Judith M. Bikulege

Backed by more than four decades of industry experience, Judith M. Bikulege is a highly motivated and experienced executive skilled in orchestrating financial strategies, operations, and fiscal excellence for major private and publicly-held corporations. Her negotiation skills have been proven by demonstrable metrics that exceed industry averages for comparable transactions. She is valued for her depth and variety of experience, with extensive versatility in the hospitality and real estate industries and experience in finance, operations, asset management, and capital markets.

Ms. Bikulege currently serves Extended Stay America in Charlotte, North Carolina, an extended-stay hotel REIT that includes more than 760 hotels throughout the country. Joining the organization in 2017 as a chief investment officer, she was subsequently named as senior managing director of real estate in 2021. In this capacity, she is tasked with creating value for the company through its real estate holdings. She works closely with the companies’ sponsors, senior leadership, franchisees, attorneys, and third-party consultants negotiating fair pricing of assets and transactional work, and, among other obligations, oversees dispositions and real estate acquisitions.

Ms. Bikulege has also been a consultant and independent contractor since 2014. Earlier in her career, from 2007 to 2013, she was the executive vice president of capital markets for Gencom and senior vice president of business affairs for Morgans Hotel Group from 2002 to 2007. In the 1990s, she gained expertise as vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Patriot American and vice president of acquisitions and finance for Gencom American Hospitality, Inc. In her first professional role, Ms. Bikulege worked for Aircoa/Richfield Management from 1980 to 1989.

Finding greatest success in her professional endeavors, Ms. Bikulege was named to Hotel Management Magazine’s Top Influential Women in Hospitality and honored as one of 12 Inspirational Women Defining the Future Hospitality for International Women’s Day in 2021. Ms. Bikulege enjoys volunteering her time to various worthy causes, including the Castell@College project, part of the AHLA Foundation focused on advancing women in the hospitality industry. She serves as a mentor as part of the AHLA Forward Ambassador program and is a member of CHIEF, a private network designed for women executives to strengthen their leadership, magnify their influence, and pave the way for women in business.

Attributing her success to her versatile experience in hospitality, strategic thinking, and negotiation skills, she looks forward to taking on board positions and advisory roles in the coming years. To prepare for her career, Ms. Bikulege earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston in 1993.