Meet Elisabeth Kaufman

Elisabeth Kaufman EMA Advisory Board Member

Find out more about EMA’s Board Member Elisabeth Kaufman, Logistics Director at Institutional Investor. Delve into her journey and discover Elisabeth’s aspirations for EMA. 


Tell us a bit about yourself

I grew up in Houston, Texas, with a family of 4 girls (3 sisters).  I moved to NY after University to work in the Advertising business.  I spent 24 years in NY working for Young & Rubicam, DDB Needham and Saatchi & Saatchi in account management.  I then segwayed into working for the GAP and all its PR and Events divisions. 
Almost ten years later, I joined Institutional Investor, working first in their NY office and then, two years later, transferring to the London office. I have worked for the company for 22 years, and I am currently the Logistics Director.

I met my husband in NY, and we moved to London together when I was transferred. We also spend time in Spain, where we have a home. 

 

Where/how did your journey start in the events world?

After my 5 years working for the GAP and all its PR and Events divisions, I then went to Morgan Library, running their events and donor programme.  After 3 years, I accepted a job at Institutional Investor in NY in the conference division. You now know how the rest of the story goes…

What made you want to get involved in EMA?

I was on the Board of the Council of Protocol Executives, which was a peer-to-peer events industry organisation in New York.  When I moved to London, I wanted to start something similar in the UK.  I worked with Richard Waddington to launch EMA in the UK.  

What event trend do you think will be most impactful to event planners?

AI and Technology.

In addition, the changing economy after Covid and Brexit.  Therefore creating stringent budget constraints.

How do you relax/what do you do for fun?

  • I like to stay culturally active and love to travel, go to theatre, and visit museums and try new restaurants that sound interesting.
  • I am a member of a number of private members clubs and try to get involved in Charity when and where I can.
  • I am extremely active and try to exercise every day.
  • I also like to ski, play padel tennis, tennis and hiking which I do a lot of the latter 3 when we are in Spain.
  • I love animals and we currently have a cat, our beautiful dog recently passed away but we plan to get another one soon.