VERNIE VELARDE-MORALES Profile of a Leader

She is always dressed professionally, in a shift dress with a sweater or a shawl, for official functions in a suit and skirt, her shiny, naturally black hair pinned or secured by a head band, sans make-up which shows off her lovely skin, eyeglasses and sensible shoes with two-inch heels or work flats, petite, composed, ready to field questions, make announcements, in other words, perennially working. Looking at Vernie Velarde-Morales, our Director of the Philippine Department of Tourism for the Central Region of North America, one cannot help but be pleasantly surprised to realize that beneath the outside calm, confident, and cool demeanor lies a powerhouse of intellect and insight, attributes that has served her well in her fifteen-year tenure at the Department of Tourism (DOT) office on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago, Illinois.

It was a feat to finally get her to sit down for our interview, especially when a later deadline for her departure from Chicago back to Manila now has her preparing for her exodus back to the homeland. Packing,