A MEETING and event professional in San Diego, CA, Clara Carter has pioneered the business case for diversity and inclusion in the coastal city’s tourism industry more than two decades ago. She now stands as a leading figure in her field, exemplifying the power of visionary leadership and community engagement.
Clara began her career facing and overcoming significant challenges, including sexism and social injustice. These experiences fueled her passion for creating more inclusive environments within the tourism industry. In pursuit of this vision, in 2004 she founded the Multi-Cultural Convention Services Network Inc. It offers global meeting, event management, consulting, and third-party hotel sourcing services.
A certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise under the U.S. Department of Transportation, MCCSN caters to a diverse clientele, including associations, corporations, and leisure travel clients. It has been instrumental in generating millions of tourism dollars for San Diego.
One of her most impactful initiatives is the creation of the Multicultural Familiarization Tours. These tours are designed to attract minority organizations to San Diego and highlight the city’s ethnically diverse cultural features. The tours successfully brought meetings from several high-profile organizations to the city, including the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, the National Medical Association, the National Optometric Association, and the National Bar Association. These events not only boosted the local economy but also encouraged San Diego’s business and government leaders to embrace more inclusive practices.
Building on her success with MCCSN, in 2016 Clara founded Women in Tourism and Hospitality International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting women professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry. WITH provides scholarships, mentorship, educational programs, and networking opportunities aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion.
The annual WITH National Conference and Awards Luncheon celebrates the achievements of women at all career stages and offers a platform for sharing success stories and strategies.
The event has since grown steadily, acquiring a national presence in 2021. The March 2024 event, held at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine in San Diego, has seen more than 250 attendees from across the country, along with her first title sponsor, the East Point Georgia Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Since hosting the first WITH Conference in 2021, Clara has made a concerted effort to include programming specifically designed for students and young professionals. Initially, she dedicated time at each conference for speed networking between WITH honorees and young professionals. This format allowed mentees the unique opportunity to engage directly with C-suite female leaders in tourism and hospitality. However, the demand for more time and interaction led Carter to significantly expand this segment.
Listening to the feedback from attendees, this year, Clara, with the assistance of Dari DeSousa, founder of DeSousa Professional Human Resources Group, and Whitney Taylor, senior catering sales manager at Hotel del Coronado, organized the first WITH Conference Student and Young Professional Development Day. The event transformed the speed networking session into a half-day program of learning, mentoring, and inspiration.
The program provided dozens of students and young professionals the chance to gain insights from 20 industry leaders through roundtable networking sessions, a Q&A panel discussion with female C-suite leaders, and three “Career Booster Breakout” sessions. During these sessions, students received one-on-one time with skilled human resources or hospitality leaders for resume reviews, mock interviews, and LinkedIn profile updates.
Clara’s mentorship philosophy is grounded in her own experiences and the guidance she received from mentors such as Jackie Martin from SCORE, an organization where retired executives volunteer to mentor small business owners, and Roy Jay, a pioneer in multicultural tourism. She emphasizes the importance of networking, persistence, and leveraging resources and actively mentors of young professionals, encouraging them to pursue their goals with determination and to seek out supportive networks within their niche.
She has received numerous accolades from the meetings industry and has been honored multiple times by the city of San Diego, with days being named in her honor by the mayor and city council in 2021, 2017, 2015 and 2007. In 2021, she was featured in the San Diego Black Pioneers Exhibition at the San Diego History Museum, recognizing her as a trailblazer in her community.
Beyond her professional achievements, Clara is deeply committed to mentoring and community service. She is an instructor for Meeting and Event Planning Certificate program at San Diego State University and has been an advisory board member for several organizations, including Rady Children’s Hospital (SECU chapter) and Mount Miguel High School’s Matador Business Academy.
A devoted caregiver, wife, mother, and grandmother, she cherishes her family, particularly her five grandchildren, whom she affectionately calls her “heartbeats.”
Clara’s journey from a young professional facing social injustices to an influential leader in the tourism and hospitality industry is a testament to her resilience, innovation, and dedication to diversity and inclusion. Through MCCSN and WITH, she has created platforms that not only generate economic benefits but also promote cultural richness and gender equity. Her story is one of inspiring change and community impact, underscoring the profound difference that visionary leadership can make in shaping inclusive and prosperous industries.
