20 Million Stories: The Human Side of Hospitality with Hilton's Catherine Linskey

What does it really mean to create impact at scale—without losing the human connection?

In this episode, Catherine Linskey, Director of Community Impact at Hilton, shares how one of the world’s largest hospitality brands is working toward an ambitious goal: impacting 20 million people while creating 5 million learning and career opportunities by 2030. But behind those numbers are deeply personal stories—of second chances, career discovery, and communities transformed.

Catherine takes us inside the Hilton Global Foundation and the evolving role of corporate philanthropy, where impact is no longer just about writing checks—it’s about aligning business, people, and purpose. From workforce development to hyper-local community engagement across 9,000 properties, she reveals how hospitality remains, at its core, a people-first industry—even in an AI-driven world.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that the future of tourism isn’t just about destinations—it’s about opportunity, connection, and showing up for people where they are.

Business Class is brought to you by Learn Tourism, the nonprofit academy - harnessing the power of science, business psychology and adult education to advance the tourism industry and build sustainable economies. Learn how to engage your community, win over stakeholders and get more visitors at learntourism.org. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Good morning. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Good. Just afternoon here in DC, Northern Virginia. How are you afternoon?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

I am on Pacific Time today, which is different than I was two days ago and different than I was a week before that. I'm a digital nomad. So this is my bus. And I'm in the Valley of Fire Nevada.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Wow. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Not a bad look.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

No, it looks it looks almost like uh one of those staged backgrounds.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I get that a lot because the inside of my bus is also quite fancy. So it doesn't look like grandpa's winner.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Oh good. I know. I see I've seen some of those really fancy ones. There, that's how to do it if you're going to.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I had this conversation with my uncle. My uncle recently turned 60 and decided to take me up on the offer to join me for a few days on the road. He's never been out west, he's never explored the parks of the west. So he stepped inside the bus and he goes, I didn't expect it to be this big. I'm like, I'm not an outside person. I'm not outdoors anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

No, I'm with you. I I like to enjoy it, but then I like to be able to s not sleep on the floor. That's my exactly or in a tent.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

I described myself as being outside adjacent.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

I'm right there with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Other people are roasting spores, lighting up their campfires. I'm turning on the dishwasher and watching.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

I am Catherine Linsky. I am the director of community impact at Hilton. And in this role, I also oversee our Hilton Global Foundation, which is our philanthropic arm of the company. It is a completely separate registered 501c3 nonprofit. We give grants to organizations that work across the globe supporting our travel with purpose goals. We are all very aligned and support our broader travel with purpose strategy through the foundation. And those are, we have a few key main goals that we are working towards for 2030 that the foundation is really supporting. The biggest one being we have a 2030 goal to impact 20 million community members, as well as create 5 million learning and career growth opportunities. One of the fantastic things about hospitality in Hilton is that there is a home for you here, no matter what your background is, whether you have or do not have a traditional four-year college degree or any degree. So that is why opportunity and career opportunities is such a big focus for us.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Workforce development has been one of those things that's plagued the tourism industry for a long time. How do you think that's changing?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Well, I think the biggest thing, obviously, coming out of the pandemic was a challenge. And I started in this role halfway through the pandemic, and it was a time where people were very uncertain about the hospitality industry. However, one thing that I think is a lot going to go away in hospitality, especially at Hilton, is that we're a business of people serving people. So there is no world in which that changes. Of course, this is top of mind for us as we think about what the world of technology and AI play for us as an industry. There's a lot of fantastic uses for it in our field, but it's never going to take away that in-person connection that you get when you walk in the front door of a Hilton, no matter what brand it is. And I don't know if people remember that when you walk into the door, it's you're thinking about can I get to my room? You know, got to check in, all of those sorts of things. But at the end of the day, for a Hilton and for us, it's about being a reliable, clean, friendly place to be. And that is largely dependent upon people. So we as a foundation and in the philanthropic world, our role is to really help continue to grow and to illustrate that there is a lot more to the hospitality industry than I think most people know or have been exposed to. I grew up right down the street from our headquarters here in McLean, Virginia, and went to high school down the street. I don't think I could have told you that Hilton's headquarters were here or what it meant to work in hospitality. So a lot of what we are doing is not only the exposure to careers in hospitality, but what does that even mean? There are more than just the traditional roles that you might see, whether that's working in the front desk, food and beverage. But if you're interested in engineering, most of our major properties have an on-property operations and engineer department to make the whole building work. Or if you are interested in safety, we have a safety and security team that supports the company. So I think that's one thing that we are really working on, not only training and supporting and empowering the next generation of hospitality leaders, but uh showing what this world has to offer.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

You know, you work at the intersection of two really fascinating industries, you know, hospitality, tourism, and philanthropy. How did you or what Yeah, when and how did you realize that philanthropy and giving is what you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

I would say from a very young age, I was taught in a very traditional manner, especially if you think about you think about giving back to your communities. I would tell you, I did not know that there was a career in it by any means until I fell into it, which I think many people in this space do, or they have a different career for a while and then end up in this one. I it was in my first job, and I was on a compliance team in my first role, and I it was not for me, it was not the field that I was interested in staying in, but you have to try things to know that. However, because I was on the compliance team, somewhere along the lines in that first role, I was asked to look into the legality of that company at the time of making a charitable donation to an organization. It was a fire department. I worked for a company that made fire suppression materials and products, and they were wanted to donate to a fire organization. I said, sure, happy to look into it. I'm in the compliance team. I feel like that might look and be within the realm. However, I ended up getting more of those types of requests than I did the actual job description of the compliance role that I was in. So I sort of got dropped into this world of corporate giving, you know, 13, 14 years ago at this point. And we've seen this industry change a lot in terms of there was a lot of initial check writing and making sure that you get your logo and recognition for making that contribution, which of course there still plays a role in it. But what I quickly learned in that role, and then my subsequent ones after that, there's just so much more that a company can do and can offer. Yes, writing grants and providing from a philanthropic element is one piece of the puzzle. But then what also can the rest of the company provide in terms of our resources? So we work very closely with our HR teams, especially as we think about what opportunity looks like. There are big partners in us because we want to make sure that if we're providing grants to organizations that are doing great hospitality training, that that would be an organization that we may eventually want to find talent from. All of those things have to come together in order to have that bigger impact, especially as we think about what those 2030 goals are as a company. You need to have all of these pieces talking to each other. And it's interesting because that's ultimately what led me when I went back to grad school and got my MBA. Someone asked me, they're like, Why are you getting an MBA instead of more of a traditional, there's lots of folks who've got masters of public administration or more on that side? I was very clear in my intention of business school that I sit at the intersection of what a company can do with philanthropic dollars. And you can be in philanthropy, but you still have to do that on the backbone and understand having a deep understanding of what the company's uh initiatives and priorities are. So a long, a long roundabout way of saying I did not know that this was a career, but it is one that I am very excited and so happy that Hilton can be part of that journey.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

It's interesting, your title has the term and I work with destinations all around the world, similar to the work that you do in some ways. And impact that word has come up more in conversations in the last year and a half than I think it ever did before. What does impact mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 11:26

So I think for us it really means what are we getting out of not only our philanthropic investments? I think that's one piece of it, because we're we do have to say, are we we're giving a certain amount of dollars and we want to make sure that what we're seeing out of it, those dollars, is a piece of impact. However, there is the even broader ripple effect or the effect that Hilton can have on a community. And this is one thing that drew me to Hilton in the hospitality industry to begin with, and that each of our little businesses, because most of our hotels are franchised, they know what their communities need. And it's not something that I ever really thought too much about beforehand because you're usually traveling somewhere, you want to get to your room, but their people come from that community. They often are very involved in whatever the local initiatives are, and I think that's where our impact really comes to life at a company like this. We have the ability to impact on that hyper-local level. You know, we have almost over 9,000 properties right now, and those are each little micro hubs of community impact through the Hilton. But then you put it all together and you can come out and you see this huge global impact, whether it's numbers or volunteer hours or number of people you've served, which might seem like a small number in that moment, but when you ladder it all up, it you can have this huge effect. And then when our team comes in and provides that additional funding to an organization that usually comes to us through one of our properties, the impact of that is just tenfold, in addition to looking at the grass tax of okay, well, what did we give with our dollars and what was the impact report out of that? But just looking at what the Hilton ecosystem can provide. I've seen countless individuals here that have gone on to great new opportunities where they are traveling or taking on a new GM role because they've done such a fantastic job at one property that they're tapped to do another fantastic part of the world, all of which is part of that Hilted Impact.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Describe for me a day at work that you're most proud of.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

I think last one of the things we did last fall, we work very closely here in DC with an organization called DC Central Kitchen. And we support their culinary jobs training program, which supports underserved youth, individuals who've been previously incarcerated or homeless, providing them with what they call it life skills and knife skills. So they get support from a life skills perspective, how to advocate for yourself, have a voice, but then also they get the culinary training. And we actually have several team members across the DC area that have participated in their program and then have gone on to be hired at a Hilton. We had a gentleman come and speak at an event here in our office before we did a volunteer event with DC Central Kitchen in the fall. And hearing the impact firsthand from an individual who also now works at this incredible company around his challenges with incarceration, but then what it means to have found an organization like that and then go on to be hired by a Hilton, get promoted, get on a management development track. I think those are the moments that make all of this worthwhile because we can get very much stuck in gotta get this paperwork done. That's getting a very mechanics of making the foundation work, but then taking a step back and talking to people and hearing what their stories are makes any day incredible. Even this morning, they got one from an organization in the UK called Only a Pavement Away, where we got a firsthand testimonial from an individual who was outlining his journey through homelessness, but then what it meant to be found by this outreach group and put into this great training opportunity and back into a role to be able to support his family. Those are the people that we love hearing from, and that's at the end of the day why we are doing this.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

I find an incredible dynamic between the ambition to touch 20 million individuals and those one-on-one stories. And from my perspective, I see that in many ways like the hotel business. It is that person-to-person connection. It's the person at the front desk who when you ask what restaurant you can go to, instead of them saying most havern, they say, you know what, you're here with your family, and when my family goes out, here's where we go. It's it's telling a story. How in the world do you reach 20 million people?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

With a lot of help with our hotels, I'll tell you that. We can be a small piece of that puzzle, but it's really dependent upon our and it's based on the work that our hotels are doing. And I I came into this company and was supporting Hilton on the back end of administrative work during the pandemic and was initially first supporting them with a program we now we still have called our Action Grant program, where we provide small grants to our hotels to go out and do something from a volunteer perspective in their communities. And that was the thing that really drew me to this. You never have to ask or tell people to go out and do this. They're all they will do it and are doing it all the time. From us, it's just a how do you capture all of that and count it and quantify it? But those are the real, those are the ways in which we reach those numbers. So for example, it could be what's potentially a small event, but when you compound that over 9,000 properties every year, plus then you layer in the impact through not only the grants from the Hilton Global Foundation, but we also have a sister organization in the UK that gives grants as well, just in the UK. So when you begin to add up all of these various places where Hilton is working with people and supporting their communities, you begin to see the numbers add up.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?

SPEAKER_00 18:51

I still think I would be in some sort of philanthropic role, whether it's maybe it from a different perspective, maybe be on the nonprofit side if I wasn't in on the corporate side. Although I will tell you, I've tried my hand at fundraising, and that's a that's a skill set for some different sharks. Different sharks. Although I do have to fundraise in a different capacity from the company. And I think now that I have a young family, any jobs where I'm traveling a lot would be great because I'm certainly not always in a position to be doing that. But Hilton is such a fantastic place to be. And when I was looking at companies and jobs in this area, I said, you know, I knew Hilton was here. I was like, that would be a great place to work. So maybe if it's not in this role at Hilton, another one. But given that this all the stuff this company has to offer, I feel like I would have found my way in some capacity back here.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

In what way are you most like each of your parents?

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Gosh, both my parents are lawyers, and they very much approached it in two different ways. My dad went, knew exactly what he wanted to do, went straight from college into law school, and kept right on going. Whereas my mom took a little break after school, worked, and then went back to law school. So I think in that regard, thinking about my education journey, I was like my mother and thinking I wanted to work for a little while before going back to decide what it was that I wanted to study. However, I think I get a lot of my uh more professional traits from my father. He's always been a very outgoing individual. He's given me a lot of tips and tricks on how to walk into a room, a networking room, which I think I've now been able to put to use, whereas I think that is definitely not a space that my mom would feel as comfortable in. And to this day, I want to make sure that I get his input on complex work challenges. But then also I have to think about my mom, who has always been in a been a lawyer, and in a especially in a time when being a working mom may not have been the path most taken. However, now that I'm a mom myself, I find myself having those conversations with her now. So I think different parts of your journey weigh on your parents in different places.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

And you mentioned your family, young family. How would you like them to describe you?

SPEAKER_00 21:54

I think my daughter would say that I make sure to show up in all facets of the things that I'm participating in, whether it's coming to work and giving everything I have, but then when you end the work shift and a new shift comes on, and you switch into mom mode and being totally present in that moment is definitely something you have to learn as well, and has been a obviously a shift and a shift for anybody. But just thinking about how do you show up in all of those different places and begin to use different parts of your brain for them. But you have to remember that last weekend was my daughter's birthday, and it's you have to pull that together somehow and fit that into your day when you're not sitting at the office. But balance, I think, is definitely one that everybody could always, you're never gonna find the perfect balance, but one that works for you and your family in that moment is always what I'm striving for.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

You led the conversation by talking about education and teaching. What is the most important lesson you've learned?

SPEAKER_00 23:03

You have to try a lot of things and you have to fail at a lot of different things. And that doesn't mean that wasn't the right thing at that moment for you. You always come out learning something. I think someone said to me once, have you ever not faced a challenge that you haven't gotten through? And I was like, Oh, that's an interesting way of putting it. You can think back in your career and you're like, oh, I in the moment that was terrible, but here I am now, and I know how I came out the other side of it. So I was like, that's a good perspective. Like all those other times in your life where things were not going well or you faced some sort of setback, you got through it and you came through the other side. So I think that's always what I'm working towards, especially as I work with colleagues or raise kids or things like that. It's that you have to try and fail at a lot of different things, try a lot of things, but then I also always try to be as helpful as I can to other people in those moments, maybe when they're like, I need some direction. I tried this thing and it didn't work, and now I need to pivot. So serving in that role, I always like some people don't like managing people. I love I like managing people and having those conversations and figuring out how best to help them navigate some of those challenges, whether it's career journeys or otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

I'm reminded of the Nelson Mandela quote. I never lose, I either win or learn.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yep, exactly. It's a tough one to in the moment remember because other your anxiety is too high, you know, you're so in the moment, but we all get through it in some fashion.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

What is something I didn't ask that you wish I did?

SPEAKER_00 24:54

As we think about mentorship and uh developing the next generation of hospitality leaders, that is the forefront of what's on our plate this year. We just at the beginning of February announced our newest round of grantees for the year. I think it was the total was 5.4 million to organizations globally supporting all of our travel with purpose goals. But I would say maybe 60, 70% of that funding was to organizations in the career development space. So how do we continue to double down in that work, knowing that not only is it a natural place for Hilton to be working while also continuing to supporting other initiatives, whether it's food security and food waste is a big one, obviously, for us at hotels, some water projects globally, as well as biodiversity? That will always be an area of interest for us at the foundation. Always happy to talk more about the work that we're doing in any of those places, but really weeding with career development and how do we mentor and expose the next generation to what this incredible company has to offer.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

What advice would you have for somebody else who is in a position to do that?

SPEAKER_00 26:11

I think it comes back to my earlier. You have to try a lot of different things. And I think that's one of the things that Hilton is so great about. There's so many people who have worked in different roles in this company. They've had the opportunity to try out new things, do stretch projects, do sabbaticals. There's a lot of that opportunity here. I feel like half the time you just have to ask. And oftentimes that's the scariest part is asking people. And I have to remind myself of that as well.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Anything you'd like to ask me?

SPEAKER_00 26:48

What do you think is the biggest hurdle a company like Hilton would face as we think about workforce development, whether it's reputational challenges, whether it's staffing challenges? I'd just be curious, if you think of Hilton, what's the first thing you think of after?

SPEAKER_01 27:09

The first thing I think of when I hear the word Hilton or the name Hilton is hospitality. First and foremost. Creating a space where everybody can fill off. So your question about challenges for workforce development and f for people in your situation, quantifying the work that you do. You have 9,000 properties. If each and every one of them is doing some sort of project in their community, how many of them are telling you about that?

SPEAKER_00 27:38

I would say not as many as we would like.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

And I think the second piece of that in workforce development specifically is it's education. It's teaching people that there are skills that they can build in the tourism space that they can transfer to careers in any space. It is about providing education that meets people when they need it, where they are and how they learn best. My aha moment that led me to founding a nonprofit was a realization that most of the training and education in the tourism industry just didn't cut it. It wasn't accessible to people how they learned. It wasn't ready for them when they were motivated to learn. And it wasn't taught with empathy. You have to understand the learner and where they're coming from, whether it's a remote community in Africa, economic development or community development project in Nepal, or it's teaching people to be better ambassadors for their communities in Kansas City or Piphis or Nashville or Detroit or Libya or you know, any of the other destinations that we work at. Really making sure that education meets people where they're at and helps them do something that they weren't doing well before or weren't doing at all before. I think that's the help of work.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

So thank you for taking the time to chat with me. It comes down to the skill that you build at the front desk or the diligence and commitment that you make in back of house or you know, whatever it is. So that is the goal. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. And maybe I'll see you on the road one of these days.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Terrific. Thanks, Stephen. All right, take care. Talk to you soon. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Bye bye.