Our Facilitators
Engage!24 Amalfi Coast is unlike any other Engage! event. This intimate retreat is focused on strengthening meaningful connections between 75 like-minded luxury event industry leaders. Through next-level engagement at this exclusive 5-star hotel, our focus will be on personal development, immersive wellness and professional growth, featuring outside-the-industry experts, peer-led discussions, and unique experiences. At each Retreat, we bring in a top professional facilitator to lead the conversations and maximize the personal and professional impact of our time together along with a carefully curated line up of global event industry leaders as peer discussion leaders.
As Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney, Duncan and his team helped Imagineering, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney Parks to innovate, creating magical new storylines and experiences.
He now brings his extensive Disney expertise to audiences around the world using a unique approach to Design Thinking, helping people capture unlikely connections, leading to fresh thinking and disruptive ideas.
Delivering a series of keynotes, workshops and ideation forums, his unique Innovation toolkit helps companies embed a culture of innovation into everyone’s DNA.
Duncan is a multiple TED speaker and contributor to Fast Company, Forbes & the Harvard Business Review. He teaches innovation Master Classes at Yale, Harvard, and Edinburgh University.
- Founder, Cheif Creative Officer
- www.rafanellievents.com
Bryan Rafanelli, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Rafanelli Events, is renowned for his ability to craft extraordinary weddings and events that leave a lasting impression. Recognized by esteemed publications, Rafanelli was honored as one of the Top Wedding Planners in the U.S. by VOGUE, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Harper’s Bazaar, one of the World’s Best Event Planners by Departures and DWP Insider, and “Man of the Moment” by Town & Country. With over 27 years of experience, Bryan has built a company known for its meticulous attention to detail and innovative design concepts. From intimate gatherings to grand celebrations, Bryan’s team brings a personalized touch to each event, ensuring a seamless and unforgettable experience for clients. Beyond weddings, Rafanelli Events specializes in destination events, corporate gatherings, sports hospitality, and non-profit fundraisers, showcasing their versatility and dedication to excellence. Bryan’s expertise and commitment to creating magical moments have earned him a reputation as one of the industry’s leading event planners.
- President, Michelle Rago Destinations
- michelleragodestinations.com
Michelle Lord Rago is an international planner, producer and designer. Her company is based in New York City but her experience and approach are global.
Michelle has worked in the field of entertaining and hospitality since graduating from the New York Restaurant School in 1988. In 2007 Michelle published a book, Signature Weddings: Creating a Day Uniquely Your Own.
Michelle’s greatest strength lies in interpreting the client’s preferences, assessing the possibilities and translating them into a well-planned and well-designed affair. Her years of hands on experience as a producer, design and planner have served her well for the complicated landscape of creating events worldwide.
Her recent projects in the Beckham Peltz wedding in Palm Beach, Sean McVay’s, coach of the Los Angeles RAMS to Veronika Khomyn as well as sound proofing a wine warehouse in Napa!
She and her team operate in many languages and cultures, although it is said Michelle’s native tongue is the Language of Determination.
Named one of the top Wedding and Event Designers in the world by Harper’s Bazaar, VOGUE, Brides and Martha Stewart Weddings, along with being recognized as Top 40 under 40, Rishi remains one of the most highly coveted event designers among discerning clientele and notable figures alike. An advocate for fully transformative design, he specializes in celebrations of all kinds – all while adhering to the firm belief that service and guest experience are the cornerstone to great events and the definition of true luxury. From galas, to weddings, to milestone celebrations, any event is in his wheelhouse.
An educational background in Finance and an MBA from Indiana University has afforded him the ability to lead the HMR team from a fiscal perspective – though it’s his artistic passion that allows him to design the fantastical events he is known for. As much of a creative visionary as an astute business leader, Rishi’s insistence on unconventionality has continuously transformed the landscape of event design while granting him the honor of designing events for some of the most notable figures, families and organizations in the world.
A loyal Chicago native and avid traveler, Rishi regularly seeks inspiration from whatever cultural landscape he can find himself in. The destination event and wedding world has allowed Rishi and the HMR team to embrace so many incredible regions and pockets of the world to create spectacular events. Regardless of the marvelous adventures in design that await him, Rishi will always consider himself an artist at heart.
- Founder and Creative Director, CLG Creative
- carrielgoldberg.com
Carrie Goldberg is the founder and creative director of CLG Creative, a fashion styling and creative consultancy serving personal, bridal, and corporate clients worldwide. With Carrie at the helm, CLG Creative’s body of work is further elevated by a top-tier team of stylists whose expertise spans the worlds of fashion, fine jewelry, e-commerce, travel, PR & Marketing, and more.
Throughout her work, Carrie channels her background in editing and art direction from her six- year tenure as the Weddings & Travel Director at Harper’s BAZAAR and prior to that as the Senior Fashion Editor at Martha Stewart Weddings. In collaboration with fashion and weddings’ best, CLG Creative strives to consistently elevate the look and feel of event fashion, creating looks that are print-worthy, refined, and tastemaking.