The Safe Bars Board of Directors has named Amie Ward the new Executive Director of Safe Bars. With extensive hospitality industry knowledge, management experience, and years in service as a Safe Bars trainer, Ward is well-positioned to lead the organization as it grows and thrives.
“We are absolutely thrilled to appoint Amie as our new Executive Director,” says Dr. J Jackson-Beckham, Safe Bars Board of Directors President. “The first thing that anyone will see in Amie is her boundless energy and genuine commitment to the work of preventing gender-based violence.”
When Ward assumes the role in October, she will manage day-to-day operations for one of the nation’s leading providers of active bystander and deescalation training and education for hospitality industry professionals. Ward believes Safe Bars’ prevention approach will change the landscape of the service industry by fostering difficult and necessary conversations, creating opportunities for growth, and building safe, equitable, and welcoming bar, restaurant, taproom, and other hospitality spaces.
She assumes the role from founding director Lauren Taylor, who has worked for more than 40 years to empower women, girls, LGBTQI+ people, and others targeted for harassment, abuse, and assault with dynamic, engaging, intersectional curricula. “I’m excited to pass the torch to Amie. She has the skills, energy, and experience to guide Safe Bars, and I look forward to watching the organization grow with her leadership,” says Taylor.
Ward has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 25 years, having begun as a dishwasher in a Maryland crab house and hitting her stride running high-volume bar programs and events. Ward’s passion for health, wellness, and safety in the service industry inspired her to launch The Healthtender, through which she travels across the United States to educate bartenders on how to care for themselves mentally and physically, and teaches free movement classes for bartenders internationally. She has received recognition from Wine Enthusiast, Tales of the Cocktail, The United States Bartenders Guild, Liquor.com, Baltimore Magazine, and Baltimore Style.
About Safe Bars
Safe Bars Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help bars, restaurants, breweries, and other alcohol-serving spaces create safe and welcoming cultures for patrons, and safe and respectful workplaces for staff. Safe Bars works to accomplish its mission by developing active bystander skills, teaching empowerment and self-defense, and providing de-escalation training for hospitality professionals. Through its hands-on train the trainer curricula, Safe Bars trains people all over the country—and the world—to start local Safe Bars programs wherever they gather. Hospitality professionals and members of the community can learn more about Safe Bars by visiting SafeBars.org or following Safe Bars on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linked In.
