SITE Mountain West Webinar - Sustainable Events

Session is sponsored by MGM Resorts International.

Sustainability is a strategic priority for many public and private sector organizations around the world. So it is natural that sustainability thinking is extending into events of all types. This interactive session will explain the broad nature of sustainability (it’s more than just plastics reduction!) and share how venues and planners can best collaborate to deliver memorable events for attendees while alsodelivering environmental and social benefits. You’ll learn how to set priorities, use sustainability to improve the attendee experience, and develop effective and creative sustainable event plans.

Speakers:

· Yalmaz Siddiqui, Vice President of Corporate Sustainability, MGM Resorts International. Chair of the EIC Committee for Sustainability & Social Impact, MGM Resorts International

Yalmaz Siddiqui is Vice President, Corporate Sustainability at MGM Resorts International. He leads the company’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) disclosure and reporting efforts, driving transparency and improving scores across the range of external ESG ratings that the company’s investors prioritize. He has a specific operational focus on MGM’s Environmental Management Program and ensuring the company meets its 2025 and 2030 goals related to energy, climate, water, and materials. To drive progress towards these goals, he collaborates extensively with leaders across core functions in the company including Design & Facilities, Hotel Operations, Supply Chain, Food & Beverage, Conventions, Digital Ventures and others. The programs he helps design serve to reduce the company’s main environmental impacts, enhance the brand, and meet the growing stakeholder expectations for more sustainable resorts, supply chains, events and experiences.

Prior to MGM, Yalmaz was Senior Director, Sustainability at Office Depot where he developed strategy and led many industry-leading environmental and social programs. He helped the company increase sales of environmentally preferable products from $1.2 Billion to $3.2 Billion, reduce total carbon emissions by 40%, and reach a ranking of #1 greenest large retailer in America in Newsweek’s green rankings, for three years. Before Office Depot, he was a management consultant at PwC and IBM where he focused on business-to-business customer strategy and operational performance improvement.

A global expert in sustainable purchasing, Yalmaz was the Founding Chair of the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council. Since joining MGM in 2016 he quickly developed expertise in sustainable events and was asked in 2020 to Chair the Events Industry Council Sustainability and Social Impact Committee. Finally, given his strong interest in food waste, he serves on the Board of ReFED, America's leading non-profit focused on using data and insights to reduce food waste across America.

Yalmaz has a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University in Canada and a Master of Philosophy in Environment & Development from the University of Cambridge in England.

· Brittany Price, Director of Sustainable Operations, MGM Resorts International

Brittany Price is the Director of Sustainable Operations at MGM Resorts International. She is responsible for operationalizing programs and initiatives that support MGM Resorts International’s sustainability goals while advancing the reputation and awareness of the Company’s sustainability efforts. She develops, manages and executes programs that engage, educate and excite the employee base around Sustainability, including the identification of strategies and best practices to reduce the environmental impacts of the company. She leads operational programs to manage materials and waste across 13 Las Vegas resorts and venues to successfully divert an average of 50,000 tons annually from landfill. She has a passion for managing food waste responsibility and has successfully developed and implanted a large-scale food donations program which has safely donated more than 2M meals into the community in the past 4 years. In addition, she executes sustainable events programming to drive convention sales business while helping environmentally conscience clients achieve their sustainability goals. And is responsible for developing strategy and marketing collateral to support sustainable initiatives including CSR reports, marketing videos, website and printed content.

Brittany most recently served as Director of Interactive Marketing for Luxor and Excalibur, where she oversaw the strategy and execution of both properties’ digital marketing initiatives for room reservations, entertainment, food and beverage, and other revenue generating operations. Brittany began her career with MGM Resorts in 2006.

Brittany earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has earned multiple professional certifications in sustainability strategy and circular economy through Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. She currently serves as a board member on the Governor’s Council on Food Security for Nevada and is a member of the Nevada Resort Association’s Working Group on Food Security to advance food waste management and donation practices in the resort industry.