The American Hotel & Lodging Association added two new staff 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 will be responsible for policy development and advocacy before Congress and other federal government agencies.
Fonda joins AHLA from Fundraising, 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. Before Fundraising, Fonda 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.
AHLA also announced that 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 past two years, AHLA has grown from 44 to nearly 70 employees, as the organization continues to serve as the singular voice of America’s hotels and remains deeply engaged in policy issues affecting hoteliers at all levels of government.
“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,” Chirag Shah, AHLA EVP of federal affairs and policy, said in a statement. “These crucial additions to our growing team will enable us to better engage policymakers and achieve even more policy wins for hoteliers nationwide.”