Hospitality Pathways Conference

Main Conference: August 20–21, 2026

Pre-Conference: August 19

Washington Marriott Georgetown
1221 22nd St, NW
Washington, DC

The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s annual Hospitality Pathways Conference (HPC) promotes work entry, reentry, and professional advancement through opportunities in hospitality. This year’s conference will welcome more than 200 workforce development stakeholders, including partners from justice agencies, community-based organizations, state restaurant associations, federal agency partners, industry partners, subject matter experts, and foundation staff.

The jam-packed agenda includes peer-networking opportunities, educational workshops, and interactive sessions to improve program delivery and increase awareness of the wide variety of career pathways in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

“Pathways to Success”

Pathways To Success: This year’s conference will focus on the many pathways to training, education, employment, advancement, and retention throughout the hospitality industry. Some of the pathways and approaches that will be highlighted through this year’s tracks include:

• Partnership & Collaboration: connecting with industry, participants, the workforce system, and community stakeholders
• Training, Delivery, & Advancement: exploring innovative teaching techniques, trauma-informed delivery, registered apprenticeship programs, and staff self-care
• Sustainability, Data, & Communication: identifying creative resources, unique funding and leveraging structures, data framing, and ways to tell “your story”

HPC is a hands-on conference for practitioners, decision-makers, partners, state associations, and stakeholders. The purpose of HPC is to support effective implementation and increase successful outcomes of workforce development programs while highlighting the different opportunities in hospitality for people from all backgrounds and with all levels of experience.

Goals include:

• Highlight best practices and share success stories
• Reach performance measures and increase successful outcomes
• Increase collaboration across programs, partners, and states
• Provide technical assistance, guidance, resources, and tools
• Spotlight career pathways in the hospitality sector
• Educate partners about national, government, private, program, and industry resources that lead to better workforce program implementation
• Ensure program model fidelity and compliance with regulations and best practice