Paul Speranza | Paul Speranza Advisors

Paul S. Speranza Jr.

Paul S. Speranza Jr.

CEO
Paul Speranza Advisors

Paul S. Speranza Jr., the CEO of Paul Speranza Advisors, retired in 2016 after over 40 years as the vice chairman, general counsel, and secretary of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. A longtime member of The Business Council of New York State’s Board of Directors (where  he serves as the Chairman of the Education and Workforce Development Committee), and its Executive Committee, he also served as United States Chamber of Commerce chairman(where one of his top priorities was education and workforce development), vice chairman, regional vice chairman (eastern region), chairman of the Taxation Committee for nine years, and chairman of the Employee Benefits Committee for seven years. 

Speranza, a social advocate, believes passionately in freedom, democracy, free enterprise, opportunity, and hope for all. As an attorney, he believes that the rule of law is the cornerstone of society. He recognizes that quality education can vastly improve people’s lives, as was the case for both him and his family, and believes that all children, especially the economically disadvantaged, should have access to quality education and quality health care.

Speranza is the 2009 winner of the Corning Award for Excellence, which is given each year by Corning Inc. and The Business Council of New York State, Inc. to a New Yorker who has demonstrated an outstanding level of accomplishment and a deep and sustaining commitment to the people of New York State. This award has been won in the past by members of Congress, governors, New York State elected legislative leaders, and civic leaders.

Speranza is past chairman of several boards, including Lifetime Health, Inc., a $6 billion per year Blue Cross Blue Shield Company based in upstate New York, where he worked on governance, education, and health care issues for economically disadvantaged youth. He is also past chairman of Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women (Mercy), where he and his wife Cheryl instituted a scholarship program for economically disadvantaged students of color 30 years ago. He won the McAuley Award, which is the highest honor that the school gives to a layman.  In 2018 he gave $1.2 million to Mercy to create the Cheryl Speranza Leadership Institute (Institute) in honor of him late wife Cheryl. Recognizing that there are few women of color in true leadership positions in any segment of American Society, business, government, not for profits etc. this Institute is providing to economically disadvantaged women of color $50,000 full scholarships to Mercy, mentors, tutors, life coaches and will provide assistance throughout their careers including high school, college and all jobs and will also provide a  job network similar to the “old boys” network that has been used by wealthy white males for generations. There is no program like this Institute anywhere else in the world. The Institute is aligned with the Martin Luther King,Jr. Center and is working with the Frederick Douglass Institute. Please see speranzainstitute.com

He is the former co-chair of the Rochester Monroe County Antipoverty Committee on Education and Workforce Development  and held a similar position with the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.

He is a member of the California, New York, Tax Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court of the United States bars. He is a graduate of Eastridge High School (1965), Syracuse University (B.S., 1969), the University of San Francisco School of Law (J.D., 1971), and New York University Law School (LL.M. in Taxation, 1972), which is consistently ranked as the number one graduate tax program in the United States.