Kara Filer is Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development for the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation. In this position, she oversees the expansion of the AHLA Foundation’s fundraising efforts and donor relations activities to promote the organization’s focus on scholarship, apprenticeship and workforce development programs that advance the careers of employees in the hospitality industry. Kara joined the Foundation from Boys & Girls Clubs of America, where she most recently served as Regional Development Officer for the National Capital Area, managing the regional fundraising strategy and Trustee board.

With more than a decade of service in the nonprofit sector, she has held roles in fundraising, programs and management consulting for a range of organizations including: Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Orr Group (formerly Orr Associates, Inc.), Comfort for America’s Uniformed Services (Cause), Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate and Family Services of Greater Houston. She received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her Masters in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.