The AHLA Foundation created an inaugural advisory council to support its No Room for Trafficking program, which aims to unite the hotel and lodging industry around collective anti-trafficking efforts.
The 13-member council, led by co-chairs Farah Bhayani, general counsel and chief compliance officer at G6 Hospitality, and Joan Bottarini, CFO at Hyatt Hotels, was created to “champion and shape” the hotel industry’s efforts to support human trafficking survivors with critical resources, the AHLA Foundation detailed in a release obtained by Hotel Dive. The council also aims to “unify and inspire” hospitality employers and employees in the continued fight against trafficking.
Other industry leaders on the council include Jay Caiafa, COO of the Americas division at IHG Hotels & Resorts; Katherine Lugar, EVP of corporate affairs at Hilton; Tricia Primrose, EVP and chief global communications and public affairs officer at Marriott International; and others from Choice Hotels International, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Aimbridge Hospitality and more.
“The esteemed group of leaders we’ve assembled as part of our inaugural NRFT Advisory Council underscores the hotel industry’s deep commitment to fighting human trafficking,” said AHLA Foundation President Anna Blue in the release. “With their leadership alongside AHLA and the AHLA Foundation's steadfast commitment to this effort, we will continue to work across our industry on critically important human trafficking prevention efforts.”
The AHLA Foundation already provides free anti-trafficking training for hundreds of thousands of hotel employees since 2020, made possible through a partnership with ECPAT-USA. Additionally, the foundation launched the Survivor Fund in 2022 to raise money to support trafficking survivors.
Since its inception, the Survivor Fund has raised $3.4 million. At AHLA and Hotel Management’s Hospitality Show conference last month, Marriott International President and CEO Anthony Capuano announced the company will make a $550,000 contribution to the fund.
