Lisa Seitz-Gruwell

Lisa Seitz-Gruwell is an American charity fundraising executive. She is President of the Wikimedia Endowment, and Chief Advancement Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation. Previously she was Chief Operating Officer for Skyline Public Works, Director of Communications and Public Affairs with the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and a San Francisco civil service commissioner. Earlier she was a political media consultant. Lisa Seitz was born and raised in Great Falls, Montana. She earned a bachelor's degree in public relations and political science from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She also studied as a Coro Fellow and at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation's Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders. Following her graduation from Carroll College she worked in Montana legislative politics in the late 1990s before moving to California. After her move to the San Francisco Bay Area she worked as a public relations executive for IPG's Weber Group (now part of Weber Shandwick), and in 2001 she served as California Assembly Majority Leader Kevin Shelley's District Director and Press Secretary. In 2002–2003, Seitz-Gruwell was a political media consultant for San Francisco-based Storefront Political Media, a communications firm known for its multi-channel advertising campaigns. She developed campaign strategy, wrote media plans and messages for candidates for public office at all levels of government including Gavin Newsom for mayor of San Francisco; wrote and produced political television, radio, Internet and print advertising; created fundraising plans and developed and managed multi-million dollar campaign budgets; and secured media coverage and briefed candidates prior to interviews and editorial board meetings. From 2003 to 2007 Seitz-Gruwell served as the Chief Operating Officer for Skyline Public Works LLC, an investment advisory firm led by Andrew S.