FRANCES ALICIA LALAS
Frances is a creative and entrepreneurial operations professional with over 10 years of hospitality, travel property development, and management consulting experience. She is known for thriving in complex startup environments with sparse resources and high expectations. Having helped lead successful property openings, non-profit restructuring, and start-up businesses, she has proven her ability to hit the ground running, build strong relationships and collaborate with diverse specialist, multicultural stakeholder groups.
Key areas of focus: customer experience, design-led strategy and operations, real estate, travel and hospitality, hotel branding, pre-opening experience, non-profit, membership and community building.
Strengths include: high emotional intelligence, clear communication, relationship management, positive management style, and the ability to develop a concept and make it happen.
In Fran’s most recent role at Virgin in New York, she was tasked with helping develop a proposition for a new residential business and membership community. She developed a robust customer journey that focused on wellness and building a community within the building. Prior to that Fran was in Miami Beach where she served as an Executive Director at Faena Hotels & Residences. She oversaw all programming and operations for The Residences at Faena District Miami Beach and Faena Rose, an arts and culture based private members club.
Before living on the beaches of Miami, Fran was in Mendoza, Argentina. There she was a Vice President at The Vines of Mendoza where she managed the development of The Vines Resort & Spa – a Leading Hotels of the World property that Travel + Leisure calls one of the top 10 resort hotels in South America and #1 in Argentia. The Vines Resort & Spa was also awarded the #25 spot in the Top 100 Hotels in the World by Travel + Leisure. During her time there, Fran also directed the company's Corporate Social Responsibility programs and rescued an abandoned puppy that she named Jack.
Fran has an extensive background in a variety of industries, including hospitality, membership clubs, wine tourism, philanthropy, technology, and political and issue campaigns. She has consulted for US and international philanthropic and non-profit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies. She worked with organizations and companies including Virgin Voyages, the Washington State Department of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, John Legend's Show Me Campaign, and Bulgari.
Fran is passionate about giving and volunteers for human rights, health, and children's advocacy organizations. She sits on the Board of Directors for The Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss, an international non-profit committed to providing children who are deaf or hard of hearing living in developing countries access the early identification and hearing technology. She is also a Board Director for 3 Generations, a non-profit organization that documents stories of human abuses through film and develops a call to action for viewers. She volunteers for a nation wide literacy organization called Reading Partners.
Fran is an outdoor enthusiast and an arts and culture junkie. Whether while she is traveling or even just in her neighborhood, she loves getting outside, visiting museums, and checking out performances and cultural events. Fran is a native of the Pacific Northwest and holds a B.S. from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington Foster School of Business.