Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership April 21, 2015 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. Today’s guest is Read more…
by Justine Dodgen Sherry Lansing – Translating a high-power career into impact on education Did you ever think that your high school math teacher might one day be one of Hollywood’s leading executives? For Sherry Lansing’s students, this idea may have been no surprise. Starting her career as a high school Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback Despite his soft-spoken public persona, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard casts a long shadow. Over the course of his 16-year tenure, most current Pasadena schoolchildren have grown up knowing only Bogaard as their mayor. During that span, Pasadena has undergone dramatic change, shifting from a sleepy town known for Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership February 24, 2015 12:00pm to 1:30pm Bill Bogaard served four terms as Mayor of Pasadena, after taking office in 1999 as the City’s first directly elected Mayor. During those four terms, the City saw the arrival of the Gold Line light rail transit system; Read more…
by Justine Dodgen While Pasadena City Hall may be best known for its appearances on the hit show Parks and Recreation, it is also home to one of the longest-governing mayors in LA County. Bill Bogaard, Mayor of Pasadena, has been elected four times, having first taken office in 1999. On Read more…
by Justine Dodgen Last week, former CEO of Los Angeles County Bill Fujioka joined students at the Bedrosian Center’s Lunch with a Leader event to discuss his ideas about leadership and how they helped him rise to LA County’s top appointed position. Long before he was CEO, Fujioka says, his Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership January 27, 2015 12:00pm to 1:30pm Fujioka is a public administrator with 34 years of experience in local government. He served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the County of Los Angeles from 2007 to December 2014, implementing a new governance structure whereby the Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback For William T. Fujioka, a distinguished 40-year career in public service began in humble circumstances. In 1972, Fujioka started working in the public sector as a custodian for Santa Cruz County. But after rising through the ranks in jobs for both the City of Los Angeles and Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback At the Bedrosian Center’s Lunch with a Leader program last week, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Doane Liu recalled with pride how he first got a taste for public service. As a San Pedro resident, he helped broker a deal in the mid-1990s that turned surplus land in San Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership December 9, 2014 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. Doane Liu, Deputy Read more…
by Justine Dodgen Doane Liu, Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, is no stranger to local government. Liu, the first deputy mayor appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti of the four in his administration, oversees 15 city departments that directly impact our neighborhoods, including Water and Power, Transportation, Public Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership November 11, 2014 12:00pm to 1:00pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. Robert Garcia, Mayor Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback This past June, Robert Garcia shattered three glass ceilings. Garcia made history by becoming the first Latino and the first openly gay mayor of Long Beach by triumphing in a runoff election on June 3. At 36, he is also the youngest person to serve as mayor in Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback The way Steve Soboroff remembers it, the most significant development in Los Angeles in 75 years started with a helicopter ride. As he was riding high above the downtown L.A. skyline in search of potential sites for a National Football League stadium in the mid-1990s, the empty space Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership October 6, 2014 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. Steve Soboroff, Police Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback Over the past 20 years, there are few people who have played a more active role in the public life of Los Angeles than Steve Soboroff. In the words of former Mayor Richard Riordan, Soboroff is among rare company when it comes to making a difference in the Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback Our conversation with Beltran Highlights the Need for Civic Engagement With rates of voter turnout in Los Angeles at a low ebb in recent elections, the city faces a crisis of civic participation. Local leaders remain perplexed at how to improve the city’s lagging civic culture, and ideas Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership September 8, 2014 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in a small, informal setting. Our first luncheon Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback In the June, only a quarter of California voters cast ballots in the state’s primary election, a record low. In Los Angeles, similar concerns about voter turnout aren’t new. The Los Angeles 2020 Commission highlighted the city’s woeful record of voting and civic engagement, which has stimulated calls Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership March 5, 2014 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. Michael Govan joined Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback Michael Govan may hesitate to call himself a good leader, but his record speaks for itself. Since Govan first took the reins at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), he’s seen yearly attendance numbers double at the once-sleepy institution, increased its profile through a series of Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback If you thought that libraries were just in the business of lending books, you may not have been into a Los Angeles Public Library under John Szabo’s watch. Since coming aboard as head of the Los Angeles Public Library and its 73 locations across the city in 2012, Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback Museums have traditionally been designed as lofty displays of city treasures, part of a high-minded celebration of civic pageantry. But more recently, museums are no longer content to remain gilded repositories of art on a shining hill, removed from city affairs. Cultural institutions have assumed a new role Read more…
Conversations about governance, policy, and leadership February 13, 2014 12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch with a Leader provides students with the opportunity to hear ideas from local, state, and national leaders as well as share their ideas and gain inspiration for effective governance in an enjoyable, informal setting. John Szabo might Read more…
by Jeremy Loudenback After winning election in a contentious race to replace Steve Cooley as district attorney of Los Angeles County, Jackie Lacey hasn’t had the opportunity to rest on her laurels or celebrate the significance of being the first woman and African American to serve as head of the Los Read more…