MORE THAN 1,000 hospitality professionals spent two days at the AHLA Foundation’s FORWARD/26 leadership conference in Atlanta on April 16 and 17. The event at the Signia by Hilton was aimed at advancing women in hospitality and strengthening the industry’s leadership pipeline, according to the foundation.
This year’s program included featured speakers and 20 breakout sessions focused on a theme of influence. Speakers included Bobbi Brown, chief creative officer and founder at Jones Road Beauty; singer-songwriter Tiera Kennedy; and Justin Knight, president and CEO of Apple Hospitality REIT.
“Our industry thrives when we invest in people and create opportunities for growth,” said Kevin Carey, president and CEO of the AHLA Foundation. “FORWARD/26 was designed to turn intention into action, giving women across the industry the tools, access, and networks they need to lead with confidence and wield their influence. This event brought together trailblazing executives, rising stars, and committed allies, creating the kind of dynamic exchanges and authentic connections that ignite real change.”
Giving perspective
The conference began twith a welcome by Liam Brown, Marriott International’s group president for the U.S. and Canada; Sarah Dinger, vice president for franchise operations at My Place Hotels of America; and Jacqueline DeChamps with Towne. That was followed by the Cross-Industry Perspective on Leadership and Influence panel led by Anu Saxena, president and global head of Hilton Supply Management and chair of the AHLA Foundation board of trustees.
The panel featured Alicia Tillman, Delta Airlines chief marketing officer, and Dagmar Boggs, president of foodservice and on-premise in North America for The Coca Cola Company. Saxena asked Boggs and Tillman how they build partnerships and alignment across a diverse stake of stakeholder groups.
Boggs said Coca Cola is “this big machine” that must deal with bottlers and distributors. She said “aligning our brands within the hospitality space is like Santa and Christmas.”
“We have certain brand standards, but we need to partner, because we are in a commercial enterprise together,” Boggs said. “What we do is we listen intently to our customers. We listen to what Delta wants, we listen to what Hilton wants, we listen to what Marriott wants.”
Tillman said she takes a similar approach.
“I think listening is absolutely the number one ingredient in your ability to influence anyone,” Tillman said. “I do think a lot of it is a result of the world that we operate in today there is so much access to people and to content. Thanks to the role of digital the role of social media, and so everybody has a voice. Everybody's using their voices. Everybody wants to be heard, and so when we think about alignment that needs to happen internally or across our customer sets, we always have to first and foremost, make sure that we're listening and we're understanding either what our colleagues across our business are trying to solve or what the opportunity is most for our customers.”
During her panel, Brown, who also developed the George Montclair Hotel in Montclair, New Jersey, discussed the important qualities of leadership. For her, that includes truthfulness, communication authenticity and appreciation. It also means taking risks.
“You don't know what you don't know, and you only know if it's the right thing, if the result is what you want,” Brown said. “Even if it's not what you wanted, it's the opportunity to improve, right? That's why I always say I don't believe in failure. Some things don't work out. A lot of things I did in my life didn't work out. But guess what? It was a call to action for me to do something else.”
Other sessions included:
Empower Hour: Negotiating Successfully as a Woman breakout session with Kathryn Valentine CEO, Worthmore Strategies.
Own the Room: How to Talk So Your Audience Will Listen (And Act) conducted by Anna Goldsmith, Producer at TEDxPortsmouth.
Leading With Influence panel discussing how influence shows up through mentors, advocates and relationships that help shape confidence and leadership.
Women Leaders on Hotel Ownership discussion with women leaders across ownership, operations, finance, development, and industry advocacy sharing what it’s really like to own, manage and finance hotels.
“FORWARD has become a powerful force across our industry, bringing people together to support and elevate the next generation of leaders,” said Rosanna Maietta, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “Seeing 1,000 talented professionals gathered in one room, committed to advancing themselves and others, reinforces that our industry’s present and future are in strong hands.”
Last year’s FORWARD conference was held at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. Its theme centered on recognizing, accessing and amplifying power.
