31 May Marichu Valencia

Marichu is an active advocate and patron, contributing her time and expertise to a wide variety of non-profit organizations focused on youth, arts, music, design, and education, as well as outreach programs assisting the disadvantaged.

Marichu currently serves on the Board of Directors, Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, the National Advisory Board for the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), and on the University of Delaware, President’s Leadership Council. Marichu served on the Board of the Delaware Art Museum and the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (Washington, DC).

Other organizations that have benefited from Marichu’s recent service include the Newark Senior Center (DE) and the University of Delaware’s Master Players Concert Series. She also supports Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and, as a visiting volunteer, assisted with the recovery efforts in the aftermath of the devastating super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Marichu was an interior designer at several Washington D.C. based architectural and design firms including Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Architects + Interiors, Marriott International, and hospitality lodging REIT Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. where she designed and managed hospitality projects in the U.S. and abroad. She served at the U.S. Department of State as a senior interior designer with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, charged with the residential design for U.S. ambassador’s residences overseas until her retirement in 2013.

Marichu currently lives in Newark, Delaware with her husband Donald J. Puglisi.