Position Summary

The AHLA Foundation seeks an experienced and passionate Program Manager to support its highly visible FORWARD initiative – a collective movement to advance women leaders in the hotel and lodging industry.  

This newly created role reports to the Vice President and will be responsible for overall support and implementation of targeted FORWARD activities. The successful candidate will be strategic and hands-on, with extensive relationship management of partners and industry members, to effectively meet the initiative’s goals.

Responsibilities

Program Management and Measurement

• Oversee the development and day?to?day coordination of industry initiative(s) from concept through implementation and evaluation.
  • Translate organizational priorities into clear project plans, timelines, and deliverables.
  • Collaborate with internal teams to align initiatives with advocacy, membership, education, and Foundation priorities.
  • Coordinate work across internal teams and external partners to keep programs and deliverables on track and aligned with goals.
• Monitor program budgets, vendor contracts, and reporting requirements to support effective operations.

• Establish and monitor KPIs, success measures, and evaluation processes for programs.

• Track program outcomes, assess effectiveness, and suggest updates or enhancements based on findings. Regular reporting (monthly and quarterly).

• Develop and refine program frameworks, toolkits, pilot activities, and scalable models.

External Engagement and Development

• Build and maintain positive relationships with members, partners, and industry participants to support program success.
  • Develop engagement plan and manage the FORWARD/Network, comprised of thousands of members. Foster community that provides opportunities for learning, mentorship, peer support, and professional growth in both virtual and in-person environments.

• Serve as the main point of contact for program participants and internal teams.

• Support outreach and communication efforts that promote initiatives and highlight program impact.
• Prepare compelling briefings, presentations, and updates for internal staff and stakeholders.
• Continually identify industry needs, trends, and opportunities that can inform program development.

Content and Event Planning

• Plan and execute engagement activities such as events, roundtables, webinars, and working groups.
  • Coordinate and support speaker identification and outreach, agenda development, and talking points.
  • Support the evaluation of engagement activities to gauge success and enhance future programming.
• Partner with industry leaders, subject matter experts, and influential voices to deliver impactful, market-relevant programming.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or related experience.
• 4-6+ years of professional experience in non-profit program development and management.
• Professional and/or volunteer experience working on gender parity initiatives preferred.
• Proven project management experience across internal and external stakeholder groups, including high-profile leaders and matrixed corporations/organizations.
• Familiarity growing and managing networks, chapters, or communities comprised of thousands of members/participants with varying needs and interests.

Skills and Attributes

• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to identify challenges and opportunities alongside recommendations for program development, enhancement or reconfiguration to meet participants, funders and industry needs.
• Proven communication skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to clearly articulate program impact and outcomes that resonate with program participants, stakeholders and funders.
• Dynamic problem-solving, including the ability to effectively source, analyze, and report data to inform decision making.
• Excellent relationship management skills with strong customer service ethics.
• Comfortable working under pressure and adhering to deadlines.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively across the organization, while maintaining attention to detail and “managing up” effectively.
• Positive attitude and willingness to be flexible to adapt to changing needs with an entrepreneurial mindset.
• The ability to source, analyze, and report on data, including presenting organized themes and findings to the leadership team.
• Proven experience creating and managing multifaced budgets.
• Experienced computer and software knowledge: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), project management tools (Asana preferred) and CRMs (Salesforce preferred). 
• Basic design proficiency utilizing Canva, Adobe or other software.

Other

• Ability to travel (up to 15%).
• Hybrid position (three days in office, Tuesday - Thursday) based in downtown Washington, DC.