Tom Kemp

Jan 6, 2023

Kemp and Sullivan shift roles as Jason Young becomes Northstar CEO Kemp and Sullivan shift roles as Jason Young becomes Northstar CEO Northstar Travel Group announced changes in its executive lineup as Jason Young joins the company as CEO. Tom Kemp, who previously held the titles CEO and chairman, will retain his chairman role, and Bob Sullivan, who had been president of the Travel Group division — which includes Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, TravelPulse, Business Travel News, Phocuswright and WiT — was promoted to chief commercial officer of Northstar. Young, whose appointment became effective Jan. 1, was most recently president of Chicory, a contextual commerce media company facing the consumer-packaged goods industry. He also had spent 20 years at Ziff-Davis Media, the last three as CEO. In addition, Young had founded Smart Device Media, a mobile advertising network, which was acquired by Crisp Mobile. He became CEO of the combined company. Following its purchase by Quotient Technology, he became its chief media and marketing officer. Bob Sullivan, who had been president of the Travel Group division was promoted to chief commercial officer of Northstar. Sullivan, who also retains his title as president of the Northstar Travel Group, is moving up from a division leadership position to a companywide, C-suite role. Young said he was “thrilled to have the benefit and opportunity to work with a leader like Bob, whose industry knowledge and expertise will be critical as Northstar looks to expand on its leadership position.” Sullivan said, “I am excited about the passion, experience and skills Jason brings into the business and am eager to work with him to unlock even more value for our customers and partners. I could not be more excited about the opportunity ahead for Northstar.” Kemp said, “We are thrilled to have Jason join Northstar as our new CEO to lead the company in our next strategic transformation as a content, marketing services, event and data company. I have known Jason for over 20 years as a visionary leader integrating data and technology into solutions for media companies and their clients.” Anup Bagaria (co-managing partner of EagleTree Capital, Northstar’s primary investor) and Michael Struble (EagleTree’s senior partner) offered thanks to Kemp for his leadership during his 14-year tenure and expressed excitement about Young’s new role in leading the company. Young said, “I am honored to join the team at Northstar. At a time of significant evolution in the media and digital ecosystem, Northstar’s market-leading brands and unparalleled content/data footprint provide essential benefits to the audience and for its travel marketing partners. I look forward to working with this amazing team and driving the next stage of strategic growth.”