Board Members
The BTA Board of Directors is made up of six men and women who are passionate about Bermuda and bring a wealth of diverse corporate and tourism-related experience:
Paul Telford
Paul Telford has 13 years’ international management experience in luxury hotels. He began his career in Bermuda’s hospitality industry as a teenage busboy and has since worked on the island and overseas. His postings include hotels and resorts such as the Four Seasons Washington, D.C., the Four Seasons Punta Mita, Mexico, The Kahala Hotel in Honolulu Hawaii, and Rosewood Bermuda, where he was a member of the opening team and held several roles, culminating as managing director. In 2019, he was appointed General Manager of The Shore Club Turks & Caicos.
Phil Barnett
Phil Barnett is Managing Director and President of the Island Restaurant Group, operator of five restaurants, a brewery and an offsite catering operation. Prior to returning to Bermuda and founding IRG, he worked for the Spectra Group of Great Restaurants in Vancouver, BC. Barnett has served as a board member on the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, ultimately serving a full term as Chamber president. Formerly a member of the Board of Education, he currently sits on the Board of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts and is a member of the global YPO leadership organisation.
Joseph Best, Jr.
Joseph Best, Jr. holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Marketing degree from Cornell University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Endicott College. He holds certifications in Risk and Information Systems Controls, Information Systems Audit and is a member of ISACA and the Institute of Risk Management. His professional career includes experience at Morgan Stanley, Ernst & Young, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and the Internal Audit Department of the Bermuda Government. He serves on the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Earl (Butch) Graves, Jr.
Earl (Butch) Graves, Jr. is President & CEO of New York-based multimedia company Black Enterprise. He is responsible for the strategic positioning and overall profitability of the corporation, which includes magazine publishing, television production, digital media, and business and lifestyle events. Graves joined Black Enterprise in 1988, was appointed president and chief operating officer in 1998, and became CEO in 2006. Under his guidance, the company has expanded the reach of its signature magazine to include over four-million readers and successfully launched broadcasts into TV syndication.
Jessica Mello
Jessica Mello is proud to be one of the original 2013 founders of the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the BTA’s longest-serving director. She is a strategy consultant, having spent most of her career as a director at Deloitte Consulting and an economist at AECOM. She currently advises tech start-ups in Berlin, and has also worked in London, Bermuda and the Middle East.
Stephen Todd
Stephen Todd has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services sector, and since 2014 has served as Chief Executive Officer of both the Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) and the Hotel Employers of Bermuda. He is a past president of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce and Sandys Rotary Club. Todd has also held advisory roles in public policy on issues like immigration, labour and pensions. He is currently Chairman of the Bermuda Deposit Insurance Corporation (BDIC).