Travel Oregon Executive Search Updates
The Oregon Tourism Commission is responsible for hiring the Executive Director of Travel Oregon pursuant to ORS. 284.142. Upon notification of the current CEO’s intent to retire, the Commission began organizing with the guidance from the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) and Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) to ensure the search process for the next Executive Director follows state best practices and Oregon’s public meetings and records laws.
This page is intended to provide status updates for those interested in this process, which will be updated as the process advances. All past Commission meetings and minutes where decisions were made about the process are available below and will also be updated throughout this process.
Current Status
- Search Subcommittee Established: The Commission appointed a Search Subcommittee, comprised of members of the Commission, delegating authority to manage the administrative process with a search firm and Travel Oregon staff, ensuring all decisions are presented and voted on by the full Commission.
- Search Firm Hired: In November the Commission accepted the recommendation of the Search Subcommittee to hire the firm Heidrick & Struggles to lead the search.
- Search Plan Timeline: Working with Heidrick & Struggles, a comprehensive search plan will be implemented in January 2026 including:
- Creating a job description to present to the full Commission
- Community engagement
- Timelines for recruitment and interviews
Anticipated Timeline (subject to change):
- January and February 2026
- Adopt hiring standards, criteria and policy directives
- Announce the job vacancy
- Public engagement sessions
- Screen candidate applications
- Spring 2026
- Interview candidates
- Announce the hire
Commission Actions and Decisions:
October 8, 2025 – Oregon Tourism Commission Meeting, virtual
- Commission holds a public meeting to welcome Heather Miller and Nick Pearson as new Commission members and establish a CEO Search Subcommittee
November 14, 2025 – Oregon Tourism Commission Meeting, virtual
- CEO Search Subcommittee holds a public meeting to outline the Intermediate RFP process for a qualified executive search firm and votes to recommend Heidrick & Struggles search firm to a full Commission vote.
December 3, 2025 – Oregon Tourism Commission Meeting, Corvallis
- Commission holds a public meeting that includes an update that the contracting process with Heidrick & Struggles search firm is underway and a CEO compensation study is underway via a third-party firm