Curt Cornelssen

I spent most of my childhood summers traveling around the country with my family in a small twenty-one-foot travel trailer visiting and camping in National and State Parks. This instilled in me a love for our parks and our nation’s rich history. Most of my career has been focused on improving people’s quality of life, especially military members and their families. I have found that outdoor recreation in natural settings provides unique opportunities for improving physical and mental health and it’s an important component of military life.

Curt is the Vice President of Business Development and Solution Innovation at Sodexo where he has responsibility for improving and growing Sodexo’s extensive government foodservice operations. Curt led strategy and innovation offices at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he directed the joint service Healthy Base Initiative, and at Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, where he launched and guided the Air Force Food Transformation Initiative. Before that, he was a practice leader at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, where he managed the transformation of the National Park Service concessions system.

Curt served in the U.S. Army as a Club Officer, both in operations and as the Deputy Director of the Army Club Management School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University, Master of Science in Real Estate from MIT, and was a Senior Research Fellow at the George Washington University School of Business.