Kenneth S. Siegel
General Counsel
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world and is a fully integrated owner, operator, and franchisor of some of the most renowned hotel brands in the industry including the St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, and W hotels. Starwood Hotels’ impressive portfolio includes 750 properties in more than 80 countries including North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.
Starwood Hotels is dedicated to creating an environment of inclusion and diversity for its guests, suppliers, and more than 120,000 associates worldwide. The company also firmly believes that it is simply good business and a competitive factor to be as diverse as the customers they serve.
Kenneth S. Siegel, executive vice president and general counsel, leads a diverse team of 110 attorneys and staff. Of the 36 lawyers, 15 percent are minorities and 40 percent are women. “The business case for diversity is not simply a noble cause, but a necessity for our commercial success,” says Siegel. “It is not possible to serve the world unless you know who it is you’re serving. At Starwood Hotels, our commitment to diversity goes beyond the law department and the classical definition of minority to include people with physical disabilities.”
In fact, Starwood Hotels’ legal department has created a unique internship for students at the New York School for the Deaf. Through this program, deaf college students support the lawyers and law department staff, enjoying exposure to professional work and gaining valuable experience. Starwood Hotels also sponsors a scholarship for minority law students through the New York Lawyers Association.
The department is also active in the company-wide Minority Enterprise Buyer Program, introduced two years ago. Through this program, the law department searches for and encourages bids from minority-owned businesses to promote fair competition and eliminate potential barriers in the procurement process. All vendors, especially outside counsel, are expected to match Starwood Hotels’ commitment to diversity.
Starwood Hotels has been named one of the “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” by Diversity Inc. The company also made Hispanic Magazine’s list of “Corporate 100 Best Places to Work for Hispanics,” and ranked number thirty-four on Fortune’s “50 Best Companies for Minorities” list. It received the “CEO Leadership” Award from the Diversity Best Practices and the Business Women’s Network, and the National Minority Business Council’s “Outstanding Corporate Supplier Diversity” Award.
At press time, the N.Y. dinners had not been held. Group photos of the award winners for the Northeast region will appear in the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of Diversity & the Bar®.
From the November/December 2005 issue of Diversity & The Bar®