Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has announced the promotion of three longtime leaders to new senior positions within the Americas.
Recognizing Starwood’s growing franchise business, Colleen Keating has been promoted to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Franchise Operations and Compliance, Lynne Dougherty will assume the new role of Senior Vice President, Owner Services and Administration, and Vera Manoukian has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations for the North Region. Vital members of Starwood’s team, all three leaders have been instrumental in the company’s continued growth and success in North America. Keating, Dougherty, and Manoukian will each report to Bob Hermany, Chief of North American Operations & Global Initiatives for Starwood.
“As our franchise business evolves and becomes a larger part of our portfolio and pipeline, we tapped Colleen, one of our most well-respected and seasoned leaders, to oversee this important, growing segment of our business,” said Hermany. “Starwood highly values our relationships with our owners and franchisees and with Colleen’s appointment, Lynne in her new, expanded role, and the support of their talented teams, Starwood is well positioned to support our managed and franchise operations in North America to ensure future success.”
Hermany added: “We are fortunate to have a deep bench of talent and are delighted to promote proven leaders from within our organization, including Vera who is replacing Colleen as SVP of Operations for the North Region. Colleen, Lynne and Vera are well-known and regarded throughout Starwood and among our owners, customers and partners, and we look forward to their continued leadership in their new and accelerated roles.”
In the newly created role of Senior Vice President, Franchise Operations and Compliance, Colleen Keating, a 14-year Starwood veteran, will provide strategic direction to a cross-functional team consisting of Operations, Sales, Revenue Management, Field Marketing and Food & Beverage, with the goal of delivering brand compliance and top-line results for a portfolio of over 250 full-service franchise hotels in North America flying the Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridian and The Luxury Collection flags. Keating has spent the past 14 years with Starwood in a variety of sales and operational roles, most recently as Senior Vice President of Operations for the North Region, where she led an operating team that supervised owned, managed and franchised hotels throughout the Midwest, Mid Atlantic, Northeast and Eastern Canada.
As Senior Vice President, Owner Services and Administration, Lynne Dougherty, a 36-year Starwood veteran, will lead Starwood’s North American Owner and Administration teams, responsible for collaboration, communication, and tailored support to both managed and franchised owners and franchise management companies, as well as developing future owner relationships. Dougherty will also be responsible for ensuring brand compliance for franchise and managed hotels, including quality programing and processes, in addition to administration related to, among other things, quality assurance, Guest Experience Index (GEI) and process improvement. Previously, Dougherty served as Senior Vice President, Owner and Franchise Services, where she oversaw and coordinated owner and management company engagement with more than 1,200 owner and management company contacts in North America.
A 30-year Starwood veteran, Vera Manoukian has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations for the North Region. Overseeing a portfolio of nearly 50 hotels, Manoukian will provide strategic direction across sales, revenue management, field marketing and food & beverage. She will work closely with Starwood’s regional and global teams to deliver the benefits of Starwood to both owned and managed properties, as well as drive brand compliance and top line revenue generation. Prior to this new role, Manoukian spent nearly ten years as Area Managing Director for New York and New Jersey leading growth across Starwood’s largest market through all nine of its brands.
