Executive Hospitality and Tourism Management Series

Alycia Harshfield is Executive Director of the California Restaurant Association Foundation (CRAF), the philanthropic arm of the statewide advocacy group working on behalf of the Golden State’s 90,000 restaurant locations. In her time with the Foundation, Alycia has established several successful new programs, including Force in Training (FIT™), which focus on job readiness training for youth and Restaurants Care, an emergency assistance fund for restaurant workers facing unforeseen hardship. 

With an extensive background in nonprofit administration and a passion for charitable fundraising, Alycia joined the organization in 2009. In 2016, Alycia led the evolution of the organization to support educational initiatives, as well as the state’s foodservice worker population.

A longtime member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, she also is active with the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers. A native of Sacramento, Calif., Alycia studied Communication at Cal Lutheran and now lives in Carlsbad with her husband and two beloved dogs.

Mr. Holt is the founder, CEO, and Chief Believer of Urbane Cafe. He graduated from California Lutheran University with departmental honors in Kinesiology, with an emphasis in physical therapy.

After college, Tom opened a Juice Bar in Camarillo, CA called “Juice Stop”. Tom continued to open three more successful locations and developed one of the first Mobil juice trailers. In 2002, he sold all his juice bars to Robeck’s Juice, and decided to open his own restaurant concept. He saw the need for healthy and delicious sandwiches and salads centered around fresh baked bread. Urbane Cafe was born in September of 2003 in Tom’s home town of Ventura. In the summer of 2017, Urbane Café received an investment from Panda Restaurant Group to help with the growing expansion.

Tom enjoys time with his family, running, triathlons, skiing, and is passionate about supporting charities, such as Boys and Girls Club and Project Understanding. He is currently on the State Board of the California Restaurant Association and is an active member of Young Professional Organization.

Rudi Schreiner was born in Vienna. When he traveled to the Amazon in 1974, he designed his first ship, using what he could find to build a raft that would take him down the river during the next 5 months. Soon thereafter he started working in travel.

After years of success in the industry, Rudi decided to start his own venture. That’s when he teamed up with Kristin Karst and Jimmy Murphy to start AmaWaterways.

Now, just 15 years later, AmaWaterways is an award-winning cruise line whose fleet will number 22 ships in 2019.  Rudi was recognized by travel agents nationwide as the “Most Innovative River Cruise Executive” the last few years.  In June 2016, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) inducted Rudi into its Hall of Fame, presenting him with the prestigious "Lifetime Achievement Award." Informally dubbed the "Godfather of River Cruising" by many within the industry, Rudi has spent decades helping elevate river cruising to its current position as one of the most popular segments of the global tourism industry.