Welcoming Valerie (“Val”) Littlefield as Chief Leadership and Talent Development Officer

Valerie (“Val”) Littlefield is a strategic executive leader, ICF-certified coach, and proud LRI Zeta II alumna whose career has been defined by a singular belief: that developing people is the highest-leverage investment an organization can make. 

With 20+ years of experience at the intersection of leadership development, talent strategy, and organizational performance, Val brings a rare combination of programmatic depth, business acumen, and an enduring personal commitment to Rhode Island’s civic and professional community.

She comes to Leadership RI after serving as Senior Vice President of Programs & People at New Level Work, a Silicon Valley-based global L&D and coaching company, where she led all leadership development programs and enterprise HR functions. Her signature as a leader is translating enterprise-level vision into operational excellence: streamlining processes, building high-performing teams, and designing scalable programs that deliver measurable impact.

A certified CliftonStrengths coach through Leadership Rhode Island since 2017, Val has served as an active LRI Strengths Coach, partnering with RI businesses, nonprofits, and LRI program participants to design and facilitate customized engagements. Her own top strengths of Arranger and Maximizer shape how she approaches every challenge: building systems that bring out the best in people, and designing solutions that are both scalable and deeply human. Val leads with a coaching-for-performance mindset, helping individuals and teams connect their strengths to meaningful, lasting results.

Before her work at New Level, Val spent 34 years at AIPSO, a Johnston, RI-based nonprofit insurance services organization, where she initially rose in the IT function to Director of Information Systems to then transition to lead talent management and organizational development for the organization.  This deep operational background, combined with executive coaching experience, gives Val a fluency in both the mechanics of organizational systems and the art of human development.

Val’s connection to Leadership Rhode Island goes far beyond her 2010 graduation. As a longstanding donor, program sponsor, and active Strengths Coach, she has remained a committed partner to LRI’s mission of cultivating leaders who strengthen Rhode Island’s communities. Her civic record mirrors this commitment: she has served as Board President of the Rhode Island Free Clinic, co-founded the Executive Women’s Golf Association of Rhode Island, and held board leadership roles with the Executive Women’s Golf Association nationally and with Advancing Women’s Excellence. Val holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems from Bryant University.