2026 Virginia Black Business Leaders Hall of Fame: RITA MCCLENNY

For more than two decades, McClenny held one of the more glamorous jobs in state government. As head of the Virginia Film Office, she rubbed elbows with some of the biggest names in movies. “Tom Hanks is as nice a guy as you’d ever want to know,” McClenny once told Virginia Business.

Then, in 2012, at the Richmond opening of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which was filmed in Virginia, then-Gov. Bob McDonnell promoted McClenny to chief executive of the Virginia Tourism Corp.

The state’s tourism and hospitality marketing arm, the agency is charged with “expanding domestic and international in-bound travel and motion picture production to generate revenue and employment in Virginia.”

McClenny oversees a budget of $26 million and 90 full-time employees. Virginia’s tourism industry generated a record $35.1 billion in visitor spending and directly supported more than 229,000 jobs in 2024.

She is particularly proud of VTC’s Tourism Development Financing Program, launched in 2011. The financial assistance program has supported about $1.7 billion in new capital investment in hotel development projects in the commonwealth, including Kalahari Resorts & Conventions’ $900 million Spotsylvania location, set to open this fall.

WHY I CHOSE MY PROFESSION: I chose my current field because of a deep love for Virginia, its people and its incredible assets, and because tourism and travel are powerful ways to bring all those elements together.

HOW I GIVE BACK: I give back by supporting and staying engaged with the McClenny Foundation at Gilfield Baptist Church in Southampton County, an organization deeply rooted in service, education and community empowerment. The foundation’s work focuses on uplifting individuals and families, investing in the next generation and preserving a strong sense of history and place.