Virginia Haley has served at the helm of Visit Sarasota County (VSC) since 1999.  VSC is an independent partnership organization serving all of Sarasota County and delivers an innovative $7 million tourism marketing campaign to benefit the community’s economy.  Previously, Virginia was Director of Communications & Government Relations at Mote Marine Laboratory.  Virginia came to Sarasota in 1989 to run the local office for Congressman Porter Goss.  Prior to that time, she worked in Washington, D.C. in President Ronald Reagan’s administration as the Director of Scheduling, Security and Protocol for the Department of Health and Human Services and she worked on Capitol Hill for a number of years.

Virginia currently serves as the President of the Board for the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) and serves on the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors as the Marketing Steering Council Chair and a member of the Executive Committee. Virginia is a past Chair of the Florida Association of Destination Management Organizations. She also serves as the Immediate Past President for the Sarasota Tiger Bay Club.  Virginia is a leader with the Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 community redevelopment effort.