Kartika Rodriguez has been named as the new Vice President EPCOT, taking over from former Vice President Melissa Valiquette.
Her promotion comes after serving five years as General Manager, EPCOT Operations. Kartika makes history at Walt Disney World as the first Black, female Vice President of a Walt Disney World theme park.
In a reshuffle late January 2021, new Vice Presidents were named for both Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with the role at EPCOT unfilled.
At that time, Magic Kingdom Vice President Jason Kirk was promoted to Senior Vice President Operations, a similar role to that currently occupied by Jim MacPhee who is set to retire in April after 42 years with the company.
EPCOT VP Melissa Valiquette moved from EPCOT to take over from Jason Kirk at Magic Kingdom.
Sarah Riles, previously Vice President, Optimization & Business Transformation at Walt Disney World, took over from the retiring Djuan Rivers at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Sarah has been with the company for more than 20 years in a number of operations and engineering roles.
Jackie Swisher remains as Vice President Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the role she took over from the retiring Phil Holmes back in August 2020.
With this latest appointment, all four Walt Disney World theme parks now have female leadership, a first for the company.
Article Posted:
Mar 26, 2021 / 7:20pm ET