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2008 Honoree Valerie Salembier |
Valerie Salembier is Senior Vice President and Publisher of The Hearst Corporation’s Harper’s Bazaar, one of Advertising Age’s 2007 “A List” magazines of the Year. Previously, she had been Vice President/Publisher of Hearst’s
Esquire Magazine. Prior to joining The Hearst Corporation in 1996, Ms. Salembier had been Senior Vice President of the New York Times Women’s Publishing Group and Publisher of
Family Circle. Before that, Salembier was President of the
New York Post, Publisher of
TV Guide Magazine and Senior Vice President for Advertising at
USA Today.
Ms. Salembier is Chair of the NYC Police Foundation and is a global leader and spokesperson for the fight against counterfeiting of luxury products. Since 2004, she has hosted an annual Harper’s Bazaar Anticounterfeiting Summit, featuring keynote speakers such as New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Juan Carlos Zarate, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing. In 2007, Ms. Salembier introduced the Harper’s Bazaar Anticounterfeiting Alliance and a website, www.fakesareneverinfashion.com, to educate consumers about the human cost of fakes and crimes tied to counterfeiting. In 2007, Ms. Salembier held the first international Harper’s Bazaar Anticounterfeiting Summit in London. She has addressed senior governmental, law enforcement and business leaders on the topic of consumer education at anticounterfeiting seminars around the globe.
Ms. Salembier was elected a member of the Committee of 200, an international organization of select leading businesswomen, and is a member of the Women’s City Club, the Women’s Forum, and Women in Communications. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Women in Communications Matrix Award for Exceptional Achievement, one of the communication industry’s most prestigious honors. She was also the recipient of the Sales and Marketing Executives International Excellence in Marketing Award, the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers and the Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life Award. She was honored by the College of New Rochelle, her alma mater, as part of the College’s 90th anniversary celebration. Ms. Salembier also received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor award, presented to outstanding American citizens.
A Manhattan resident, Ms. Salembier is also involved in many charitable and educational programs. She was appointed to the Board of the New York City Sports Development Corporation by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and previously by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. She was Chair of the New York City Sports Commission, appointed by Mayor David Dinkins. Ms. Salembier is the former Chair of the Board of the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO), a former Trustee of the College of New Rochelle, a former Board Member of B.O.X. (a not for profit group created to aid ex boxers in need,) and a former trustee of Central Synagogue, New York City’s oldest Jewish house of worship.
Ms. Salembier is a founder of Rotisserie League Baseball and an author of Rotisserie League Baseball, a trend-setting book published by Bantam Books. She is a published magazine writer. Ms. Salembier is married to Paul J. Block, an Operating Partner at Behrman Capital and Chairman and CEO of Proteus Capital Associates, LLC, an investment-banking firm focused on investment opportunities in Asia. She has two stepchildren.
We are proud to recognize Valerie Salembier's contributions to the world of publishing and media and her public service by honoring her at our 2008 Women of Concern Awards Luncheon.