Elise Buik
President & CEO
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
In March 2005, Elise Buik made history by becoming the first female president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA). Under her leadership, UWGLA raised $58 million in its 2006/2007 campaign year.
A native of Atlanta, Elise was initially attracted to Los Angeles because of its weather but ended up falling in love with the community and the immediate impact she was able to make at UWGLA. Prior to joining UWGLA, Elise spent seven years in the private sector as the marketing manager for a medical software company. She joined UWGLA in 1994 because of her strong belief in the organization and her personal desire and responsibility to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles County. Beginning her tenure in the marketing department, Elise worked her way up through the ranks, dedicating countless hours to help solve the pressing and rapidly growing social and economic issues facing Los Angeles County.
She has been instrumental in transforming UWGLA from its historical fundraising role into a community impact organization that identifies social issues, convenes experts, partners with other organizations and crafts innovative solutions. Under her leadership, UWGLA has launched a strategic 10-year Action Plan in order to tackle the new face of poverty through ten comprehensive goals with community and programmatic results. This new plan focuses on the three critical issues driving the social and economic trends of Los Angeles County: meeting basic needs, improving educational achievement and helping families gain financial stability. Elise has frequently stated that she finds it simply unacceptable that currently one in four children live in poverty and almost 80,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County.
Elise presently serves on the City of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board, as a Senior Fellow for the UCLA School of Public Affairs, on the advisory board for the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development Master of Public Administration program and on the boards of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and Southern California Grantmakers. She was honored recently with the “Community Leader” award by the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships and (with Stewart Kwoh) the “Vision Award” by the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness. Elise was a co-convener for the President’s Summit for America’s Future and the project leader of the 1996 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay and Torchbearer selection.
In addition to her civic and business duties, Elise is also a wife and mother to two small boys, Hudson and Davis. Being a mother has further strengthened her awareness and resolve that the future for her children is in peril if the public, private, business and non-profit sectors don’t unite in their efforts to move more people out of poverty.