ROBERT J. BENZ
Executive Vice President

Robert Benz has been a close friend of the Frederick Douglass family for nearly two decades. He comes to the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation from the private sector where he is a partner in a Las Vegas-based marketing company called BluSea, Inc.

In his business life, Robert has been involved with the hospitality industry since 1990. With a focus on group meetings, conventions and niche consumer markets, he has been responsible for the design and the execution of sales and marketing programs for many of the country’s most prolific hotel and casino companies. During that time his company has also been contracted by the largest cruise lines in the world to develop group incentive customers. BluSea is currently involved in managing some of the biggest music charters ever done, starring such acts as: The Dave Matthews Band, Kenny Chesney, and Tim McGraw.

In his role as the foundation’s Executive Vice President, Robert will help achieve its primary mission of raising awareness of modern-day slavery by steering our media and fundraising initiatives.

“It’s always easier to market a product that people associate with quality. While the analogy is not perfect, the legacy of Frederick Douglass is one of great integrity and of courage. This is why I believe the foundation’s mission will strike a chord with the public.”

Robert was born in Minneapolis and grew-up in Los Angeles. He has family in California, Minnesota and Texas. Robert is currently living in Las Vegas and is a member of the Las Vegas Task Force on Human Trafficking.

“A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do. Nothing else.”

Mahatma Gandhi