HELRA Board Member

Eric Centazzo fell into the hospitality business 30 years ago after returning from a yearlong backpacking trip through the South Pacific post college. He began his career in New York City as a Front Desk Agent for the Intercontinental NY and spent the first several years of his career in Front Office operations, before discovering his passion for Human Resources. He spent the next several years in HR at the New York Palace Hotel, the largest Five Diamond property in the world at the time. Next he joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2001 as the Director of Human Resources for the W New York Hotel, the first hotel in the W Brand. During this time, he was also lucky enough to serve as an adjunct professor at New York University, teaching in their Hospitality and Human Resource programs. In 2005, Eric joined the Starwood Chicago team as their Complex Director of Human Resources for the Sheraton Grand Chicago and Westin Chicago River North. He was thereafter promoted to Area Director of Human Resources overseeing the HR function for Starwood Hotels of the Midwest. Thereafter Starwood was acquired by Marriott Hotels and Eric was appointed as Labor Lead for the Chicago Market. And in early 2020 he was promoted to Market Director of Labor for Marriott’s Western Region.   

Eric has a Bachelor of Science from St John’s University and an MBA in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management from the City University of New York. 

In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, especially when they travel together to near and far off places. He is also an avid supporter and participant in Swim Across America and has completed a long-distance open water swim each of the past 16 years to raise money for cancer prevention and treatment.