Founders

Chase Barfield

With more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience under his belt, Chase Barfield is a skilled strategist who recognizes opportunity at a glance and intuitively sees far beyond the curve holding everyone else back. He’s also a master networker who brings specialized teams together to achieve aggressive goals.

He is Chairman and Founding partner of the holding group of The Amani Resorts, Inc. He originally conceived of The Amani concept and put it in motion. He envisioned hotels around the world with Africa as their theme, with a central focus on cutting-edge sustainability from construction through operations, and with tangible and enduring benefits to local communities. Today, the hotel company is launched with a global team focused on the first of The Amani Resorts planned for the Bahamas while Chase directs long term strategy for the investment group as Chairman of the Board of The Amani Hotels & Resorts, LLC.

Since delving into entrepreneurship during his teen years—selling candy bars at school for a little extra cash—Chase has tried everything from door-to-door sales, construction and landscaping, real estate, and several different tech industry endeavors. This includes developing a patent for data protection that was approved in 2009, even though the industry didn’t begin to understand or use that kind of technology until 2022.

For a few years in the early 2000s—long before the podcast phenomenon took root—Chase hosted the weekly morning radio show, TechTalk, which was broadcast live and streamed online. However, he isn’t keen on taking center stage. He prefers to roll up his sleeves and solve problem—big problems, the kind with global impact. Chase is the co-founder of the Business Ethics and Education Commission (BEEC) and serves on the Board of Directors. Bringing ethics, high standards, and purpose to the forefront of enterprise.

A dedicated family man, Chase sold everything in 2014 to take his family on a three-year, cross-country tour of the US. While working from his laptop. He and his wife, his closest friend and confidant, were high school sweethearts. They have been married for almost as long as Chase has been an entrepreneur. They have three sons together and hold family at the center of their world. Two of their three sons work with Chase daily. All three are in training to manage, maintain, and grow Chase’s vision for generational wealth and create a better world.

Dan Vega

Dan Vega is Founding Partner and Board Director of the Holding Company of The Amani Resorts, Inc. Over the last three decades, his entrepreneurial success spans several industries, making notable impact as an advisor, speaker, author, investor, and philanthropist.

He is a true innovator. Blessed with a gifted mathematical mind, his talents were recognized at a young age by some of the world’s leading companies and CEOs. From there, Dan built a successful career helping high-level companies maximize their profits while reducing their costs, risk, and overhead.

Dan started his first business at 19 and has written and spoken in the field of business for over two decades. He has achieved extreme success in several careers including corporate restructuring, management, marketing and sales. He understands the business world from top to bottom and specializes in helping companies to become profitable multi-million-dollar enterprises.

Although always preferring a certain level of anonymity, dan’s natural proficiency and generosity of spirit eventually led him to significant impact as a speaker, impacting millions through seminars and from sharing the stage with some of the most notable speakers nationally and internationally.

Eventually, his journey led him to television, where he hosted a weekly entrepreneurial talk show entitled “Tuesdays with Dan”, which aired on ABC for 6 seasons. Featuring a combination of celebrities and some of the biggest entrepreneurs of the day, it gave his audience insights and access to the minds and inner workings of the elite. His journey eventually led him to work with the British Consulate and many world leaders.

Dan’s unique mathematical approach combined with his experience working with global influencers led him to create Blu University – a school devoted to the modern entrepreneur that teaches cutting edge methods for wealth creation, unparalleled in the industry. He holds ownership in over 100 companies, from his wildly successful publishing company, which boasts more than 50 best-sellers and many celebrity clients, to Golden Gecko Productions, a film company that is currently producing his current feature film, “The Strange”.

Although Dan is recognized as one of the top motivational speakers today, he holds ownership in several successful companies. Industries include film & television, technology, health, environmental, spirits, art, and fashion, and as of late 2022, the luxury resort sector.

Innovative Partnerships transforming the Hospitality landscape!

The Hospitality Industry is undergoing a transformative phase, marked by a significant surge in Hotel Chain Development Pipelines. At the heart of this transformation are strategic partnerships that redefine the essence of Hospitality, moving beyond traditional luxury to offer immersive, experiential travel opportunities.

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ROSS J. WOLFE, JD/MBA

 

Ross J. Wolfe served for over 20 years as Counsel to venture capital and private equity firms and has navigated new venture clients from startup to scalability. A seasoned professional in leading change across all aspects of an organization, he brings expertise in investor relations, company constitutions, equity class creation, onshore / offshore fund administration, company governance, company structure, and international mergers & acquisitions. Wolfe will oversee and optimize the formulation of the international corporate structure to support capital flows through portfolio development in the coming years. A best-selling author, Wolfe holds a Law degree from Barry University School of Law, an MBA from the University of Miami, and a BA in Political Science from George Mason University. Ross was recently appointed Chief of Corporate Ventures for The Amani group.

M. Gabriela Palacios, Esq.

 

Gabriela Palacios is a seasoned Attorney who practices corporate and contract law and has served as General Counsel to companies throughout South Florida. With extensive knowledge on Hotel Law, as GC for Amani Resorts, Palacios focuses on establishing the compliance protocols and corporate policies to support accelerated scaling of our resort footprint. Most recently, Gabriela was appointed General Counsel for the Amani Group.

Ali Shan Aslam

 

Ali Shan is a seasoned Chartered Accountant with a decade of experience. As a  former KPMG Auditor, Aslam then served as VP & Head of Business Analytics &  Strategy at a prominent commercial bank. As a Fractional CFO, he guided a variety of C-suites through critical financial decisions. For Amani Resorts, he formulates and oversees a comprehensive financial operation designed to support cash flows across multiple international jurisdictions in the coming years.  Most recently, he was appointed CFO of the Amani group.

Felix J. Torres

 

Felix Torres is a leader with international experience in logistics, security, technology, architecture, engineering design and construction and project management.  His career begins with his undergraduate studies at Northeastern University.  After studying Industrial Engineering with a concentration in Project Management, he took first a position as Project Manager/Reliability Engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Rhode Island, and then, rising to their Program Executive Office on the strength of his outstanding performance, as Production Manager/Project Manager.  Holding secret security clearance at the Center, he led a team focused on the design, construction and delivery of Navy weapon systems (torpedoes).

In 1997, Mr. Torres obtained an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business with a concentration in Finance, and then led Business Development for Cellular One or Puerto Rico designing and implementing telecommunications solutions for clients, while leading a special team to implement the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Program to build the landline business for the market leader in Puerto Rico.

In 1999, Torres began a 10-year body of work for Univision. As Project Manager, Construction Manager, and Facility Manager, he led the strategic planning, design, construction, and operations of television and radio studios for a Univision PPP.

In 2011, EVO Consortium was formed.  As founder and CEO, he dedicated his new company to strategic planning, construction management, and construction for venues and highly sophisticated technology infrastructure engagements that impact national security and operational efficiency.  He managed new public and private sector building projects and created alliances with governments and major technology companies.  EVO Consortium is the development arm of Rapiscan/AS&E and S2 Global, who are leaders in the industry of Vehicle and Merchandise Scanning Security Services.

Over the last decade, Torres’ clients and projects span the globe.  For the Puerto Rico Convention Center District, he was the Project Manager for four different government administrations wherein he developed a major convention center that included hotels, office buildings, commercial venues, residences, parks, and many other amenities, with an investment over $450 million.   For the World Trade Center, he led the implementation of the underground inspection sites, designed multiple venues for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Project, assisted the Government of Iraq with city-crossing security inspection, and designed and construction managed 40 inspection sites in Mexico’s main maritime ports and land border crossings while handling highly classified information.  He also designed and managed the construction of inspection sites in Albania’s main maritime port and land border crossing under European construction codes.

With deep experience with major construction in Asia, Europe, Middle East, and The Americas, he has taken on the role of EVP of Real Estate Project Development worldwide.  He is based in Florida with his wife and two children.

JUAN J. LOYOLA

 

Juan Loyola brings extensive international project development and finance experience in hospitality/mixed-use development as well as energy.  He completed his undergraduate studies at Hotel Institute Montreux in 1992, and at the age of 20, was hired by Hilton International into a departmental management role.  His management background includes hotels such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and independent resorts.

In the early nineties before online degrees were common, he completed graduate studies through distance learning in Economics at SOAS University of London, an experience that gave rise to an intellectual fascination with Applied Economics which persists to this day.  Loyola briefly worked as a general securities representative (series 7) before moving to Austin, Texas to complete his MBA at McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.  Following his studies, his focus shifted from management to development after 2 years with Enron’s international development arm based in the Caribbean.

Over the next 9 years, based at different times in Puerto Rico, Florida, California, and Texas, he would apply his development expertise to the hotel industry as well, become an executive for a hospitality company, and directing energy programs for global industrial clients for a Washington, D.C.-based energy consulting firm.

He speaks four languages, is a competitive tennis player, a published singer-songwriter, and today lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and their four children.

Fluent in both French and English, and able to converse in Lingala and Spanish, Henri Ndele combines this broad international development and finance experience with a deep understanding of client requirements and the need for a holistic approach to creating value in multiple verticals. In this, Ndele is a proven leader and communicator. Most recently, Henri was appointed EVP Capital Formation of the Amani Resorts, Inc.

Henri Ndele

 

Mr. Ndele has an international background across Europe, the United States and Africa. His extensive and active network is based on over twenty years of financial and legal advisory, with experience in financial markets, startup business development, media promotion and real estate development.Ndele studied Political Sciences at the University of Geneva and Law in Louvain University, before completing his MBA at Cape Town University’s Graduate School of Business.

In 1994, Ndele joined True Africa Media Group as their Sales & Marketing executive in Paris where he spearheaded their marketing and communications strategy and brought on board major luxury brands. Returning to Switzerland and shifting to international finance, he joined Gottex Portfolio Management in Lausanne as Senior Financial Analyst focused on hedge fund equity and the derivatives portfolio management.

Ndele then returned to True Africa Media Group and crossed the Atlantic in 2002 to become Head of Business Development out of New York City.  Here, he negotiated Goldman Sach’s investment into his True Africa Media, oversaw the transition from Groupe Lagardere MCM Afrique to Trace TV, and opened Trace TV’s distribution network to the African market.

Since 2004, Ndele became Managing Partner of Pallas Consulting, located across the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Here he has overseen finance deals, provided strategic consulting in debt/equity fund raising, provided legal and financial advisory.

Fluent in both French and English, and able to converse in Lingala and Spanish, Henri Ndele combines this broad international development and finance experience with a deep understanding of client requirements and the need for a holistic approach to creating value in multiple verticals. In this, Ndele is a proven leader and communicator. Most recently, Henri was appointed EVP Capital Formation of the Amani Resorts, Inc.