The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has added two new staff members who will further expand the organization’s government affairs and advocacy capabilities.
Kat Fonda has been named AHLA’s director of federal affairs. In this new role, she is responsible for policy development and advocacy before Congress and other federal government agencies.
Fonda joins AHLA from Fundraising Inc., where she served as a fundraising consultant to several dozen members of Congress, including multiple committee chairmen and U.S. senators, providing counsel to members and senior congressional staff. Prior to Fundraising Inc., she spent several years at Aflac, where she assisted with policy development on Capitol Hill and served as a representative of the company before members of Congress.
Shreya Kanal has been named manager of government affairs. In this role, Kanal will work with the association’s federal affairs team to advance the hotel and lodging industry’s agenda on Capitol Hill. She joins AHLA from Associated Builders and Contractors, where she served as the coordinator of legislative and political affairs.
Fonda and Kanal join a steadily growing AHLA government affairs team, which is planning for additional growth and has played an increasingly critical role on behalf of the hotel industry, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last two years, AHLA has grown from 44 to nearly 70 employees.
“AHLA’s government affairs efforts are all about getting advocacy results for America’s hoteliers, and Kat and Shreya are going to help us continue to do just that,” said Chirag Shah, EVP, federal affairs and policy. “These crucial additions to our growing team will enable us to better engage policymakers and achieve even more policy wins for hoteliers nationwide.”
