IHRSA, the trade organization for the fitness industry, hired Pamela Kufahl as senior director of communications, Rubble Kazi as membership coordinator and Saacha Vitalle as global membership representative. IHRSA promoted Sami Smith to senior manager of digital communications.
As senior director of communications,Kufahl will lead campaigns, social media content and produce member and industry-facing articles, documents and resources, including IHRSA’s Health Club Consumer Report and Global Report. She will also create economic, research and industry insight tools for U.S. and international members, suppliers, and federation partners, promoting the industry domestically and to global media, NGOs, and policy organizations. IHRSA reported it would announce team members in Asia and Latin America. Kufahl joins IHRSA from Club Industry, where she was director of content and engagement and previously editor-in-chief, a post she assumed in 2004.
Kazi recently joined IHRSA as a membership coordinator. Smith joined the Association’s public policy team in 2020 as a communications and public relations assistant. In her expanded role, Smith leads digital content production for websites, marketing e-mails, content management systems, and content optimization and strategy. Vitalle works from Serbia alongside longtime IHRSA Europe Director Florian Cartoux, servicing member firms in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
“I am pleased to welcome our new team members and to promote a hardworking member of our team to an expanded role,” Liz Clark, president and CEO of IHRSA, said. “Pam Kufahl is a well-known and widely respected industry veteran who brings a tremendous depth of insight, writing and content production expertise, and strategic vision to support our evolution into an advocacy, communications and international engagement-oriented Association.
“Sami Smith is a vital member of our team whose work helps connect our members, promote our industry and advocate for the industry at large. Ru Kazi will help provide essential support to serve existing member partners and help expand IHRSA’s resources, and Saacha is an important addition to our strong Europe-based team. Ru, Saacha and Pam help build out our team in important ways, and I am excited to bring them aboard so we can take our member service, engagement and advocacy to the next level,” Clark added.
