Meet Lillian Valenti, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
On April 28, the 2026 Open City Benefit will bring together hundreds of New Yorkers for a festive evening at 3 World Trade Center.
Lillian Valenti, Chief Emeritus, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will accept the Open House New Yorker Award at the event, in recognition of her trailblazing career at PANYNJ and her profound work following 9/11.
About Lillian
Lillian Valenti’s career of public service at the Port Authority of New York and New York has spanned five decades, as she advanced within and across three professions including Human Resource Management, Occupational Health, and Procurement for the bi-state agency.
Initially serving in a variety of Human Resource functions, Lillian was ultimately selected as Chief of Medical Services, where she provided programmatic leadership to all civilian and police agency employees and victims’ families following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Subsequently, Lillian was appointed as the Port Authority’s first Chief Procurement and Contracting Officer having responsibility for all procurement protocols, processes, and contract awards, including construction, alternative project delivery, professional services, commodities and services, technology solicitations, and warehouse inventory management, while also providing leadership based on competition, integrity, and transparency.
Of particular significance to this audience was her Procurement role in the restoration and redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. An additional glimpse at the notable contract awards made under her leadership include major complex procurements such as the Bayonne Bridge Raise the Roadway Project, the Goethals Bridge and LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B Public/Private Partnerships, Newark Liberty International Airport’s Terminal A and Air Train Design Build projects, as well as Superstorm Sandy restoration and resilience work. Most recently, she provided leadership over multiple solicitations for the Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement, leading to contract awards, groundbreaking, and the start of construction. Under Lillian’s guidance, the Port Authority averaged over 2 billion dollars of contract awards annually across all Procurement categories.
In 2024, Lillian was recognized as one of 15 top Chief Procurement Officers in the country.
As a survivor of both the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the September 11, 2001 attacks, Lillian has maintained a steadfast commitment throughout all of her various roles at the Port Authority to help ensure that the agency’s commitment to “Never Forget” is kept through the continuation of programs and services for victims’ families, employees, and retirees.
Her newly appointed role of Chief, Emeritus, establishes this as a core responsibility and will include efforts across generations to understand and learn from this history and to preserve the commitment.
Tell us a bit about your professional journey. What inspired you to pursue a career in public service? What are the defining qualities of the Port Authority that kept you in the agency for 50 years?
I joined the Port Authority in September, 1974 after learning about and being selected for a rigorous two-year leadership development program.
At the time my focus was more short term and focused on a career plan. That quickly changed as I learned the agency’s wide scope of responsibilities across regional transportation systems and international trade.
Assignments in all functions of Human Resources provided a valuable foundation of knowledge and understanding of the organization and its public service role.
My 33 year commitment to providing services during crises started in HR after the World Trade Center bombing and included running a staffing operation for rescue and recovery operations, assisting victims’ families and staying as the last civilian to help disabled staff exit the twin tower on the evening of February 26.
I quickly pivoted to lessons learned from the bombing as Chief of Medical Services when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. Tailored programs and services needed to be created and provided to victims’ families, rescue and recovery workers, our Police Department Law Enforcement staff and civilian employees. These ultimately would include establishing family assistance centers, providing medical and psychological services within each group, creating family liaisons, and leveraging established traditions within the agency to encourage group connections and remembrance services.
From Medical I was appointed as the agency’s first Chief Procurement and Contracting Officer. This created opportunities to oversee new procurement venues for the agency including the public/private partnership at LaGuardia Airport Terminal B and the largest design/build project in NJ for Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport. Ultimately, they would each receive the prestigious Skytrax Award.
The defining quality: Having potential recognized and then getting things done, seeing the impact and experiencing the satisfaction across multiple professions!
One agency-experience in 3 professions-HR, Occupational Health, Procurement.
When you started at the Port Authority 50 years ago, less than 5% of the executive positions were held by women. Today, the agency has its first female executive director, Kathryn Garcia, and women lead all five line departments. Can you share a bit about what this transformation has meant to you personally?
First, an important fact about these 6 women is that they have been selected for these leadership positions based on their competence and professional experience not because of their gender. Second, they have maintained their individuality in achieving this upward mobility. Personally, this is very meaningful to me and aligns to how I have approached mentoring/ staff development and interacting with Senior Executive staff over the years.
Even in my initial time at the agency I advocated to women that they should avoid the “cookie cutter approach”—trying to dress and behave similarly—and reinforce that it takes too much energy to be someone else and takes away from not only the results that can be achieved but also the satisfaction and authenticity of engagement. Furthermore, regardless of my level or position, I have always asserted to Senior Executives that we get paid to have and express opinions and need to “have a seat at the table” in doing so. Certainly, this transformation embodies these aspects and also leverages women’s visibility on our organization chart to significantly impact what we can accomplish as Senior Executive role models inside and outside the agency.
In your time at the World Trade Center, you experienced the aftermath of the World Trade Center 1993 bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attack. Can you speak to the values of Reflect, Remember, Respect? What did the aftermath of these tragedies reveal about New Yorkers as a community—both the specific community of Port Authority employees and the broader community of New Yorkers?
For thirty three years since the World Trade Center bombing and almost 25 years since the terrorist attacks, Port Authority leadership and staff have promised victims’ families that we will “Never Forget.“ The action verbs of the words Reflect, Remember, and Respect guide us every year in actions and events to foster compassion, promote understanding, honor sacrifices and those deceased, preserve legacies, learn from history, and provide connections that support dignity, empathy, and respect to victims' families.
In the aftermath of the bombing and the attacks, Port Authority employees united swiftly to commit to these efforts and the recovery and restoration of the World Trade Center site. No one questioned “if;” everyone declared “we will”—behaviors and values now deeply ingrained in our DNA.
With the Twin Towers being an integral part of downtown Manhattan, the city reacted with intense community solidarity: resilient, fast paced, and turning crisis into unity. Together with our regional partners in NY and NJ, we prioritized moving forward swiftly and rebuilding stronger with mutual support. United we stood!
In your time at the Port Authority, you worked on defining projects for the region. What project are you most proud of?
I am going to answer this question by substituting what project has had the most impact and that would be the restoration and redevelopment of the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 attacks. With 2,977 deaths across 78 countries, it is often said everyone worldwide knew someone who was a victim that day.
The world, the nation, and the region can take some comfort in thinking of the reimagined World Trade Center campus as a project which showcased the best of humanity and showed what is possible when individuals and groups overcome adversity and coalesce with strength, courage, tenacity, resilience and mutual support. These efforts were a “microcosm of the city,” bringing thousands together connecting with a shared purpose and a perspective that could not be altered or diminished from the goal to “Never Forget.”
Why are you an Open House New Yorker?
Even as a preschooler, my family instilled in me how fortunate we were to live 11 miles from NYC and to so easily be able to access sights and services of what they considered the greatest city in the world.
I came to share that point of view and knew that when it was time after college graduation to enter the workforce it had to be in “THE City!” (And still does.)
So, after a few years and on a very fixed budget I wanted to do what every twenty-something person who loves the city does—live there. In the early 1980s, the Tribeca neighborhood became my home. The area was still evolving from being a center for shipping and warehousing, and artists had begun to transform the lofts into exhibition and performing spaces. They were shaping the future of this neighborhood through giving access to their work and creating meaningful connections and a sense of community. I learned firsthand how important it is to keep a city vibrant and relevant, and to feel part of the whole and how essential it is now and going forward to have Open House New York and its mission.