Rosanna Maietta is returning to American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) to lead the association. AHLA has named Maietta as its new president and CEO, effective November 14. Maietta has worked alongside boards and helmed teams to high performance and has achieved success in public affairs, strategic planning, association management, team building and leadership.
With her former tenure as president and CEO of the AHLA Foundation and executive vice president of communications and public relations of AHLA, she brings in experience and understanding of AHLA’s mission, operations, financials and people.
She has also built deep relationships with AHLA’s key stakeholder groups, which includes members of the AHLA board and foundation board of trustees.
“I am excited to be returning to AHLA and reconnecting with the brilliant team and colleagues I had the privilege of working with. This organization and industry hold a special place in my heart, and I am eager for the opportunity to lead it into a new chapter of growth and engagement,” Maietta said. “Working alongside the officers and board, I am confident that together we will build on our past successes and accelerate this thriving industry on behalf of our members.”
Most recently, Maietta served as the chief communications officer and senior counselor to the CEO at the American Clean Power Association, where she tripled the size of her team across communications, marketing, events and business development, expanded event revenue and spearheaded several multimillion-dollar public affairs campaigns to drive support for the clean energy industry.
“Rosanna is well known as a creative and inspiring leader and a persuasive communicator with the capacity to build lasting relationships and alliances across all levels and constituencies – qualities essential in our next CEO. Rosanna will bring a fresh, strategic approach that will be instrumental in advancing AHLA’s mission,” said AHLA Vice Chair Mitch Patel, founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group.
Expressing confidence in Maietta as the “right leader to build on AHLA’s momentum,” AHLA Chair Kevin Jacobs, CFO and president, global development for Hilton said Maietta has built a reputation as an astute leader and strategist and has a proven track record of furthering core missions, evolving organizations and achieving robust financial outcomes.
Since March 5, Kevin Carey had been serving as interim president and CEO of AHLA. His leadership helped “maintain focus within AHLA during a period of transition, elevating employee morale and achieving new heights in member satisfaction,” AHLA said in a statement.
Carey will continue to serve at AHLA as COO and senior executive vice president.
The AHLA team which will be working alongside Maietta includes Carey; Chirag Shah, executive vice president of federal and political affairs and counsel; Troy Flanagan, executive vice president of external government affairs and industry relations; Anna Blue, president of the AHLA Foundation; Kiersten Pearce, senior VP of strategic and executive initiatives; and Adrienne Weil, senior VP of membership and marketing.
The selection process for AHLA’s new president and CEO was completed following a “thorough and comprehensive search” conducted during the last few months by the AHLA Search Committee, chaired by Patel. The Search Committee consisted of CEOs and executives of the major brands, owners and management companies representing a cross-section of AHLA’s members.
Maietta’s appointment was unanimously approved by AHLA’s executive committee and board of directors.
