Safeway Exec Honored By Women of Color Magazine

Safeway assistant VP of legal Valerie D. Lewis has been named to the Top Women in Retail and Finance list in the upcoming Spring issue of Women of Color magazine, a business and technology publication for women of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

According to Women of Color, the Top Women in Retail & Finance honorees were selected “based on a range of qualitative and quantitative information, strong commitment to their communities, leadership as role models for young and upcoming leaders, and senior status within their organizations.”

A key member of Safeway’s legal team for some years, Lewis is considered a resource within the supermarket industry on a range of legal, health and food safety issues. Lewis has corporate legal responsibility for food, health, safety, consumer protection and labeling issues, environmental and other regulatory compliance and litigation, as well as Proposition 65 (California), commercial, product liability and general litigation. She’s also integrally involved in the development of policy and training, as well as having responsibility for the implementation of, and compliance with, consumer, corporate and intellectual technology privacy issues.

Lewis was previously included on Savoy Magazine’s 2010 list of the Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America and the San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in the Bay Area list.

among other professional and community service affiliations, she’s a founding member of the Safeway African American Leadership Network, currently serving as the organization’s chair.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway operates 1,694 stores in the United States and western Canada.