Heather Carnes Takes on Leadership Role with AAHOA Charitable Foundation
Carnes Agency founder Heather Carnes took on an expanded leadership role with the AAHOA Charitable Foundation, serving as the organization’s part-time Executive Director and helping advance its strategic priorities across programming, fundraising, communications, and organizational development.
The role represents a meaningful return to work Carnes helped shape earlier in her career. While serving in executive leadership at AAHOA, Carnes helped launch the AAHOA Charitable Foundation in 2023 and supported the organization’s early development, positioning, and communications.
Her continued connection to AAHOA spans more than a decade of leadership in hospitality, including her former role as Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer. That experience gives Carnes a deep understanding of the association, its members, and the broader hospitality community the Foundation is designed to serve.
Through the engagement, Carnes is helping the Foundation strengthen both its operations and its public presence, with work spanning:
Strategic planning and board support
Fundraising and development initiatives
Program development and nonprofit engagement
Marketing, communications, and public awareness
Website strategy and development
Event and conference programming
Committee coordination and organizational support
The AAHOA Charitable Foundation is focused on creating meaningful impact through education and scholarships, women and youth advancement, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, anti-human trafficking initiatives, and broader community well-being.
For Carnes, the role brings together her experience in hospitality, association leadership, nonprofit strategy, communications, and organizational development in service of a mission she has been connected to since its earliest stages.
The engagement also reflects Carnes Agency’s broader commitment to supporting nonprofit and mission-driven organizations through strategic expertise and mission-based rates.
