WASHINGTON, D.C.—AHLA Foundation announced 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 inaugural grantees of the NRFT Survivor Fund were announced, including Safe House Project, Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), Restore NYC, Inc., University of Maryland Support, Advocacy, Freedom, and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors. AHLA Foundation also shared quantitative and qualitative data demonstrating the impact the four Survivor Grantees have made to date with the $500,000 disseminated across their respective organizations:
- Collectively, the four Survivor Fund grantees have helped 643 survivors receive emergency services to support their exit from human trafficking
- 514 survivors have been prepared for employment through training and coaching sessions
- 240 individuals have been prepared to provide workforce training to survivors
- 80 survivors have been connected with employment opportunities
- 66 survivors have secured non-exploitive employment
AHLA Foundation President Anna Blue shared, “In 2022, we launched the NRFT Survivor Fund—a first for the hotel industry—to expand the hotel and lodging industry’s efforts to support trafficking survivors. Since launching the Survivor Fund, we have grown our total raised to $7.5 million towards our goal of $10 million, and we look forward to awarding $1 million in grants to community-based organizations that support human trafficking survivors at our third annual Summit.”
The AHLA Foundation’s efforts to combat human trafficking are guided by the NRFT Advisory Council, composed of 12 leaders across the hospitality industry and led by Co-Chairs Joan Bottarini, chief financial officer at Hyatt, and Farah Bhayani, general counsel and chief compliance officer at G6 Hospitality.
