In Brief: Lauren Maunder has been named the recipient of the 2026 Rising Star Award Asia Pacific, an honor recognizing promising hospitality professionals in the region and supporting leadership advancement within the industry.
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From left to right: Andrea Belfanti, ISHC, CEO, Lauren Maudner, EVT Hotels & Resorts, Financial Operations Controller, Jonathon Zink, Hotel Investment Group by Northstar, COO – Image Credit ISHC
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), in partnership with the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) awarded Lauren Maunder, Financial Operations Controller, EVT Hotels & Resorts, with the Rising Star Award Asia Pacific during the HICAP event on 22 October 2026. The award recognizes an emerging leader in the hospitality industry who has demonstrated exceptional professional growth, leadership, and impact in the Asia Pacific region.
Maunder’s career reflects a unique combination of hands-on hotel operations experience and financial expertise. She began her journey at EVT in 2010 as a Food & Beverage Attendant at Rydges North Sydney before progressing through hotel operations, night audit, and finance. At just 25, she was appointed Financial Controller, and by 30, she was overseeing financial operations across EVT’s QT Hotels & Resorts portfolio. Today, she is responsible for financial operations across the company’s Luxury & Urban division, with responsibilities spanning owner relations, investment feasibility, ownership transitions, and finance capability development.
Throughout her career, Maunder has distinguished herself through her ability to connect financial strategy with the realities of hotel operations. She has played a key role in complex ownership transitions, property onboarding, and brand transitions, helping ensure financial controls, reporting frameworks, and team capabilities are established to support long-term asset performance. Beyond her technical expertise, she is committed to developing the next generation of hospitality finance leaders through training programs and mentorship that strengthen financial literacy and capability across EVT’s hotel portfolio.
Jason Kelly, Group Financial Controller at EVT Hotels & Resorts, who nominated Maunder for the award, highlighted her ability to combine rigorous financial analysis with operational understanding, strong owner relationships, and a thoughtful leadership style. “Lauren is one of the most capable and complete hospitality finance professionals I have worked with,” said Kelly. “She leads with clarity, generosity, and composure, combining rigorous financial analysis with a deep understanding of hotel operations. Her commitment to developing others and raising standards across our portfolio makes her an exceptional emerging leader in our industry.”
Maunder herself said, “I’m incredibly grateful to ISHC and the HICAP community for the honour of the Rising Star Award. My passion for this dynamic industry began on the front line, and I owe so much to the mentors and leaders at EVT who backed me at every step since. My journey so far has been shaped by a fantastic culture which trusted and supported my growth, and I’m so excited to do the same for the people coming up behind me.”
Added Andrea Belfanti, CEO of ISHC, “Lauren exemplifies the next generation of leadership in hospitality investment across Asia Pacific. Her career progression reflects not only her impressive financial and operational expertise, but also her commitment to developing others and making a meaningful impact across the industry. We are proud to recognize Lauren as the 2026 Rising Star Award Asia Pacific recipient and look forward to seeing the continued impact she will make on our industry.”
“Lauren Maunder is exactly the kind of talent our industry needs. As Financial Operations Controller at EVT Hotels & Resorts, she pairs sharp financial acumen with strong operational insight and a real ability to turn numbers into decisions that move a business forward. Winning the Rising Star Award Asia Pacific at the 36th edition of HICAP is a well-deserved recognition of that skill set. Lauren has the vision, discipline, and leadership qualities to become a significant voice in hotel investment and operations, both in Australia and around the world. We look forward to watching her career grow,” shared by Jonathon S. Zink, COO of the Hotel Investment Group by Northstar.
ISHC launched the Rising Star Award Asia in 2014 in partnership with HICAP to recognize young, emerging leaders in the Asia hospitality community. Nomination criteria require an individual be 35 years or younger, currently working and living in Asia and working in the hospitality development and/or investment field. Past Rising Star Award Asia recipients include Karan Mahesh (2025), Stella Blythe (2024), Vicky Jian (2023), Calvin Li (2022), Siddhant Jhunjhunwala (2021), Corey Hamabata (2020), Daniel Yip (2019), Kieran Bestall (2018), Peter Harper (2017), Kiichi Mashita (2016), Nihat Ercan (2015) and Christopher Hur (2014).