat specialist, live-fire cook, author and founder of Hardcore Carnivore®.
She's an expert resource for meat information, not merely how to cook it but also understanding the science behind it. She is driven by helping people become more confident in selecting and cooking meat.
Jess is also a respected authority on Texas-style barbecue. She is a co-founder of the Australasian Barbecue Alliance and the creator of the internationally-acclaimed line of meat seasonings, Hardcore Carnivore®. Her website offers expertise on meat cookery, recipes, videos for millions of meat fans around the globe.
She's visited ranches, slaughterhouses, butcher shops, became a hunter as part of the rite of a responsible meat-eater and has completed short courses at Texas A&M University's Meat Science department, as well as teaching her own classes in the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Sweden & Brazil.
Jess was honored to create the menu for the G'day USA Australia Day event at the Texas Governor’s Mansion. Her TV appearances include Food Network, the Today show and Channel 7’s Aussie Barbecue Heroes.