ARDA Senior Staff

Howard Nusbaum 
President and Chief Executive Officer

Howard C. Nusbaum has served as President and CEO of ARDA since September 2000.  Over the past thirty years he has held executive hotel positions in the private sector as well as executive positions in  not for profit association management.  His role at ARDA includes serving as president of the ARDA Board of Directors, the AIF Board of Directors and the ROC Executive Committee.  He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the Institute for Organization Management at the University of Notre Dame.

Lou Ann Burney
Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Lou Ann Burney manages ARDA communications including branding, consumer outreach, media relations, publications, and public affairs initiatives. Prior to joining ARDA in 2005, she served as director of brand management and marketing for National Industries for the Blind. Her real estate background includes serving as Political Director for the National Association of Realtors. She earned a CAE designation from the American Society of Association Executives and an M.B.A. from Belhaven University.

Robert Craycraft, RRP 
Vice President of Industry Relations

Bob Craycraft joined ARDA as the organization's first Vice President Industry Relations in April 2005. Bob brings over 20 years in the travel industry including executive positions with American Airlines, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, ITT/Sheraton, and US Airways. His role at ARDA includes direction of the Membership and Advertising/Sponsorship functions, and representing ARDA to related industry associations . Bob is Staff Liaison to the Suppliers Council and the Construction & Design Council, and holds business degrees from The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinanti.

Sandra DePoy, RRP
Vice President of Federal Relations, ARDA-ROC/PAC

Sandra "Sam" Yartin DePoy is ARDA's Vice President for Federal and Regulatory Affairs.  In this capacity, Ms. DePoy's primary responsibility is to advance the Association's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch of government.  Sam closely monitors regulatory activities working with the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Election Commission as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  She joined ARDA in January, 1999, as Director of Federal Relations, ARDA-ROC and ARDA-PAC.  Sam is no stranger to the real estate and financial services industry having served as Director, Political Affairs, to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) and Director of Government Affairs for the National Association of Realtors.  She has five years of service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Rob Dunn
Vice President of Finance & Adminstration

Rob graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in January 1987 with a major in Accounting and minor in Economics.  After earning his CPA in June 1987, Rob spent the next four years working for Ernst & Young as an independent auditor.  From there, he spent the next ten years working in the Association industry, before joining ARDA in June 2000.  Rob oversees ARDA's accounting and finances and manages the daily administrative funtions of the organization.  Rob is the staff liaison to the Audit and Investment Committees.

 Jason C. Gamel
Vice President of State Government Affairs

 Jason joined ARDA in the fall of 2004 and is responsible for the overall direction and management of ARDA’s state and regional legislative and lobbying activities. As part of those duties, he is responsible for the management of ARDA’s state and regional committees and for directing ARDA’s efforts to build and maintain relationships between the various state and regional trade associations and the real estate regulatory community. He also serves as the in house general counsel for the association.
 
Prior to joining ARDA, he practiced law in Orlando and Los Angeles concentrating his efforts in the hospitality, resort development, and real estate law arenas. He has been admitted to the Arizona, California, and Florida bars. He received his JD from the University of Florida’s College of Law and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Randy J. Goodhope, RRP
AVP, Member Services

Randy Goodhope, associate vice president, member services of ARDA and has a more then 22 years of experience in the vacation ownership industry. He joined the association in March of 1997, his prior industry career began in February of 1988 with member company, Island One Resorts. Mr. Goodhope was the recipient of the 1996 ARDY award as Resort Staff member and earned both his Associate and Registered Resort Professional designations. A native of South Dakota, Randy earned a B.A. in commercial economics from SDSU. He currently serves as the staff liaison to the ARDA Membership Development Committee, the Resort Operations Council and the HOA Outreach Committees.

Keith Laurent
Vice President of Management Information Systems

In his capacity as ARDA's Vice President, MIS, Keith Laurent oversees the many facets of ARDA's technology needs, from network administration, custom programming, database management and the Internet to support for ARDA's meetings and convention and membership outreach. He also serves as staff liaison for ARDA's Technology Forum. A computer and information science graduate of the University of Maryland, Keith has been a member of the ARDA staff for 14 years, following a career with the U.S. Air Force. 

 Catherine Lacey, ARP
Vice President of Meetings and Conventions

Catherine Lacey is ARDA’s Vice President of Meetings and Conventions. She oversees all aspects of the association’s meetings (Convention, Fall Conference, Trustee Retreat and Regional Meetings) and the ARDA awards program. Catherine is the liaison to ARDA’s Meetings Committee and Awards Committee. Catherine has been in the meetings industry for over 15 years and holds a B.A. degree from Roanoke College in Salem, VA.

  
Stephany A. Madsen
Senior Vice President of Special Projects   

 In late 2005, Stephany retired as senior VP of state affairs, where for 15 years, she directed all of ARDA’s state legislative activities. She was instrumental in defeating, revising, and enacting legislation in more than 20 states. In 2005, ARDA gave Stephany the “Ingersoll and Block Industry Advocacy Award.” During her 22 years with ARDA, she also managed the Timesharing Council, public relations, and convention and educational program development.
 
Prior to joining ARDA in 1985, she was executive director for the Land Development Institute for 10 years where she edited several newsletters and books on timeshare and resort law. She holds a BS in English. 

Darla S. Zanini, RRP
Executive Vice President, ARDA International Foundation (AIF)

A twenty-eight year veteran of the vacation timeshare industry, Darla S. Zanini is currently the Executive Vice President of the ARDA International Foundation (AIF). ARDA is a non-profit trade association, located in Washington, D.C., representing the interests of over 1,500 resorts, including second home resorts, vacation timeshare developers, fractional interests as well as timeshare homeowners' associations and individual timeshare owners across the country. The AIF produces timeshare industry research and develops and administers education programming for industry professionals and university partners.

Prior to joining the AIF in 2001, Zanini served as a Vice President of Business Development at RCI. Zanini is a graduate of Ball State University.