From the U.S. to Europe to Asia and Africa, women in hospitality roles across the globe are making a mark on their regions through leadership, philanthropy and being the best host they can be.

Despite cultural differences and regional challenges in their markets, these four women — a hotel general manager, owner, sustainability expert and foundation director — prioritize human connections and serving others to inspire change.

Elizabeth Ellis is the executive director of the Time + Tide Foundation in Zambia, Africa. The foundation is part of Time + Tide, a collection of family-owned safari and island resorts in Zambia and Madagascar.

The foundation's efforts center on empowering women and girls, a critical need in Africa, Ellis said. Through the foundation, she focuses on giving high-risk girls in the rural areas where the company operates solid information about topics like reproduction and education.

"An investment in girls and young women is an investment in a different kind of economic future for low/middle income countries in Southern Africa,” she said.

Nintya Avriantari, landscape operations manager and designer of Bawah Reserve in Riau Islands, Indonesia, is familiar with passion for larger issues affecting hospitality. For her, that passion centers on making sustainability top of mind for resort guests.

“This is an important topic, and we're passionate about raising awareness for the idea of luxury going beyond opulence in a traditional sense and instead incorporating the meaning of the process and philosophy," she said. It's about "touching upon how the products we use and the practices we implement can be invaluable to the welfare and well-being of the community with minimal environmental impact wherever possible.”

Maintaining family legacy and shining a spotlight on her community is among Valentina De Santis’ top priorities as a hotelier. De Santis is owner of luxury boutique hotel Passalacqua in Moltrasio, Province of Como, Italy, and she carries a three-generation legacy within the hotel industry that began with her grandparents. Her passion is around caring for historic hotels and the guests who visit them.

"My strength is really the passion, the heart and the love I put into everything I do, which is of course the greatest lesson I learned from my parents and grandparents," she said in an email interview.

And Paulette Monarrez, general manager of Korakia Pensione, a resort in downtown Palm Springs, California, said authenticity and creating loyalty inspires her leadership, now in its 20th year.

“I've learned that it's always better to be timeless rather than trendy," she said. "Authenticity is a niche, and I believe being hospitable and kind is the highest form of luxury,” Monarrez said.

To learn more about how these women in hospitality across the globe are adding value to their communities, read through this Q&A.

Why do you feel it's important for a hospitality company to have a philanthropic arm?

We work in remote wildlife areas that have very high poverty levels, low literacy levels and high dependency on natural resources. We are promoting biodiversity through our lodges, and we want these natural assets to be valuable to everyone. At the end of the day, conservation is a social welfare issue, and we need to be part of the story of change because governments don't have the capacity to reach these remote areas sufficiently. By supplementing the government's efforts in providing the much-needed social services to the people in these areas, we are contributing to larger social value generation through our investments in the most underserved people.

Working hand in hand with Time + Tide, can you share how each property in the collection is involved with the foundation?

• Liuwa Plains: The majority of the Time + Tide team members are local residents in this area and they have been instrumental in creating community buy-in because they share our stories with their families.
• Lower Zambezi: The Time + Tide team members advocate for our work and this helps build trust among our stakeholders.
• Nosy Ankao: The Time + Tide team on the island joins the Time + Tide Foundation in stakeholder meetings on several occasions and this contributes towards increasing our stakeholders’ confidence in our work.
• South Luangwa: the Time + Tide team members provide in-kind support to our projects. For example, they provide manpower to build or renovate our beneficiaries’ buildings.

What are some tips for other women who want to get involved in life-changing foundations?

Listen and absorb as much as you can! Every resident, community and context is different. Become a radical listener and try to be radically empathetic to all stakeholders, especially those you don't understand initially.

What inspired you to enter the field of sustainability?

I am inspired by the holistic concept of sustainability, which entails maintaining the balance between improving community well-being and welfare without compromising the quality of our natural environment. Holistic sustainability is relevant to our daily lives, and I feel it has potential to generate positive impact on the future when properly implemented. It is essential to continue fostering the growth and network of skilled workers who can transfer their eco-friendly mindset and knowledge through the services they provide.

What does your typical day at work look like?

Throughout any given day, I'm in regular contact with my team, monitoring the progress of tasks and keeping them motivated, whether that is by working out creative ideas together or discussing upcoming projects that inspire us. Occasionally, I will explore the property with my team to identify available resources that can be repurposed or recycled for immediate solutions or for the creation of something new through existing materials.

I check my gardens and hydroponics to make sure all my plants are happy. I will frequently engage in discussions with other departments to help them streamline their efforts and establish overlap where we can work together.

My current focus is leveraging existing resources to enhance the landscaping within and surrounding the property to improve the production of on-island produce, by way of permaculture-based practices.

How are you also engaging guests to learn?

As part of our guest experience, we feature a guided permaculture walk through our garden. During this tour, I explain the principles behind our permaculture-based practices, emphasizing the integration of various elements to work symbiotically to maintain the garden's productivity.

Additionally, I highlight the advantages of the native beehives around the garden, and often share a peek inside the hives to accompany the story of our team's experience in attracting and maintaining the colonies until they produce honey.

What are your tips for other women who wish to enter this field?

Do not be afraid to experiment through hands-on learning. Always keep an eye on your surroundings to uncover potential resources. Stay positive, creative and persistent in your learning venture as these qualities are essential for your growth and success.

Being a third-generation entrepreneur in the hospitality industry, what does hospitality mean to you?

Hospitality has always been a family affair for us, and not just in the sense that I am the third generation to run our hotel group. Hospitality in our family has always been a very intimate and very real thing. We understand it as opening our home, but also opening the doors of our hearts to the guests, inviting everyone who stays with us to experience our world, our values and our culture firsthand. Our philosophy is to make guests feel welcome in the true sense of the Italian word 'accoglienza' — which, in its Latin roots, means gathering together and forming a bond. This has always been and always will be our highest ambition.

What lessons and takeaways have you learned from the generations above you? How are you using those lessons now while running Passalacqua?

My parents and my grandparents before me taught me to think like an entrepreneur, and that means taking care of our properties — in the deepest sense of the word — while always aspiring for more. Like the generations above me, I believe a big part of this is advocating for our destination as a whole. They taught me to love and to invest in elevating Lake Como as a destination, even as we love and invest in our properties themselves. The culmination of this philosophy is our new property, Passalacqua, which we as a local family acquired from foreign investors, very different from most real estate transactions here.

Restoring this remarkable lakeside landmark to its former glory and opening its doors to guests from near and far is our way of giving something back to our Lake Como region.

You've won many accolades, including Hotelier of the Year and Italian Hotelier of the Year. Which strengths of yours do you feel have led you to being recognized like that?

My strength is really the passion, the heart and the love I put into everything I do, which is of course the greatest lesson I learned from my parents and grandparents. The principle is actually quite simple. For us, being a hotelier is about making decisions with your heart rather than your business sense. I see each property as my home and as my family, so therefore, running our company is never just a job. It is something much more than that; it is my life. I believe this is what they are recognizing with these accolades.

This type of recognition also, I hope, sends a strong message to other small family-owned companies like ours and reassures them that they have something very special to give the world.

How are you best honoring tradition while infusing innovation and a fresh perspective in your property?

Our guiding principle is to respect our properties and their rich heritage. We believe that the best way to honor the past is to ... allow others to experience and enjoy it today and in the future. After all, life wasn't solemn and boring and formal all those years ago; why should it be now? It's our job to make these ancient walls sing with the same joy, the same celebratory spirit they did in their heyday, enhanced of course with all the modern comforts we enjoy today.

What are your top tips for other women in the industry who hope to run a hotel?

Hospitality — accoglienza — and care in its truest sense are all things rooted in our DNA. I invite every woman working in the travel industry to look deep into her soul, deep in her heart and find that 'special something' that makes us unique as women. To embrace her feminine side, unapologetically but also joyfully, in everything she does.

You wear many hats in your role. How do you balance all your duties?

I try to manage all aspects of my life from the same place inside, a place of gratitude and love. Gratitude gives me clarity and when you have that, it is much easier to work through day-to-day challenges.

You've been able to develop a loyal customer base among creatives across the globe. How do you best maintain this loyalty?

Maintaining relationships and treating guests like family is about surprising and delighting. It's rewarding knowing that loyal artists and creatives have a need for Korakia. I am honored and humbled to continue to help create, protect and hold this space that is so special to them.

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