About us

We transform how business feels so people and brands can thrive together.

Our global community of companies

ITA Group helps leading brands around the world take action with confidence, resulting in increased sales, purchases, retention, referrals and alignment. 

Through events, incentives, recognition, loyalty, research and learning, we’re transforming how business feels for employees, channel partners and customers while helping brands create connections, motivate audiences and drive purposeful change.

ITA Group Family of Companies Logo

What we do

ITA Group designs and executes custom-crafted engagement solutions that motivate employees, channel partners and customers anywhere in the world.

Leading brands rely on ITA Group to understand their business, industry, audience and objectives, and to create one-of-a-kind experiences that exceed their desired business goals. 

Our story

1963 set the tone for service and quality 

What started as a travel company with a goal of creating unique client experiences has evolved into a global engagement agency that continues the initial dream of our founders Rudy and Jerry Berg. From the beginning, we’ve focused on providing exceptional service and delivering quality experiences to our clients, program participants and communities. 

Service and quality extends to our own team members, as well. That’s never been more evident than in 1987 when the original shareholders made ITA Group 100% employee-owned to spread the wealth (literally) to all team members. As employee-owners, each team member has a vested interest in the success of ITA Group and our clients. 

Expanded capabilities to serve our clients

Over the years, ITA Group added industry-leading capabilities to continue serving our clients. In the 2000s, ITA Group evolved into a performance-improvement organization and revealed a full suite of solutions consisting of events, incentives, employee experiences, channel partner solutions and customer solutions.

Personalized awards experiences. Activities curated based on attendee interests. Technology that helps participants understand their individual goals. Everything we do customizes audience experiences to achieve clients’ objectives.  

Trust and transparency are in our roots

It’s second nature to approach clients’ businesses—and our own—with integrity and transparency. We support the communities we live, work and play in through volunteer and monetary give-back opportunities. We are transparent internally so all team members know what we’re focused on and how we’re doing. People trust ITA Group to do what’s right because it’s what we’ve always done.

Innovation inspires evolution

One thing is certain: We’re not OK with the status quo. From the first travel experience in the ‘60s to becoming a global brand with 17 offices, 700 employee-owners and a family of companies, we've maintained an innovative mindset. We desire to grow our solutions and company to increase the positive impact on clients, community, participants and each other.

A client-first mentality is the center of all we do. One-size-fits-all solutions don’t work, so we created EPIC Design to craft each client solution uniquely for their brand. We use Empathy, Purpose, Impact and Context to better understand a client’s brand, program participants, purpose and goals, resulting in consistent, measurable impact.

Who we are

Acting like we run the place isn’t a matter of role playing—it’s how business gets done. Being 100% employee-owned means everyone always has a seat at the table and a say in what matters. Collectively, we foster a welcoming and safe environment where each person, with their unique background, education and perspective, is valued and has the power to impact our organization. 

We take pride in the company we own

Ownership is the most powerful tool we have at ITA Group. It's a "We've got this!" mindset that drives how we show up every day and how we make decisions. Our ability to grow as an organization depends on each of us taking initiative in finding creative, innovative ways to improve.

Local communities have our support

Our team members take part in amazing initiatives to improve environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact on our client programs, in our communities and at ITA Group.

We take pride in what we do, lead by example and hold ourselves to the highest accountability standards.
We’re innovators who constantly design and execute personalized engagement solutions to solve our clients’ business issues. And we’re always prepared to navigate any unexpected challenges.
We welcome and value people for who they are. Whether it’s our gender-neutral smart casual dress code, ESG committees or cultural celebrations, we honor and celebrate what makes our people uniquely them.
We’re known for our people-first mentality in how we support each other, give back to communities using 20 hours of Volunteer Time Off during the year and provide superior service to clients. Serving Others is just a natural part of who we are.
We genuinely enjoy each other’s company and celebrate our successes with social events like the all-team Summer Celebration, ITA Hooray get-togethers, friendly competitions and volunteer opportunities.

What would I do without you?! I am so grateful for how you've taken on this project with a positive attitude, attention to detail and speed. We are in a great position for launch thanks to all of your hard work. I appreciate you!

Your unwavering assistance and troubleshooting acumen with this project is truly appreciated. Any and all questions were answered with urgency and accuracy, and I thank you for your dedication.

Thank you for being you and always making sure your voice is heard from a front-end perspective or business perspective. It has really helped to create a better work environment for us both and I personally appreciate your authenticity.

Thank you for reaching out and asking what you could do to help today! You are an awesome team member already, but you really helped out and served your team today. I just wanted to recognize you and let you know that I appreciate you.

You make it look easy, but the volume and number of programs that you touch and plan each month is amazing. You do it with ease and grace. Thanks for being committed to our success—you do a great job of keeping our clients/stakeholders happy.

Our leaders

Each leader brings their own energy and expertise to ITA Group that helps us achieve higher levels of success. 

Brent Vander Waal

Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Tim Heaston

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Lou Ebinger

Chief Legal Officer

Sarah Haines

President, Event Solutions

Rob Danna

Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Chris Jones

Senior Vice President, Engagement Solutions

Maura McCarthy

Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Jason Katcher

Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Carrie Valster

Senior Vice President, Award Services & Client Services

Kristin Brandenburgh

Vice President, Channel Partner Solutions

Kathy Schnack

Vice President, People & Culture

We’ve been recognized by the best

  • Great Place to Work® and Fortune: Best Medium Workplaces; Best Workplaces for Women; Best Workplaces in Consulting and Professional Services; Top 100 Best Small & Medium Workplaces
  • PEOPLE Magazine's 100 Companies That Care in 2024: Employers Putting Their Communities First
  • The Forrester Wave™: Channel Incentive Management (CIM): Named among Top Channel Incentive Management Companies
  • CMI 25: Service Awards—15 years running
  • Event Marketer: Best Places to Work in Events
  • MarCom Awards: 225 awards in the last 11 years
  • ALS of Central Iowa: Volunteer of the Year Award
  • ESOP Association Awards Annual Awards for Communications Excellence (AACE)
  • CIO Review: 20 Most Promising HR Tech Solution Providers
  • WorldatWork: Seal of Distinction
  • United Way of Central Iowa: Hand Raiser Award; Spirit of Central Iowa Award
  • BizBash Event Experience Awards: Best Incentive Program
  • SpotMe: Top Event Management Company
  • Technology Association of Iowa: 2023 Prometheus Award, Creative Technology Solution of the Year for AI-Powered Channel Sales Claims Product
Great Place to Work Strong Channel Incentive Performer CMI-25 Best Places to Work in Events Marcom Awards WorldatWork Seal of Distinction United Way of Central Iowa Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services logo for BizBash EEA Best Incentive Program Winner logo for Top Event Management company

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