Winkler was promoted from within Carlson Hotels' parent company, Carlson Companies, where she was previously vice president of Technology and program executive for Carlson Global Solutions.  Winkler will lead the strategy for IT within Carlson Hotels as the company focuses its business model on customer centricity and innovation. She will also lead the development efforts for creating future technologies capabilities that will serve Carlson's customers on a one-to-one basis in new and exciting ways. 

"We are very pleased to have Paula join the hotels division of Carlson.  She has played a pivotal leadership role in leading the company's shared services area and is a good example of how we are moving talent across our enterprise," said Jay Witzel, president and CEO, Carlson Hotels Worldwide.  

Prior to her promotion, Winkler led the Carlson Shared Services Technology organization which includes enterprise applications, hosting, telephony, workplace, network connectivity and collaborative services. The organization consists of more than 300 technology professionals supporting customers in all Carlson business units around the globe.  

Before joining Carlson, Winkler developed and implemented a network-support competency for a small private network services firm in the Minneapolis. Additionally, she spent 12 years with Electronic Data Systems supporting several clients, including General Motors, the US Postal Service and National Car Rental.

Paula earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.

Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide includes five hotel brands, totaling more than 920 locations in 69 countries.  

Carlson Hotels Worldwide
http://www.carlson.com