Valerie C. Ferguson
Valerie C. Ferguson
With 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Valerie Ferguson has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Travel for 1998 through 2000 by Travel Agent magazine and one of the Top 100 Women in Corporate America by Ebony. Ms. Ferguson is a Past Chairman of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA), where she spearheaded “Opportunity of a Lifetime,” a campaign to promote hospitality careers throughout the United States. She currently serves on the AH&LA Diversity Committee.
The Network of Executive Women in Hospitality voted Ms. Ferguson National Women of the Year in 1993. In 1994, she received the Turner Broadcasting Trumpet Award saluting African-American achievement and was named to the Atlanta Business League’s list of Top 100 Black Women of Influence. She was awarded the Drum Major for Justice Award on behalf of Coretta Scott King and the women of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1998 and, with in same year, the Georgia Hospitality and Trade Association voted her Lodging Leader of the Year. In 2000, Ms. Ferguson was named as Diversity Institute’s Hospitality Leader of the Year and the Multicultural Black Culinary Alliance Food Service and Hospitality Hotelier of the Year. She also received an Honorary Doctorate in Food Service from the Food Manufacturing Association. The Lodging Investment Conference awarded Ms. Ferguson the Above and Beyond Award for 2003. Ms. Ferguson was also awarded the 2004 Women of Distinction award as well as an honoree for the 2004 Salute to Philadelphia Women of Achievement. In 2006 The South Eastern Pennsylvania Red Cross awarded Ms. Ferguson the Jane Bisbee Award and most recently she was awarded the 2007 Spectrum Award - Beyond the Glass Ceiling.
Ms. Ferguson arrived in Philadelphia in 1998 with a corporate mandate to direct the $115 million conversion of the landmark PSFS Building into the luxury, convention-driven Loews Philadelphia Hotel. She was further charged with leading the property through its high-profile opening in the spring of 2000, into the National Republican Convention and beyond.
The transition called for an industry veteran with the business savvy to position the hotel against the competitive onslaught of some 50 new hotels in the greater Philadelphia market. It also required a skilled collaborator able to build community and corporate partnerships that would help propel the company’s growth projections. She proved to be a visionary strategist, armed with an inclusive agenda for the 21st century toward stronger diversity and more effective mentoring in the hospitality industry.
She currently serves as a director on the boards of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Historic Philadelphia Inc., Philadelphia Workforce Investment Corporation, Widener University Advisory Council-School of Hospitality, Penn State School of Health & Human Services and Secretary of the SE PA American Red Cross. She is also a member of the Board for Center City District Philadelphia,
Before joining Loews Corporation in 1998, Ms. Ferguson served with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Hyatt Hotels. She served as general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta and held general manager positions at Hyatt properties in Atlanta, Chicago and Flint, Michigan.
Ms. Ferguson is active in numerous business, civic and educational endeavors. She travels throughout the country to key industry and association events, high schools and colleges, championing the cause of lodging as a vital force in the national economy. In an effort to strengthen the industry, she urges fellow hoteliers to seek out young men and women who represent “the promise of a new generation” and to create a diverse workforce reflective of today’s America.
A native of San Francisco, Ms. Ferguson received a BA in government from the University of San Francisco.
Directorships
- American Hotel and Lodging Association
- Secretary - American Red Cross of Southeast Pennsylvania
- Center City District - Philadelphia
- Florida International University
- Fox Chase Cancer Institute
- Historic Philadelphia Inc.
- Chairman - Mayor’s Commission on Literacy
- Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Widener University School of Hospitality
- PCMA Foundation
- Penn State School of Health & Human Services
