Spanx Founder and CEO Sara Blakely to Headline 2020 Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series at the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference

Atlanta, GA (January 14, 2020) – The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, Noble Investment Group and Georgia State University are pleased to announce that Sara Blakely, founder and CEO of SPANX, will join Noble CEO, Mit Shah, for the 7th annual Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series on the main stage at the 2020 Hunter Hotel Investment Conference on March 20th held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

Sara was selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world and Forbes Magazine named Sara the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. In support of her mission to empower women, Sara created the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation and she signed The Giving Pledge committing to donate half of her wealth to charity. Today, Sara still owns 100% of the company and has never taken outside investment.

"Sara’s journey is one of vision and grit strengthened by her commitment to family and community and emboldened by her boundless generosity," said Shah. "Her story will serve as an inspiration to all, but particularly to our industry’s women leaders and our next generation of hospitality entrepreneurs and professionals."

The Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series was established and endowed at Georgia State University’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality, in the Robinson College of Business, in honor of Dr. Bharat Shah, a renowned leader and philanthropist. Dr. Shah, an immigrant to the United States, founded the series to share the intimate and diverse personal journeys of icons whose stories of struggle, perseverance, commitment and faith have led them to achieve the American Dream.

"Our goal as a conference is to provide sessions and speakers who are informational, inspirational, and who provide valuable insights not found anywhere else," said Lee Hunter, Conference Chair. "Sara Blakely exemplifies all of these, and we are grateful she is going to share her remarkable journey with us. We remain honored to host this incredibly significant speaker series and thank Mit and the Noble team for their leadership and dedication to our industry."

Over the years, Shah has brought thousands in attendance and a worldwide viewing audience into the living room for candid conversations with highly admired leaders including Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton; Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International; Tom Baltimore, Chairman, President and CEO of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc.; Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corp.; Mark Elliott, CEO of Hodges Ward Elliott; and his father, Bharat Shah, in the inaugural leadership speaker series. The Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series is open to industry participants and Georgia State University students who hold tickets for the conference.

Media Contacts

Cece Kintner | Hunter Hotel Advisors | cece.kintner@HunterHotels.net
Scarlett Reveron | Noble Investment Group | scarlett.reveron@nobleinvestment.com
Charlotte Garner | SPANX | cgarner@spanx.com

For additional information on the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, please visit hunterconference.com
For additional information on the Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series, please visit bharatmshah.com or robinson.gsu.edu/academic-departments/hospitality/about/bharat-shah

About Noble Investment Group

Since 1993, Noble has specialized in making income and value-add investments in upscale hotels throughout the United States. Through its private equity real estate funds, Noble has invested nearly $4 billion in communities throughout the country, creating thousands of jobs. As a fiduciary to state pensions, university endowments and foundations, Noble’s endeavors help to preserve and grow our limited partners’ capital which provides retirement benefits for our country’s teachers, policemen and firefighters as well as financial resources for students to attend college. For more information, please visit nobleinvestment.com

About Hunter Hotel Investment Conference

Hunter Hotel Investment Conference is an education- and networking-focused event for hotel investors. Long recognized as one of the nation’s top national hotel conferences, its goal is to provide accurate industry performance and trend information alongside unprecedented networking and educational opportunities. Entering its 32nd year, the annual conference is held March 18-20, 2020 in Atlanta, GA, and will host nearly 2,000 attendees. The conference is presented by Hunter Hotel Advisors, the nation’s leading investment advisory firm focused exclusively on the hotel industry.

About Georgia State University

Georgia State University provides its world-class faculty and more than 53,000 students from 170 nations and territories with unsurpassed connections to the opportunities available in one of the 21st century’s great global cities. A national leader in graduating students from diverse backgrounds including more than 3,000 international students, more African American students graduate each year from Georgia State than any other public or nonprofit higher education institution in the United States. Georgia State is the #1 public university in Georgia to confer undergraduate and graduate degrees to African-Americans, Asians and Latinos and is ranked the #2 most innovative university and #3 best undergraduate teaching experience in the United States.