AAHOA Women Hoteliers Featured in Women in Hospitality Alliance Speaker Directory

The Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance has launched an interactive Speaker Directory to amplify diverse voices within the hospitality industry. This comprehensive resource features over 700 accomplished senior-level women with expertise across all facets of the hospitality sector. AAHOA is proud to share that more than 20  AAHOA Members and two AAHOA staff have been included in this directory, underscoring the association's commitment to elevating the influence of our diverse membership on the global stage.

They are:

• Michele Allen, Chief Financial Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

• Laura Lee Blake, President & CEO, AAHOA

• Wendy Blissett, Senior Vice President - Hotel Team, Hilco Real Estate Co.

• Heather Carnes, Vice President, Communications, and Chief Strategy Officer, AAHOA

• Natalie Castillo, Managing Director, Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality 

• Krishna Deva, Vice President, Maya Hotels

• Monica Melancon, Chief Human Resources Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

• Jagruti Panwala, Chief Executive Officer, Wealth Protection Strategies, Past AAHOA Chairwoman (2019-20)

• Purvi Panwala, President & Chief Executive Officer, Purvi LLC

• Lina Patel, Director, Strategic Franchise Initiatives, Red Roof

• Maya Patel, Vice President

• Nimisha Patel, Partner, Vue Hotels

• Rita Patel, Owner, Hotel Trundle 

• Sima Patel, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Ridgemont Hospitality 

• Tejal Patel, President & Chief Executive Officer, Neem Tree Hospitality

• Tina Patel, Owner & Chief Financial Officer, Promise Hotels

• Trusha Patel, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Platinum Holdings

• Manjila Saraf, Assistant Vice President, Baywood Hotels

• Jyoti Sarolia, Chief Executive Officer, Ellis Hospitality

• Mili Shah, Founder, Shah Firm LLC

• Mabelle Perez, Managing Director, Berkadia

• Sarita Vora, Senior Vice President, National SBA and USDA Lending, First Women's Bank

• Helen Zaver, Senior Vice President, Colliers

According to The Penn State School of Hospitality Management 2023 Women in Hospitality research report, funded by the AHLA Foundation (a member of the Alliance), women held only 24% of the podium spots at hotel investment conferences and 37% of main stage speaking spots. However, women make up 58% of the hospitality industry workforce.

"Representation matters and visibility is a key component to career advancement," said Rachel Vandenberg, who chairs the Alliance's Podium Committee and is the Founder of Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel, an Alliance member. "Despite there being many women with significant expertise within the hospitality industry, there are still fewer women on stage."

In collaboration with conference organizers, the Alliance Podium Committee identified several recurring challenges to sourcing more diverse voices for conference stages and immediately set out to overcome those barriers and provide solutions. One key initiative was helping to identify as many thought leaders as possible, overcoming any perception that there are not enough women speakers to source, and providing a tool that the entire industry could use.

By allowing conference organizers to filter the list of over 700 speakers (and growing) by career background, title, company type, home base, and other data points, the Directory quickly yields a shortlist of speakers for any topic and stage. Conference organizers have immediately recognized the value.

"Every event benefits from having a greater diversity of thought and balance across its speaker lineup. Showcasing speakers with a wide range of perspectives on the stage is a benefit for attendees while simultaneously ensuring greater visibility for these leaders, which will move the needle further on overall representation in the hospitality industry," said Rachel Humphrey, Founder of the Alliance. "The Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance Speaker Directory, powered by RaizUp, means that no conference should ever be lacking in representation of women speakers, no matter the topic, stage, or location."