Meet our leadership team

Prior to joining Summit, Mr. Stanner was Chief Executive Officer at Strategic Hotels & Resorts, a former NYSE-listed company acquired by an affiliate of The Blackstone Group in 2015. During his tenure at Strategic Hotels & Resorts from 2005 to 2015, Mr. Stanner also held various other senior positions with the company, including Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President - Capital Markets, Acquisitions, and Treasurer and Director of Corporate Finance. Prior to his time at Strategic Hotels, Mr. Stanner was an investment banking analyst for Banc of America Securities.

Mr. Stanner holds both a B.S. in Management and an MBA from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

Prior to joining Summit, Mr. Conkling served as a Managing Director in the Real Estate, Gaming & Lodging Investment Banking group for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he oversaw the successful execution of transaction volume in excess of $190 billion including capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to his time at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr. Conkling was with the investment banking unit of Bear, Stearns & Co. and previously worked in asset management for Host Hotels & Resorts.

Mr. Conkling earned a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Previously, Mr. Eng served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the Company’s predecessor organizations where he was responsible for corporate compliance, focusing on real estate acquisitions and dispositions, franchise licensing, corporate insurance coverage, corporate governance and securities industry regulatory compliance. Mr. Eng earned his B.A. degree from Augustana College (S.D.) and his J.D. degree from the University of Denver College of Law.

Mr. Ruiz brings over 25 years of expertise in finance and accounting, business strategy, organizational operations, manufacturing and logistics, information systems and technology, private and public debt and equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, international expansion and operations, management of hyper-growth, divestitures and restructuring activities, and business transformations. Mr. Ruiz has previously served in senior executive financial, accounting and operational roles such as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Accounting Officer for companies in a variety of industries, including real estate and technology. Immediately prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ruiz was the Senior Director of Global Corporate Accounting for Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (now NXP), a global leader in semiconductors. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was an audit manager providing audit and business advisory services to entrepreneurial, rapidly growing and Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Ruiz is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a BBA in Accounting with highest honors from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA with highest honors from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.