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About the CEO
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Lise L. Luttgens
Chief Executive Officer,
Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
Ms. Luttgens was appointed the first Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) and assumed her role in December 2008 when the newly formed Girl Scout council began operation. The organization is the result of a historic merger of six Los Angeles-area legacy Girl Scout councils.
With a mission to bring renewed growth and stability to the Girl Scouts Movement at GSGLA by building a highly talented and empowered internal management team and Board of Directors, forging and enhancing relationships within the community, and prioritizing fiscal responsibility, Ms. Luttgens is a CEO keenly focused on building a strong council that effectively and wholeheartedly serves its girls and adult members.
Leading a relatively new council as the national Girl Scouts Movement embarks on its milestone 100th Anniversary and GSGLA hosts spectacular centennial celebration events like Girltopia and the Girl Scouts Float in the 2012 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, Ms. Luttgens devotes her time to raising awareness about today’s inspiring Girl Scouts experience. GSGLA shapes girl leaders today and for the future by appealing to every possible interest of girls, providing diverse programs and partnering with nurturing volunteers. Under Ms. Luttgens’ leadership and together with Board Chair Betsey Brewer, the council strives to create unique opportunities for girls throughout L.A., with an emphasis on girls in underserved areas in a highly diverse market.
GSGLA serves approximately 40,000 Girl Scouts in partnership with more than 23,000 volunteers throughout the greater Los Angeles community and parts of Kern, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties. The council serves more than 350 diverse communities and is the largest girl-serving nonprofit agency in Los Angeles County. With a million-girl market in Los Angeles, the council’s goal is to grow membership to 50,000 in five years -- “50 in 5” -- launched in 2010, bringing the Girl Scouting experience to more girls.
Ms. Luttgens previously was Principal and Founder of Luttgens & Associates, Inc., an executive coaching and consulting firm specializing in nonprofit and health care organizations in transition. In her consulting capacity, Ms. Luttgens served as interim CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Southern California, where she helped unify six operating entities into a single organization. From 2003 to 2005, she served as chief operating officer for the Fulfillment Fund where she established business systems and processes while realigning operations and the financial structure to serve students in the L.A. Unified School District.
In her nearly 30 years as a hospital administrator, Ms. Luttgens served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) where her key accomplishments included implementing a quality management system, leading cost restructuring efforts, and overseeing the planning and construction of the $67 million Marion and John Anderson Building. She has also served as CEO of the Doheny Eye Hospital and Chief Operating Officer of the Doheny Eye Institute at the USC-Keck School of Medicine. She began her career in Los Angeles at the UCLA Medical Center where she served as Associate Director of the Professional Services areas.
A Girl Scout while growing up in San Francisco, Ms. Luttgens received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Beloit College in Wisconsin, a master’s degree in public health (hospital administration) from Yale University’s School of Medicine, and an advanced fellowship in academic medical center administration from the University of Michigan. She completed the Executive Management Program from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management and received certification from the College of Executive Coaching. Ms. Luttgens served as vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, completing an eight-year term in December 2008, and is past president of the Organization of Women Executives. She was the recipient of the Kim Hill Award in 2009 for Outstanding Service to the L.A. Ronald McDonald House from 2001 to 2008.
Ms. Luttgens’ career as the CEO of GSGLA is featured as Chapter 4 of Women Leaders at Work: Untold Tales of Women Achieving Their Ambitions by Elizabeth Ghaffari (2011) and in 2012 she was nominated as CEO of the Year and Rising Star of the Year for the LA Business Journal’s Women Making a Difference Awards. In December 2012, PBS SoCal selected Ms. Luttgens as a Community Champion and then featured her as a special guest during the sneak peek of the PBS documentary, "MAKERS: Women Who Make America".