Alliance for Hospitality, Equity & Diversity (AHED)

A bold, intentional initiative is underway across the United States between higher education institutions and top hospitality stakeholders to build a strategically aligned foundation, to address the needs of and create a pathway for talented, lower socio-economic, underrepresented minority students to pursue a hospitality management degree and become future leaders in the industry. AHED will provide a path for high school, community college, and undergraduate Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) to gain access to leading hospitality education programs in the pursuit of ultimately attaining positions at the executive-leadership level and/or an academic career leading to professorships in hospitality management with an esteemed institution.

There exists an immediate call to action for many leading hospitality companies to support this intentional initiative to identify and cultivate future BIPOC leaders, and to create innovative approaches to racially diversify current leadership in the C-Suite, where Black professionals represent less than one percent of all industry CEOs and presidents. We are well positioned to create a multi-institutional Alliance for Hospitality, Equity & Diversity. AHED will engage in a range of opportunities to promote and elevate DE&I, including creating an intentional recruitment structure to identify these future leaders and support their efforts to attend a member institution.