The AHLA Foundation has established its inaugural No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Advisory Council, which includes top leaders from across the hotel and lodging industry.
AHLA Foundation’s No Room for Trafficking program aims to unite the industry around collective anti-trafficking efforts that meet the needs of today’s hospitality employers, employees and the communities they serve. In their role, NRFT Advisory Council members help champion and shape the hotel industry’s unified efforts to support human trafficking survivors with critical resources on their path toward empowerment and self-sufficiency, while uniting and inspiring the industry in the continued fight against trafficking. NRFT Advisory Council efforts include the development and oversight of the NRFT Survivor Fund, which will provision community-based organizations with the resources they need to engage and support human trafficking survivors.
NRFT Advisory Council members include:
- Farah Bhayani, general counsel/chief compliance officer, G6 Hospitality LLC (co-chair)
- Joan Bottarini, CFO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation (co-chair)
- Jay Caiafa, COO, The Americas, IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Paul Cash, general counsel/chief compliance officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
- George Limbert, president, Red Roof Franchising LLC
- Katherine Lugar, EVP, corporate affairs, Hilton
- John Murray, president/CEO, Sonesta International Hotels Corporation
- Mitch Patel, president/CEO, Vision Hospitality Group
- Kelly Poling, EVP/chief commercial officer, Extended Stay America
- Tricia Primrose, EVP/chief global communications and public affairs officer, Marriott International
- Marsha Ray, EVP, operations, Aimbridge Hospitality
- Ben Seidel, president/CEO, Real Hospitality Group
- Simone Wu, SVP/general counsel, Choice Hotels International
“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 Anna Blue, president, AHLA Foundation. “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 announcement builds on the hotel industry’s ongoing commitment and work to prevent human trafficking and support the economic stability of human trafficking survivors.
AHLA Foundation’s NRFT program has supported free anti-trafficking training for hundreds of thousands of hotel employees since 2020 through a partnership with ECPAT-USA, while building awareness of this issue across the industry and its stakeholders. Additionally, last year, the AHLA Foundation expanded efforts to support trafficking survivors through the industry’s first-ever Survivor Fund, which has raised $3.4 million since its inception. AHLA Foundation will match NRFT Survivor Fund contributions up to $5 million as part of its continued commitment to combatting this issue.
Later this summer, the NRFT Advisory Council will announce the inaugural NRFT Survivor Fund grantees at the second annual NRFT Summit.