Officers & Directors
Senior Management
Mr. Stockton has served as Chief Executive Officer of Braemar Hotels & Resorts since November 2016 and as President since April 2017. He brings a wealth of real estate experience and accomplishments to Braemar Hotels. He spent over 15 years at Morgan Stanley in real estate investment banking where he rose from an Associate to Managing Director and regional group head. At Morgan Stanley, he was head of EMEA Real Estate Banking in London, executing business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He was also appointed co-head of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Banking Group, he was responsible for a team across Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Mumbai. He left Morgan Stanley in 2013 to become President & CEO-Americas for OUE Limited, a publicly listed Singaporean property company with over $5 billion in assets. Most recently, Richard served as Global Chief Operating Officer for Real Estate at Carval Investors, a subsidiary of Cargill with approximately $1 billion in real estate investments in the US, Canada, United Kingdom and France. Mr. Stockton received an MBA in Finance and Real Estate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration.
Mr. Coe has served as Chief Accounting Officer since January 2024 and has served in that capacity for Ashford Inc. and for Braemar since January 2024, and has served as the company's principal financial officer since March 31, 2026. Prior to serving as Chief Accounting Officer, Mr. Coe served as the Senior Vice President of Accounting of Ashford Inc. since July 2015. As Senior Vice President of Accounting, Mr. Coe was responsible for overseeing most of the accounting functions for Ashford Inc. and each of its advised platforms, including the Company and Braemar. Such functions include tax, financial reporting, corporate controller, portfolio accounting, internal audit, information systems, acquisitions and special projects. Prior to joining Ashford Inc., Mr. Coe was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young LLP and served since 2006 in various Assurance and Advisory roles for public and private companies in the airline, real estate, medical device and other industries domestically and internationally.
Mr. Coe holds Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy degrees from Texas State University - San Marcos and is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of Texas.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Plohg held progressively senior legal positions at Ashford since 2014, and earlier served in leadership roles at multi-billion dollar investment firms and family offices including MeehanCombs, LP, Alden Global Capital, Smith Family Office LLC, and Highland Capital Management, L.P., where he managed legal, operations, compliance, and strategic and financial investment transactions. He began his career as a corporate and litigation associate at the international law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright.
Mr. Plohg serves on the Advisory Board of Brighter Children and various private business boards. He holds a J.D. from Baylor University School of Law and a B.B.A. from Texas A&M University and is admitted to practice law in the Great State of Texas. Mr. Plohg has been featured in several industry publications and writes and speaks frequently at industry, professional and community publications and events.
Board of Directors
Mr. Stockton has served as Chief Executive Officer of Braemar Hotels & Resorts since November 2016 and as President since April 2017. He brings a wealth of real estate experience and accomplishments to Braemar Hotels. He spent over 15 years at Morgan Stanley in real estate investment banking where he rose from an Associate to Managing Director and regional group head. At Morgan Stanley, he was head of EMEA Real Estate Banking in London, executing business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He was also appointed co-head of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Banking Group, he was responsible for a team across Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Mumbai. He left Morgan Stanley in 2013 to become President & CEO-Americas for OUE Limited, a publicly listed Singaporean property company with over $5 billion in assets. Most recently, Richard served as Global Chief Operating Officer for Real Estate at Carval Investors, a subsidiary of Cargill with approximately $1 billion in real estate investments in the US, Canada, United Kingdom and France. Mr. Stockton received an MBA in Finance and Real Estate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration.
Mr. Bennett is the Founder, Chairman, & Chief Executive Officer of Ashford Inc. and is also the Founder & Chairman of both Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) and Braemar Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BHR).
Ms. Evans has served as a member of the Board of Directors since July 2019. Ms. Evans is an award-winning business journalist, entrepreneur, and editor since 1980 and is the Founder & Publisher of CandysDirt.com and SecondShelters.com, vertical business-to-business websites devoted to the North Texas real estate industry and vacation home sales market. Her unique sites, founded in 2011, are among the highest read in Texas for local real estate & breaking news. The award-winning content is published daily by a staff of editors, with a subscription base of over 33,000 people. Banner, display and native ad sales have increased more than 10% per year since the sites were founded. Ms. Evans is also a contributor to Forbes.com focusing on real estate. Ms. Evans has worked as an editor for DMagazine Partners, where she helped found the award-winning DHome Magazine in 2000. In addition, she conceived and created a successful real estate blog on the DMagazine URL in 2007-2010, DallasDirt.com. Prior to her long tenure at DMagazine, Ms. Evans worked for CBS News in New York, WBBM-TV in Chicago, KDFW-TV in Dallas, and has written for many publications in print and online, including Newsweek, Home, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Business Journal, D CEO, Modern Luxury Dallas, AOL Real Estate, Joel Kotkin's The New Geography, Medical Economics, The Fort Worth Star Telegram, Adweek, Texas Business, and others.
Mr. Rinaldi has served as a member of the Board since November 2013. Mr. Rinaldi is a licensed attorney whose practice has focused on representing businesses in a broad range of complex commercial litigation and appellate matters, including securities class action lawsuits, director and officer liability, real estate, antitrust, insurance and intellectual property litigation. Mr. Rinaldi is the General Counsel of Qantas Healthcare Management, LLC and its affiliated medical facilities, a position he has held since June 2017. Mr. Rinaldi served as Senior Counsel with the law firm of Dykema from July 2014 through June 2017. Mr. Rinaldi also served as an elected representative of Texas House District 115 in the Texas House from 2015 to 2019. Previously, Mr. Rinaldi practiced law as a solo practitioner from November 2013 to July 2014 and served as counsel with the law firm of Miller, Egan, Molter & Nelson, LLP from 2009 to November 2013. Prior to joining Miller, Egan, Molter & Nelson, LLP, Mr. Rinaldi was an associate attorney at the law firm of K&L Gates LLP from 2006 to 2009 and an associate attorney at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, LLP from 2001 to 2006, where he defended corporate officers and accounting firms in securities class action lawsuits and assisted with SEC compliance issues. Mr. Rinaldi has extensive experience in federal, state and appellate courts and has represented and counseled a broad spectrum of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, 'Big Four' accounting firms and insurance companies, as well as small businesses and individuals. Mr. Rinaldi has a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Boston University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics, cum laude, from James Madison University.
Ms. Odino-Johnson is the Executive Lead and National Vice-President of Direct Response Marketing and Constituent Experience at the American Heart Association, a position she has held since April 2018. Previously, Ms. Odino-Johnson served as the Chief Marketing and Sales Officer of Main Event Entertainment, LP from December 2015 to March 2018. Ms. Odino-Johnson served as the Chief Marketing and Culinary Officer of Bob Evans Farms from December 2013 to October 2015. Additionally, Ms. Odino-Johnson served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Culinary Officer at Dine Brands Global Inc. from November 2008 to July 2013, where she led marketing efforts for restaurant brands such as Applebees. From January 2004 to February 2008, Ms. Odino-Johnson served as Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Global Branding Officer for Brinker International, Inc. Ms. Odino-Johnson spent 16 years at PepsiCo, Inc. in various marketing and sales positions including General Manager and Vice-President of Marketing for Frito-Lay North America, with direct financial and strategic planning responsibility for the profitable growth of the $3.8 billion Doritos and Cheetos business unit, representing 30% of Frito-Lay North America. She grew the Cheetos brand from $500 million to $1 billion and launched Baked Lay’s, resulting in $250 million in sales in the first year, representing Frito-Lay’s most successful launch. Ms. Odino-Johnson received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Finance from Dallas Baptist University, from which she graduated magna cum laude. She also graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
Ms. Odino-Johnson has served on the Alex Lee Family of Companies board of directors since February 2016. She has served on the Advisory Boards of Zubi Farms and Data Axie since July 2020 and May 2021, respectively, and previously served on PepsiCo’s Latino/Hispanic Advisory Board. Ms. Odino-Johnson has been a member of the Chief Marketing Officer Council since September 2020.
Ms. Sirna, age 46, is the owner and principal of Design 11 Studio, LLC (“Studio 11 Design”), a full-service interior design firm for the hospitality and leisure industries. Studio 11 Design was founded in 2011 and focuses on two verticals: Brand Bottega, a brand identity and design component, as well as Lou Verne by Studio 11 Design, an in-house creative team specializing in art curation, creation and styling. Ms. Sirna has worked in the design industry for more than two decades. She serves on the Hospitality Design Magazine board and has judged the HD Awards and Wave of the Future Awards. She’s a gold-level recipient of American Business Awards’ Woman of the Year and has been covered as a leading entrepreneur by various notable media outlets including Boutique Design, Hospitality Design, CNN, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, and Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Batis serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Ashford Inc. In this role, Mr. Batis oversees the company’s day-to-day operational execution across the organization. He is responsible for driving operational performance, refining acquisition strategies, and strengthening oversight to support sustained growth across the Ashford Group of Companies.
Prior to this position, Mr. Batis served as Executive Vice President of Operations for Ashford since October 2022. In that capacity, he oversaw operations for both Ashford’s asset management advisory business and its hospitality products and services business. Previously, as Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management, he led the acquisition and investment process for several key assets and businesses, including OpenKey, J&S Audio Visual (now INSPIRE), Lismore Capital, Kalibri Labs, PURE Rooms, and RED Hospitality and Leisure. Mr. Batis also held roles in Ashford’s Asset Management department, managing portfolios of hotels for Ashford, Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT), and Braemar Hotels & Resorts (BHR), and earlier led its Capital Management group, directing renovation and repositioning initiatives for hotels.
Before joining Ashford Inc. in 2013, Mr. Batis was a Vice President at investment bank Houlihan Lokey, where he led real estate valuation efforts, and assisted clients with mergers and acquisitions and finances. Prior to Houlihan Lokey, he worked for Integra Realty Resources in Chicago, valuing commercial properties across the Midwest.
Mr. Batis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Northwestern University.