Explore Oak Ridge appoints Kendall as interim president

Posted at 1:12 pm October 2, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Lisa Kendall

Explore Oak Ridge, the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, announced Friday that it will appoint Lisa Kendall to the position of interim president.

Marc DeRose, the former president of Explore Oak Ridge, announced in late August that he planned to resign from the position in September to pursue other career goals after four years, but he would remain in the position until September 30 (this past Sunday) to assist in the search and transition to a new president.

Kendall currently serves as vice president of Explore Oak Ridge, and she oversees visitor event development and support, a press release said. Since joining Explore Oak Ridge in 2015, Kendall has led many initiatives to enhance the economic impact of visitors on Oak Ridge, the press release said.

Through various partnerships, Kendall was able to help recruit and support visitor events like the 2017 USRowing Masters National Championship, 2018 US Cycling National Championship Time Trials, and the 2018 National Enduro Series Downhill Mountain Bike Championship, to name a few, the release said. In 2020, Oak Ridge will be host to the NCAA National Rowing Championships.

“Lisa has single-handedly reshaped the way Oak Ridge attracts visitors,” DeRose said in the press release. “Her efforts have been critical in recruiting several prestigious visitor events to Oak Ridge. These events gave the city national exposure as well as generated millions of dollars for the local economy.”

Kendall is an East Tennessee native, and she is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with degrees in mechanical engineering and finance. She lives in Oak Ridge with her family.

Kendall was to begin her term as interim president on Monday (October 1), and she will serve until the position is permanently filled, the press release said.

Explore Oak Ridge is a nonprofit organization that provides destination marketing for the City of Oak Ridge.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.