Airport Experience® News - Leadership 2022

Being entrusted and valued is also a key theme for Knipp. “I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t say clearly how I value the time that I spent in Asia and Japan,” Knipp says. “I was trusted by the CEO of American Airlines to go into those markets, not just to manage the company, but in the case of Japan to go in and restructure the focus of the company. That was incredible for me.” At Airport Dimensions, Knipp says the way the company maneuvered through the pandemic and came out with growth projections that are stronger than they were in 2019 is a testament to strong leadership and teamwork. “The Airport Dimensions team, globally, is very connected and very supportive of each other,” she says. “It was such an amazing inspiration to me that the leadership from Mignon and everyone was, ‘When we come out of this, we’ve got to be a stronger company. We’re going to be growing faster than we may

development director and worked her way up from there, eventually landing in her current role. She also joined the Collinson Board of Directors, becoming the first female on the Board. Over her multiple years at Collinson, Buckingham was charged with running the company’s loyalty business and growing the global footprint by opening numerous international offices. Those experiences, she says, were “a privilege both in terms of the people that I worked with, the exposure that I got to different countries and cultures and people, as well as working with some really interesting clients and projects.” “I value that as an achievement,” Buckingham continues. “I also appreciate being a female board member and, in fact, the first female board member of Collinson. I’ve been lucky to have been given the support [that enabled] my career to develop within the group. And I really do feel proud to have been asked to be the global leader for Airport Dimensions. I filled the shoes of a very exceptional and capable man. I felt it was quite an honor to be entrusted with the business that he’d really helped to establish and set up.”

have thought we were going to,’ and that’s exactly the direction that we’ve gone.” Knipp credits the leadership at American Airlines as well as the current Collinson leadership with helping her to become the executive she is today. “I was really fortunate to have really strong leadership at the airline and working with various airports throughout my career,” she says. “And now with Collinson, certainly that hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s even gotten stronger.” Giving back, Knipp says she is active in an internal organization called Women in Collinson that seeks to develop a newgeneration of leaders. “From mentoring perspective, I always make myself available to give guidance and help and direction,” she says. “There have been a fewpeople I’veworkedwith– a few ladies I’ve worked with particularly - where I have helped grow their confidence and understand how to be comfortable in their voice. Flipping the roles, Knipp says she finds another Collinson program valuable, this one focused on “reverse mentoring,” where individuals who are in the early years of their careers connect with senior executives to share their viewpoints. “It allows us to get insight as to what they’re looking for in their career…and learning what they perceive as being the challenges in growing their careers.” She notes the program allows not only inter generational conversations, but allows senior leadership to gain perspectives from those of another gender, ethnicity or other diversifier. Both Buckingham and Knipp are proud of the paths they’ve forged to reach key leadership positions at Airport Dimensions andCollinson. And Buckingham says continuing the pipeline of qualified women is crucial. “I think it’s great for younger women coming into the organization to see that there are role models, there are women in senior positions,” she says. “We alsomust make sure that we’re taking care of their career and that we are measuring not just the number of women that we are bringing into the organization but also measuring against the internal promotion of men.” As the company grows and succession planning continues, Knipp notes that the company’s commitment to diversity has resulted in an array of talented individuals coming to the fore. “Mignon and I have been lucky enough to be in the position where we look for talented individuals that can take on the job and accomplish it, but we don’t have a narrow track to what we think that individual should be,” she says. “That has resulted in being able to bring in some really strong female leadership and strong female managers who can help guide us into the future.”

Below, Right: Airport Dimensions has diversified its offerings in two global markets to include a gaming lounge called Game Space.

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