Program areas at AHLEF
Scholarships: The Ahla Foundation awarded just over $1.1m to 328 academic scholarship recipients at universities across The country. Ahla Foundation partnered with 10 two-year hospitality programs around The country to award 87 scholarships; The other 241 students were enrolled in bachelor and graduate hospitality degree programs. Additionally, 75 hotel employees received $22,794 in professional development scholarships for certification and distance learning.
De&i: The Ahla Foundation is committed to advancing diversity, equity & inclusion throughout The industry. To help ensure our iworkforce, at all levels, is as diverse as The guests we serve, ahlaf continues to execute on a multi-year strategic plan that began in 2021 and since then ahlaf delivered on key foundational elements of The plan, including delivery of a robust de&i best practices guide, informational webinars and dei microsite for employers; completed a mentorship pilot program with 100 participants; and provided a 6-month long inclusive leadership training with 60+ executives in partnership with a third party expert.
Ad campaign: The Ahla Foundation leads a career pathways awareness campaign to draw in diverse talent to The industry in a variety of fields and role levels. Primarily a digital ad effort, "a place to stay" spanned 14 markets in 2022, and The microsite (thehotelindustry.com) receives approximately 1,500 unique visitors per day with 6% of those converting to apply for jobs on indeed.com.
Apprenticeship: The Ahla Foundation has two federally registered apprenticeship programs: The lodging manager track, which was approved in 2017, The hotel cook track, approved in 2020 and The maintenance employee track, submitted for approval in fall 2022 approved in 2023. These programs attract, upskill and help retain talent within The industry through a combination of on-the-job training and related instruction. To date, The apprenticeship program has enrolled approximately 1485 apprentices from 72 different employers, working at 500+ hotel properties in 49 states, plus Washington, d.c. and puerto rico.
Empowering youth program: The Ahla Foundation awarded grants to 12 commuity-based organizations in 5 markets to support The training and placement of opportunity youth (oy) in hotel jobs. The goal for these funded programs is to enroll 500 oy in vocational training leading to entry-level careers. The training organizations provide wraparound support to ensure graduates are equipped with The ongoing services and support they need to thrive. Ahla Foundation provides access to industry certifications to help students build their skills and credentials and compete for jobs and supports employers with tools to work with this non-traditional population.
No room for trafficking: Ahla Foundation unifies The hotel and lodging industry's anti-trafficking efforts through training, awareness and survivor support programming in partnership with leading non-profit organizations with subject matter expertise. The industry's first-ever survivor fund launched in 2022, to be administered by The Foundation and awarded to community-based organizations providing direct support to human trafficking survivors. Companies across The industry donated almost $3 million by The end of 2022.
Build & elevate: The Foundation merged with The castell project in early 2022, which among its assets included The build and elevate women's leadership programs aimed at mid-senior level executives. In november 2022, 56 female executives participated in The kick-off to The first foundation-run build and elevate program in Washington, d.c.
Research & grants: The Foundation budgeted $250k for research grants to serve The broad needs of The hotel industry. The research portal was reopened in early 2022 after a pandemic-related pause. One new project, a career pathways study, was approved by The committee in december 2022 for $85k. The final payment of $17,650 was made on a diversity and inclusion study begun in 2021 through bw research and The report was published in 2022. These awards are included in The program accomplishments of The relevant program in part iii of form 990.