Catalina has over 30 years of strategic recruiting experience in hospitality and consumer-based industries. As a senior member of The Elliot Group, Catalina helps to spearhead client development, long-range strategic planning and is also responsible for managing senior-level executive search assignments.

Catalina possesses a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. She has worked in various management positions in food and beverage and rooms division with Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel and InterContinental Hotels Corporation. Catalina began her career in hospitality executive search in 1987, and rapidly began her ascent at Elliot, holding multiple corporate positions. In 1996, Catalina became a Founding Board Member of the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), an affiliate of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.   

A noted authority in the area of human resources and recruitment, she has been quoted in Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality and The Lieberman Learning Letter. Catalina has presented at her alma mater’s highly respected Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series. She has been a speaker/representative for Roundtable for Women in Foodservice New York Chapter Symposium; Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) Regional Connects Panel on Building High Performance Teams; the Immigration Panel sponsored by Black Box Intelligence; Women of Color Panel at the MFHA Conference; and Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management Inaugural Young Professionals Summit.