The American Hotel & Lodging Foundation has received a $500,000 donation from the Hyatt Hotels Foundation to launch the “No Room for Trafficking Survivors Fund” and expand the hotel industry’s ongoing work to support human trafficking prevention and survivors. G6 Hospitality and Extended Stay America have donated a combined $500,000 to the fund as well.
No Room for Trafficking is an AHLA Foundation national awareness program that builds on the industry’s ongoing commitment to end human trafficking. No Room for Trafficking is committed to supporting economic stability for survivors of human trafficking, while continuing to advance training and education to prevent human trafficking within the industry.
With the donation from the Hyatt Hotels Foundation, and support from the industry, the Survivors Fund will be able to equip community-based organizations with the resources they need to engage and support survivors—from direct financial support of their short-term, baseline needs through to career-related support.
“We are so grateful to the Hyatt Hotels Foundation for its generous donation which will jumpstart the No Room for Trafficking Survivors Fund to support career training, employment opportunities, housing and childcare needs of those who have experienced the horrors of trafficking,” said Rosanna Maietta, president & CEO of the AHLA Foundation, in a statement. “The fight against human trafficking has no finish-line, and as an industry we will continue to provide cutting-edge resources and support to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent and respond to human trafficking.”
With the donation, a representative from the Hyatt Hotels Foundation will serve as co-chair of the No Room for Trafficking Advisory Council that will bring together industry executive leaders to drive forward their collective efforts to eradicate human trafficking and support survivors. Together with survivors, they will set a framework for the Survivor Fund, as well as identify other areas of innovation and opportunity for the industry’s human trafficking prevention and awareness efforts. Once established, the next phase of the fund will be to disburse critical resources to support survivors.
“We recognize the potential of human trafficking to intersect with the hospitality industry and believe that one of the best ways the industry can combat the egregious violation of fundamental human rights is through efforts like the AHLA Foundation’s No Room for Trafficking Survivors Fund,” said Malaika Myers of the Hyatt Hotels Foundation. “The Hyatt Hotels Foundation is proud to seed the kick-off donation to the fund and is committed to furthering efforts in this space.”
As a result of this funding, No Room for Trafficking will be able to support survivors with direct financial support, career training and other resources to empower them on their path forward.
“This donation redoubles our efforts to better train hotel employees across the industry and provides support to human trafficking survivors," G6 Hospitality CEO Rob Palleschi said. "We are grateful to be on the ground floor of building the ‘No Room for Trafficking Survivors Fund,’ and will continue to do everything we can to ensure the hotel industry is supporting, listening to and learning from survivors.”
As Chair of the Foundation Board in 2020, Greg Juceam, president & CEO of Extended Stay America, helped bring the No Room for Trafficking campaign under the auspices of the foundation, Maietta said.
“In my time as chair of the AHLA Foundation, with unanimous support from our board of trustees, I supported and shaped the critical mission outlined by the No Room for Trafficking program, Juceam said. "This next phase of added training and survivor support is a natural progression, and we are proud to be providing one of the founding financial commitments to the No Room for Trafficking Survivors fund."