Meet the Chair: Kelly Ford

As Hospitality Indiana's Board Chair, Kelly Ford brings a passion for advocacy, member engagement, and strengthening the hospitality industry across the state. We sat down with Kelly to learn more about her goals for the organization, how she first became involved, and her commitment to our industry!

What would you like to accomplish during your time as Chairwoman?

During my time as Chair, I hope to further elevate the association's impact through effective advocacy, strong member engagement, and meaningful industry partnerships. I want to ensure we are well-positioned to advance policies that support Indiana's hospitality community while expanding the value and resources we provide to our members. My goal is to help build a strong foundation for the association's continued growth and long-term success.

I'd also like to grow Hospitality Indiana's membership by at least 20% and increase engagement among our current members. Strong participation is incredibly important to our organization, and I want members to feel connected and involved.

Another goal is to develop a strategy for traveling to different regions of Indiana to meet with both current and prospective members. These visits will help me grow as a leader, build relationships with hospitality professionals across the state, and create opportunities to expand our membership.

How did you first get involved with Hospitality Indiana?

A friend and member of Hospitality Indiana, at that time INRLA, told me about a bill being introduced that would allow patrons to bring in their own wine for a corkage fee.  My restaurant’s wine program is very important to our reputation and our bottom line.

For many reasons, I could go on and on about how I am deeply against this. I somehow found Patrick Tamm and after listening to me he agreed. We spoke many times to many people on the reasons this was a bad bill. He helped me get in front of the right people and testify against it.

I realized the strength of this organization and how a small restaurant in Terre Haute really did have a say in state government. 

Since joining, I have gained a deeper understanding of how politics work and how important it is to stay involved.  I have met some wonderful people who I have strong friendships with.  Networking with folks in the Hospitality Industry has been priceless.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

One person I would like to have dinner with would be my father at a young age. 

He was close to fifty when I was born and passed away when I was 23.  We were very close and would work on old cars together and sell them.

He had such big life before me; he was in the Navy and fought in WWII.  He was a very hard worker, loved history and reading about it.  I can relate to those traits, however most of my non-fiction reading revolves around wine.