OUR SOCIAL IMPACT
We believe our business is only as healthy as our guests, as successful as our associates, and as strong as our communities. We focus on nurturing wellness, stimulating development, and driving positive local and global change.
OUR SOCIAL SDG PRIORITIES
Our priorities around the social aspect of the Sustainable Development Goals are focused on having a local and global impact, supporting our associates, and embracing health and wellness for our associates and guests.
OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL IMPACT
HAVING A LOCAL & GLOBAL IMPACT
One of our core values is “Hearts that Serve.” This means that our care and service of people does not apply only to guests and associates, but also to our stewardship of local and global communities.
OUR LOCAL IMPACT
Our hotels are deeply rooted in the communities in which they operate. Stronger, more vibrant communities in turn are able to help our hotels thrive. We support our local communities through the lenses of economic development, revitalization, and philanthropy.
PHILANTHROPY
We support our associates by encouraging them to actively serve their communities and providing them with the autonomy to support the projects, organizations, or causes they care about. With each property participating in or holding at least three philanthropic events a year, we are proud to see our hotels being positive forces in their communities.
Philanthropy Projects:
The Westin Philadelphia Team raises awareness to Prevent Human Trafficking
In solidarity with the Department of Human Services and American Hotel & Lodging Association, associates at the Westin Philadelphia participated in #WearBlueDay to help bring awareness to help prevent human trafficking.
Shout out to Diversity at The Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club
Associates at the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club, Miami FL created an associate wall in celebration of global diversity and inclusion month in October. The employee wall shows our employees how diverse we are – different races, backgrounds, national origin, languages spoken, but with one thing in common – serving our guests at The Cadillac.
GET TO KNOW THE TEAM:
Edison Yepes,
Chief Engineer at The Envoy Hotel, Boston, MA
Edison has been a leader in sustainability at The Envoy hotel since it first opened… READ MORE >
OUR GLOBAL IMPACT
In our hotels, we provide guests with access to clean water and superior cleanliness. However, we believe it is important to be a positive force, not just locally, but also for global communities in which we do not directly operate.
Global Impact Projects:
Providing Access to Clean Water
- Why? We believe access to clean, accessible, safe, sufficient, and affordable water is a fundamental human right. It is unacceptable that one in ten people globally lack access to safe drinking water.
- How? We developed EarthView Water, a privately labeled water bottle made from 100% recycled materials. For each bottle purchased, we donate $1 to help bring clean, drinkable water to those in need.
- Update: In 2020, and in partnership with Waterboys.org, a Hersha-funded well was successfully dug in Tanzania and is bringing life-sustaining water to 8,000 people.
- About Waterboys.org: Waterboys is an initiative founded by Chris Long that brings clean, accessible drinking water to rural communities in East Africa. Local crews in East Africa are hired to drill deep borehole wells for communities where there is unsafe drinking water or community members need to walk miles each day to retrieve water.
We have achieved our target to provide accessible, clean water to 25,000 individuals in need! We are in the process of developing a new goal for our future impact.
Providing Improved Sanitation
- Why? While hotels dispose of a staggering amount of single-use soaps every day, two out of the top five leading causes of deaths around the world, particularly among children, could have been avoided by improved hygiene.
- How? We partner with Clean the World to give our soaps a second life. Our hotel associates collect and send partially used soaps to Clean the World. Clean the World then sanitizes these items, repackages them, and then distributes new bars of soap to communities in need.
- Update: Since 2011, our donations have created and distributed 568,000 new bars of soap. When we first partnered with Clean the World, we were the largest hotel company to do so. Now, we are excited to see other hotel companies also participating in recycling and sending soaps to those in need.
SUPPORTING OUR ASSOCIATES
As one of our core values states “People Are Our Capability.” Our associates are the drive and soul behind Hersha’s continued success, and as such, we strive to facilitate a diverse, inclusive environment, provide development opportunities, and focus on health and wellness to help our associates thrive.
OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT
We provide an inclusive, safe, and open work environment, and have a staunch commitment to our Code of Conduct. Additionally, we provide numerous benefits that allow our associates to lead full lives outside of Hersha.
Hersha’s work-life balance practices provides associates with the flexibility to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as paid time off. We also upgraded to a video conferencing system that enables off-site associates to connect with conference rooms via video.
For more information on Hersha’s human rights and labor policies, benefits, and other policies, please see our Code of Conduct on our Hersha website.
DIVERSITY AT HERSHA
We are taking action to advance diversity and inclusion within our workspaces by establishing programs, trainings, and plans that address the concerns and needs of diverse employees. In the spirit of sharing and learning from each other, we are signatories of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion Pledge.
GENDER
DIVERSITY
39%
of our workforce is made up of women
26%
of our female workforce holds roles of Director and above
GENDER DIVERSITY
ETHNIC
DIVERSITY
24%
of our workforce identifies as a member of a minority group
ETHNIC DIVERSITY
AGE
DIVERSITY
24%
of our workforce is under age 30
61%
is between 30 and 50
AGE DIVERSITY
NURTURING GROWTH
We believe our associates will become tomorrow’s leaders, and so we support them through providing numerous opportunities for advancement and personal growth, as well as benefits to support their health and wellness.
GET TO KNOW THE TEAM:
Yajaira Hernandez,
Guest Service Agent at the Holiday Inn Express Cambridge, MA
Yajaira’s passion for taking care of the environment started when she began… READ MORE >
EMBRACING
HEALTH & WELLNESS
We promote the health and wellness of our associates and guests in order to create a great place to work, as well as design a comfortable destination to stay.
For our associates, we aim to support their physical and mental health, as well as overall wellness. Our efforts have been recognized, with our Philadelphia office being named “Best Place to Work” by the Philadelphia Business Journal for three years in a row.
For our guests, we aim to help them maintain their daily wellness routines while travelling, to help them recharge and refresh.
Hampton Inn Center City/Convention Center Philadelphia
Providing Healthy, Eco-friendly, Simply Good Jars
Our Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City/Convention Center hotel has partnered with local start-up company, Simply Good Jars to provide locally sourced, organic, ready-to-eat meals that are healthy and good for the planet. All salad containers are reused or recycled and for each salad sold, one meal is donated to someone in need. During the pandemic, these fresh, pre-packaged salads provided guests with a safe and healthy food option. We are in the process of expanding this initiative to other hotels in our portfolio.
Rest Assured™
In 2020 we developed and launched Rest Assured™ – a proprietary health and safety program focused on the well-being of guests and associates through science based, advanced cleaning practices complemented by innovative service offerings and technologies. Highlights of the program include:
- Seven unique employee training modules regarding COVID-19 workplace leading practices and supplemented with videos and implementation guides
- Implementation of plexiglass shields and signage throughout the hotel
- Contactless forms of check-in, payment, and F&B service
- Utilization of UV light technology and HEPA filtration along with EPA-approved disinfectants for advanced cleaning
- Rest Assured wellness kits provided to guests at select hotels
