Lillian Valenti joined the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in September of 1974, as part of two-year leadership program… and she stayed for a remarkable 52 years, retiring this month.
Think about just that: 52 years!
The Port Authority has existed for 105 years, so Lillian has been part of it for almost half of its total existence!
The legendary Austin Tobin, often seen as the foundational leader of the Port Authority, served a total of 45 years at the agency, 30 as its executive director. Lillian has him beat by seven years.
Today, Thursday, October 22, the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority will formally recognize and honor Lillian during our monthly meeting. There will be awards, proclamations, speeches, and much well-deserved applause. Yet, when all is said and awarded, we will still only have touched on a small part of her legacy.
Where do you begin to acknowledge a lifetime of service, dedication, and love – yes, love – for a public agency? For starters, to Lillian the Port Authority was never just a public agency. The Port Authority was a family, a place where you forged lifelong relationships, where you brought your A-game every day, but also in times of unimaginable tragedy, you just showed up and supported one another, sometimes literally
Lillian had significant stints in Human Resources, assisting victim’s families and remaining as the last civilian to leave the North Tower on February 26, 1993, the date of the first attack on the World Trade Center, because she stayed to help disabled staff evacuate the building.
There is no manual for that. No written directive that informs someone how to become their best self at the worst possible moment. In Lillian’s case, she was always her best self in good and in challenging times, and because of that, the Port Authority became better as a public agency.
By the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, she was Chief of Medical Services, tasked with developing programs and services for victims’ families, rescue and recovery workers, the Port Authority Police Department, and the agency’s civilian employees. Spend some time with Lillian, and you also hear of the emotionally wrenching face-to-face visits with the families of victims when they were told that the remains of their loved ones had been recovered at Ground Zero.
It is a bit of riddle: Do people meet the moment or does the moment meet the people? Lillian met the moment – moment after moment. It is impossible to imagine how the Port Authority could have moved forward from 1993 to 2001 to today without her guidance, her compassion, and at times, her sharp elbows. If the Port Authority ever was being disabused internally or externally, woe unto that person. Lillian can be as nimble and aggressive as a basketball player on defense or a lioness protecting the pride.
In 2014, she was appointed the Port Authority’s Chief Procurement and Contracting Officer. In this vital new agency role, she was responsible for the agency’s procurement protocols, processes, and awards across construction, alternative project delivery, professional and consulting services, commodities and services, technology solicitations, and warehouse inventory management.
Lillian’s leadership helped guide the Bayonne Bridge Raise the Roadway Project, the Goethals Bridge replacement, the LaGuardia Airport Terminal B public-private partnership, Newark Liberty International Airport’s Terminal A Design-Build Project, the Newark AirTrain program, and Superstorm Sandy restoration and resilience work.
And the biggest lift of them all: She guided multiple solicitations supporting the historic Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement, helping advance this long-awaited program to awards, groundbreaking, and construction while maintaining competition and federal compliance.
Any one of these projects would qualify as a once-in-a-career achievement, but in Lillian’s case, these are just part of a long list of accomplishments.
Yet, her legacy will be burnished by her commitment to the memories of those we lost on 9/11 and in 1993. She has been a torch reminding us to never forget those who died, their families who still grieve, and over the past 25 years, to pay equal attention to the first responders and recovery workers who have died or become sick with 9/11-related illnesses.
As a young person at the Port Authority, Lillian learned quickly the importance of speaking truth to power. And as she rose through the ranks – not only breaking glass ceilings for other women in the agency but raising the bar for excellence for every individual working at Port Authority – she used her platform as a senior leader to speak truth to all.
At the Port Authority, we have pledged to “reflect, remember, and respect” the memories of those we lost on 9/11 and in 1993. It is a credo that symbolizes all that is great about the Port Authority as an agency and as a family.
Lillian has called on us to do that, not just in words, but in actions, in a life spent serving the people of this region.
To say that she will be missed, is an understatement of the greatest proportions. And yet, while she is now embarking on a new phase of her life, she will never really leave the Port Authority. She is everywhere – in policies that serve and uplift employees, in best business practices, and most important, in helping create a workplace culture that values each and every employee.
There will never be anyone with a legacy like Lillian’s at the Port Authority and that is not a sad note as she retires. It is a grateful observation from someone who is honored to have witnessed a small part of her 52-year history.
The Port Authority was created to move the region. Looking comprehensively at her history, Lillian Valenti was destined to move the Port Authority.
Thank you, Lillian.
Kevin J. O’Toole is the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
