Elaina M. Morris
CEO and president of Ascend Hospitality Group. Morris is an accomplished CEO, business owner, consultant, innovator and community leader with over 20 years of experience. “In 2021, we launched AHG Cares, the philanthropic arm of the company. Through AHG Cares, we are able to hone our community efforts through various programs and collaborations, particularly those focused on education and youth services.”
What causes are you most passionate about and why? My heart is locked and I’m fully focused on any cause that helps create an equal playing field for all students to find their path in life, be it through student-aid type services or traditional educational programs. One of my biggest causes right now is Rainier Athletes, an amazing foundation that pairs adult mentors with historically marginalized youth through organized extracurricular activities. As a former marginalized student athlete myself, sitting on the board for this organization and seeing the positive impact it has on young peoples’ lives really brings it full circle for me.
In what ways do you give back to the community? Ascend Hospitality Group invests wholly in both its team members and its guests to take service to the next level, and ultimately commits to elevating the communities it serves. In 2021, we launched AHG Cares, the philanthropic arm of the company. Through AHG Cares, we are able to hone our community efforts through various programs and collaborations, particularly those focused on education and youth services.
We launched this with a bang through our AHG Has Your Back program, where we collaborated with former Seahawks and Super Bowl champ Cliff Avril and the Cliff Avril Family Foundation for our first year. The collaboration provided underprivileged children with a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed backpack experience from Cliff and AHG for the 2021 back-to-school season. AHG also proudly works with Rainier Athletes, King County Boys & Girls Club, South Puget Sound Boys & Girls Clubs, For the Kids Utah, and many more.
If someone is new to nonprofit or volunteer work, how do you recommend they get started? Listen to your heart and don’t get involved in anything you aren’t passionate about. That’s it! Nonprofits need people, they need hands, hearts and help; but they particularly need people who care.
How can readers support your favorite causes? Give time and money! Here are a few of our favorite causes that we passionately support: www.rainierathletes.org/donate, www.bellevueschoolsfoundation.org/donate and www.bgcbellevue.org/GIVE