AHLA Foundation Announces “No Room for Trafficking” Summit

WASHINGTON, DC — The AHLA Foundation announced that its third annual No Room for Trafficking Summit will take place on July 30, 2024, the same day as the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

At last year’s No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Summit, the first NRFT Survivor Fund grantees were announced, including Safe House Project, Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), Restore NYC, Inc., and the University of Maryland Support, Advocacy, Freedom, and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors. The AHLA Foundation also shared quantitative and qualitative data demonstrating the impact the four Survivor grantees have had to date with the $500,000 distributed across their respective organizations:

• Collectively, the four Survivors Fund grantees have helped 643 survivors receive emergency services to help them escape human trafficking.
• 514 survivors were prepared for employment through training and coaching sessions
• 240 people were prepared to provide vocational training to survivors
• 80 survivors were connected to job opportunities
• 66 survivors obtained non-abusive employment

Anna Blue, President of the AHLA Foundation, said: “In 2022, we launched the NRFT Survivor Fund, a first for the hospitality sector, to expand the hospitality and lodging sector’s efforts to support trafficking survivors. Since launching the Survivor Fund, we have increased our fundraising total to $7.5 million from our $10 million goal, and we look forward to awarding $1 million in grants to community organizations who support survivors of human trafficking at our third annual summit. »

The AHLA Foundation’s efforts to combat human trafficking are guided by the NRFT Advisory Council, comprised of 12 hospitality industry executives and led by co-chairs Joan Bottarini, Hyatt’s chief financial officer, and Farah Bhayani, advisor Legal and Compliance Director at G6 Hospitality.