Aviation Committee RFP Panelist Biographies
Mitch Cwanger
Mitch Cwanger is a Practice Leader in American Express Business Travel Advisory Services. He is responsible for developing the Air Practice line, which includes Business Development support, Supplier Relations liaison, creation of cutting edge, next-generation client solutions, and serving as the primary media relations contact.
Prior to joining Advisory Services, Cwanger was an integral member of the eCLIPSE Advisors Air Procurement Team, where he developed many of the reports and strategies still used by clients today, and managed the Air programs for many of Business Travel’s largest and most complex global clients.
Prior to his tenure at American Express and eCLIPSE Advisors, he worked in Supplier Relations and Corporate Strategies at Rosenbluth International. He is a 2006 American Express Ambassador’s Club and 2004 President’s Club award winner with more than 12 years of experience in the airline industry, and serves on the NBTA Aviation Committee. Cwanger holds an MBA from Temple University and a BA in Economics from Rutgers College. He is based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.
Doug DeBaltzo is a Senior Travel Category Manager for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP (AZ) located in Wilmington, DE. He has been with AZ since October 2006. He is responsible for the Travel and Corporate Card programs.
Prior to AZ, he was the Travel Operations Manager for NCR Corporation in Dayton, OH. Doug has served in both Business Development and Account Management/Client Services Director roles for Carlson Wagonlit Travel as well as with Citicorp Diners Club. Doug has been in the travel business for over fifteen years. He is active in the local Philadelphia BTA chapter and was an active member in the Ohio Valley BTA previously. He resides in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
He is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford OH with a BS degree and major in Finance.
Jack Lever, CCTE
Global Travel Manager
Booz Allen Hamilton
Jack Lever has 19 years of travel industry experience. In 2007, Jack joined Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Virginia where he is responsible for the Travel Program as well as the Corporate Card program that services over 10,000 travelers. Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, Jack’s extensive experience included: Manager of Travel and Meeting Services at Ingersoll Rand, Vice President Travel Supplier Management at Wachovia and Fleet and Hotel Manager at Bayer Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA.
A member of the National Business Travel Association Jack was awarded the NBTA CPC Business Travel Professional Service award in 2004. Jack has served on the NBTA Hotel Committee and currently is serving on the NBTA Aviation Committee. Jack is active in the Pittsburgh Business Travel Association and the Northern Virginia Business Travel Association.
A speaker and panelist at several NBTA conventions, Jack has also served as a panelist for ACTE and the SABRE users conference.
Jack holds a BS in Finance from West Virginia University.
Barry Rogers
As Director, Air Program Management Practice at TCG Consulting, helps clients identify hundreds of millions of dollars of real, achievable savings in travel services. Barry's leadership has resulted in the development of many pioneering travel management solutions for TCG. He is responsible for bringing new innovations to TCG's already impressive Strategic Airline-sourcing Model (SAM), implementing the airline monitoring and compliance compatibility, and introducing the new low-fare carrier utilization analyzer. Additionally, Barry's expertise has led him to design and implement a global data consolidation and reporting capability still in operation in over sixty countries.
Prior to joining TCG in early 2003, Barry served as Chief Information Technology Officer for a leading corporate travel management company and Vice President of Industry Relations for the Global Travel Services division of EDS. He also founded and built a leading travel procurement and souring consultancy. Barry was a founder and served as a board member of the Independent Travel Technology Association.
In 2005, he received ACTE's Distinguished Fellow Award for his contributions to the organization.
Barry received degrees in mathematics and computer science from Antioch College. He has lived and worked extensively overseas, including five years in India.
Fred Ruggiero
Fred Ruggiero is the Director of Sales Eastern USA & Latin America for Cathay Pacific Airways, based out of their sales office in New York, NY. In his current position, Fred oversees the passenger sales efforts for the Eastern USA and Latin America region.
Fred started with Cathay Pacific Airways in 1984 as an Account Manager in Northeastern USA and has seen the airline grow from its simple beginnings to become one of the most admired international carriers today.
Outside of Cathay Pacific Airways, Fred is the Chairman of Airlines Sales Managers Association of New York, a Board member of the Hong Kong Association of New York and a member of Skal International New York. Previously, he also served as the President of the Hong Kong Association of Southern California.
Jim Sisco
Jim has been in the Travel Industry for 14 plus year. Jim started his career with Continental Airlines in 1994. He held position in Airport Operations, Corporate Sales Programs Analysis, Field Sales and Global Sales.
In early 2006, Jim left Continental Airlines and moved into the Corporate Travel Procurement Group at Accenture. He spent 2 years as the North America Category Lead for travel related services. Jim was Responsible for delivering standardized Sourcing and Category Management services for the Airline, Airport Parking, Car Rental, Ground Transportation, Traveler Security Services, Passport & Visa Services, Charter Aircraft and Fractional Jet Ownership travel sub-categories.
In March of 2008, Jim accepted the Global Travel Director position with Reed Elsevier. He has responsibility for global travel procurement, travel agency operations and vendor management.
Jim holds active memberships with the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), the Midwest Business Travel Association (MBTA) and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). He currently sits on the NBTA “Aviation Sub Committee” and actively participates in various Travel Forums throughout the year.
Jim is married with two (2) children. The majority of his personal time is spent chasing 3 year old daughter Taylor and 2 year old son Nathan around. Other interests include; Fishing, Flying, Golf, Hockey and Running!