Senior Leadership Team

As Chief Marketing Officer for Houston First Corporation, Holly Clapham-Rosenow is responsible for creating and accelerating the company’s marketing strategy and Houston’s brand recognition across the globe.

Clapham-Rosenow has significant experience across marketing, management, branding, lead generation, public relations and strategic planning, retail marketing, organizational design and innovation. Under her leadership, the marketing team has received more than 100 local and national awards.

Clapham-Rosenow is a member of the American Marketing Association and sits on the Theater District Houston Association board and served on the 2004 Super Bowl Marketing Committee, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four Executive Team, 2017 Super Bowl Marketing Committee and as the Marketing Chair for the 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Clapham-Rosenow has been honored by many organizations for her work in marketing and communications She was inducted into the Houston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” class of 2013, received the 2019 Women Who Mean Business Award from the Houston Business Journal and was named of the Top 50 Women Leaders by Women We Admire in 2021.

Jorge Franz serves as Senior Vice President of Tourism and Industry Relations for Houston First Corporation. Franz is a 20+ year veteran at the company and oversees two departments including the Tourism department and the Houston Film Commission.

The Tourism Department is tasked with promotion and sales of Houston as a leisure destination to the travel trade industry in both domestic and international markets. The department oversees various initiatives designed to help promote Houston to potential visitors like the Houston Marketplace, the Houston Insider Program and Around Houston, a partnership with 15 destination marketing organizations near Houston.

The Houston Film Commission is responsible for marketing and promoting the greater Houston area to producers, production executives, and independent filmmakers as a film/TV/media production destination. This includes maintaining and providing industry resources such as a location database, crew directory, job board, and acting as a liaison to facilitate any production's local filming experience.

Franz most recently served as President of the organization previously known as the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau where he oversaw operations of the organization as well as interaction and value delivery for more than 800 members. During his tenure, he oversaw the transition and re-brand of the organization to the Houston Hospitality Alliance.

Franz is very active in the Tourism sector. He is a past Chair of the Texas Travel Alliance as well as Secretary of the Texas Association of CVBs. He has also served as Chair of the Governor of Texas’ Tourism Advisory Committee and on Expedia’s Media Solutions Select Board.

Franz was born in Santiago, Chile and has lived in Chile, Venezuela, Spain and the United States. He has also personally represented Houston around the world, working closely with several Houston mayors to attract visitors to Houston.

John S. Gonzalez, CMP is Senior Vice President and General Manager for Houston First venues, which include the George R. Brown Convention Center, Wortham Theater Center, Jesse H. Jones Center for the Performing Arts and Miller Outdoor Theatre. He served as longtime Senior Event Manager and Director of Guest & Event Services with the convention center before being promoted to Senior Vice President in January 2019.

Gonzalez has more than 25 years of experience in the convention/hospitality industry and currently oversees a team of 250 focusing on the day-to-day operations of the facilities. He manages an extensive operations budget for convention and cultural facilities and 200 contractual service employees for Audio Visual Services, Facility Services, Electrical & Telecommunication Services, Engineering Services, Food & Beverage, Housekeeping, Operations and Maintenance, and Security.

Gonzalez has been key to the success of major events held in Houston including Super Bowl XXXVIII and LI NFL Experience, NCAA Final Four, NBA All-Star events.

Gonzalez is a native Houstonian and very active in the community. He served 16 years in the U.S. Army Reserve which included multiple tours to Southwest Asia.

Biography coming soon!

Roksan Okan-Vick works with various public and private entities in the Houston region to further enhance quality of place for both Houstonians and visitors. This entails leading creative efforts and projects to improve the physical appeal of the Houston region, defining and creating iconic places, and enhancing existing facilities.

Her previous experience includes 11 years as executive director of Houston Parks Board, two years as director of the Houston Parks & Recreation Department, and six years as the executive director of the Hermann Park Conservancy. Prior to that, Okan-Vick managed numerous architectural projects throughout the US.

A native of Turkey, she earned a master’s degree in architecture from Rice University and a bachelor’s in architecture and urban planning from Istanbul Technical University. She is also a lifetime member of the American Institute of Architects, College of Fellows.

John Solis curently serves as the Senior Vice President of Convention Growth and Development with Houston First. In this role, Solis leverages his nearly four decades of experience and senior-level relationships with high-value customers and industry leaders to ensure the organization is booking the best convention business in the years to come. He also oversees Houston First's Client Services team. Solis most recently served as Senior Vice President of Convention Sales. 

Solis served as second in command at the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau prior to joining Houston. There he oversaw all strategies related to marketing, public relations, tourism, convention sales and services.

While in Houston, John has played a significant role in securing successful bids for: 2017 National Football League Super Bowl, 2023 Men’s Final Four Basketball Championship and the 2024 College Football Playoff Championship. 

David Tagliarino serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Houston First and is responsible for the company's commercial strategies and related business activities throughout its extensive portfolio of assets, properties, and rights. Tagliarino also works alongside the Convention Sales team to identify and negotiate strategic business opportunities, along with developing successful corporate and community strategies to assist in securing major events for Houston.

With more than 30 years of sports and entertainment experience, Houston native and University of Houston alumnus Tagliarino has been deeply involved in the evolution and growth of the Houston sports landscape over the last three decades. He has served in various leadership roles that assisted Houston in securing the rights in hosting some of the largest and most high-profile sports and entertainment events in North America.

Tagliarino previously spent five years as University of Houston Athletics’ Deputy Athletics Director & Chief Revenue Officer where he was responsible for all aspects of the department’s external and commercial activities including marketing, communications, ticket sales, box office, content services, broadcasting, licensing, merchandising, multi-media rights, special events and all other revenue-producing activities. During his time at University of Houston, Houston Athletics experienced unprecedented growth and success highlighted by its move into the Big 12 Conference in 2023.

Prior to the University of Houston, Tagliarino held a number of positions in sports management and related fields including Chief Operating Officer & Senior Vice President for Forever Orange, LLC (Dynamo and Dash), Director of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship Sales at SMG-NRG Park, and head of global sports marketing for Enron Corp. He also held leadership roles with the Houston Rockets, Houston Aeros, and Tampa Bay Lighting.

Nathan Tollett serves as Senior Vice President, Convention Sales at Houston First where he is responsible for creating long term strategies to maintain Houston’s position as a premier meeting and convention destination. He most recently served as Vice President, Citywide Convention Sales. Nathan is recognized for the creative client experiences he develops as he believes in providing targeted and customized solutions for all potential opportunities. 

Tollett began his hospitality career as an event manager at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center in 2002. He was the primary point of contact for the facility, assisting many major conventions in hosting and executing successful events. Following that, Tollett accepted a job as a national account executive with what was then the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau the predecessor organization to Houston First, where he booked a variety of significant meetings and conventions in the corporate and association market.

Completing his first tenure with the organization, Tollett then spent nearly two years as a national sales manager for the Las Vegas property, The Golden Nugget. That experience helped him round out the “hospitality trifecta”—giving Tollett the background from the facilities, destination and hotel perspective to better understand all of the aspects of the convention sales process.

Tollett rejoined the organization as Director of Sales in 2009 and then for 11 years oversaw the daily operations of the citywide sales team before assuming his current role in 2025. 

Meeting News honored Tollett as "Ones to Watch: 30 under 30” and he was also recognized in Connect Magazine as “Future Leaders of the Meeting Industry, 40 under 40” in 2011, and received the 2015 Maritz Global Events Supplier of the Year award.

Tollett holds a bachelor's degree in speech communications from Texas A&M University.

Paula Whitten-Doolin currently serves as the General Counsel for Houston First Corporation. She serves as the legal advisor/representative to senior leadership, provides counsel to various Boards of Directors and corporate Committees, assists with the associated corporate secretarial function and also oversees the Procurement function for the Company. Whitten-Doolin also serves on the Boards of Directors of various public and private companies and community institutions outside of her Houston First role.

Previously, as the General Counsel of Ideanomics, a multinational eV company, Whitten-Doolin oversaw the legal, human resources, and environmental, social, and governance departments. Paula led her teams as the organization went through significant changes and major challenges, including the acquisition and divestiture of subsidiaries and multiple capital raises.

As the Head of Legal, Americas for Neste, Whitten-Doolin served on the boards of four Neste subsidiary companies, including the board of Neste’s largest acquisition in the United States to present, Mahoney Environmental.  She successfully built a legal team in the Americas and helped to establish Neste as the pre-eminent sustainable aviation fuel supplier worldwide by negotiating contracts with companies including Delta Airlines and United Airlines.

Whitten-Doolin began her career as a litigator at Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP in San Francisco. She holds a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a BS from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Biography coming soon!

Frank Wilson serves as Chief Financial Officer of Houston First. He is responsible for the Finance, Accounting and Audit functions of the organization. Wilson also serves as Corporate Treasurer and Investment Officer of the corporation.

During the COVID 19 pandemic, Frank led HFC’s efforts to restructure its 2020 and 2021 operating budgets. His work helped secure over $11 million in federal stimulus funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and American Rescue Plan Act Programs, including three Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans totaling $8.8 million. Additionally, he led his team to restructure some of the company’s debt, loan facilities and tax-exempt bonds totaling more than $156 million. Those efforts achieved over $5 million in debt service savings, and importantly, allowed the company’s debt to maintain its bond ratings through the worse period of revenue contraction during the pandemic.

Before moving to Houston, the Oklahoma City native spent 20 years in Chicago as Finance Director for the City of Chicago’s Department of Police. His extensive experience in finance also includes eight years in the investment banking industry with both Chicago and New York-based firms.

Wilson earned his BA degree in Economics from Morehouse College, and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management with an international management concentration. In 2021, he earned certificates of completion for Destinations International’s Master Class in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business’ Strategic Thinking Program.

Luther Villagomez has served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Houston First Corporation since the organization’s formation in 2011. He has been associated with the George R. Brown Convention Center since it first opened in 1987 and began overseeing its daily operations in 1990.

Villagomez has been involved in many major events at the GRB, from its construction in the mid-1980s to the completion of a $165 million expansion project that virtually doubled its size in 2003. He has helped execute thousands of meetings and events in the facility over more than three decades and has managed multiple major infrastructure projects during his tenure including a redesign of the building completed in 2016.