Dr. Lalia Rach
Executive Managing Director
Leader, Strategist, Executive Coach, Author, Thinker
Dr. Lalia Rach is the Executive Managing Director of Strategic Consulting Services, a division of Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI). In this role, Lalia is responsible for developing and delivering strategic and managerial consulting services to member hotels and clients. Each service is custom-designed to ensure that the information, guidance, and training provide greater value to the organization and its attendees.
She is known for her practical, informative, and entertaining presentations, whether delivering a keynote speech, conducting a workshop, or emceeing a conference. As an audience favorite, demonstrated by repeat engagements and survey feedback, Lalia takes pride in uniquely crafting each presentation to fit the needs of the client and their audience.
Her first book “Managing the Book on You: Rewriting your leadership story!” is available on Amazon in paperback, Audible, and Kindle. It is designed as a workbook to assist leaders in advancing their success and better managing the old impressions and views held by others within the organization regarding their leadership ability.
As the founder and partner of Rach Enterprises, a consulting firm that takes an uncommon-sense approach and delivers genuine ideas that challenge tradition, Lalia served as a trusted adviser to senior-level executives at many leading organizations.
As a university educator, Lalia served as dean at several top hospitality and tourism programs. At New York University, her leadership led to the creation of one of the world’s most innovative graduate and undergraduate programs in the business of hospitality, sports, and tourism. As the founding dean of the NYU Preston Robert Tisch Center, she was responsible for establishing the first graduate-level concentration in Revenue Management, published the first wholly focused study on women travelers, raised funds for purchasing a permanent home for the Center on the NYU campus, and led the expansion of the NYU Hospitality Industry Development Conference into the premier event within the global hotel industry.
Among her awards and honors are: the 30 Most Influential International Hospitality Educators by the International Hospitality Institute; Influential Women in Hospitality: Hotel Management magazine; Smart Women in Meetings: Visionary from Smart Meetings Magazine; the Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing from Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International; selected as one of the 33 Most Influential People in the Travel Industry from Travel Weekly; featured in “Meet the 25 Most Influential Women in Travel” by Forbes Life Executive Woman; recipient of the Professional of the Year Award from the Big Apple Chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association; and recipient of the Special Hospitality Award from NYC & Co.
She holds a B.S. and M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.