Christine "Chris" Essel is the President of Southern California Grantmakers (SCG), a regional association of philanthropic leaders whose mission is to support and advance effective, responsible philanthropy for the public good. Prior to SCG, Essel was the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles and the former

Senior Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

leading the planning and development as well as government and community relations departments. She was a candidate in the December 8, 2009

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

for

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

District 2.

Education

A long-time

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

resident, she is a graduate of Valley

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s including Shirley Ave. Elementary, Sutter Jr. High, and

Chatsworth High School Chatsworth Charter High School is a charter secondary school located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, U.S. History The campus was built with one-story buildings around a central quad as land was inexpens ...

. Essel attended Cal State Northridge and finished her education with a

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from Redlands University.

Career

Los Angeles municipal appointments

She served California and the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

as an appointed commissioner on numerous boards; currently, she is the Vice Chair of the California

Workforce Investment Board Workforce Investment Boards (or "WIBs") were regional entities created to implement the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The im ...

and from 1999 to 2007, she was chair of the California

Film Commission Film commissions are quasi-governmental, non-profit, public organizations that attract motion media production crews (including movies, television, and commercials) to shoot on location in their respective localities, and offer support so that p ...

where she is still a board member. In 1992, she was appointed to the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board by Los Angeles

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Tom Bradley and was reappointed by the succeeding mayor, Richard Riordan. After being elected commission chairwoman, she led the effort to turn around Hollywood Boulevard to make it a safe and attractive destination for tourists and L.A. residents. Essel also led efforts to develop what became the Agency’s stringent green building guidelines. She also served on Tom Bradley’s Hollywood Mobility Action Committees. Most recently, she served as a

Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is the airport authority that owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Van Nuys Airport (VNY) for the city of Los Angeles, California. LAWA also owns and manages aviation-related property n ...

Commissioner, but resigned from the post to run for the Los Angeles City Council.

Campaign for City Council

In June 2009, Essel announced her candidacy for the vacant 2nd District

seat, most recently held by

Los Angeles City Controller The Los Angeles City Controller is an official in the government of the city of Los Angeles, California. The City Controller is the paymaster and chief accounting officer of the city. Along with the Mayor and the City Attorney, the City Controller ...

Wendy Greuel Wendy Jane Greuel (born May 23, 1961) is an American politician. She served as Los Angeles City Controller from 2009–13. Greuel was the second woman elected to citywide office in Los Angeles, after her predecessor Laura Chick. Previously, sh ...

. Essel's candidacy was endorsed by Greuel, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, City Attorney

Carmen Trutanich Carmen Anthony "Nuch" Trutanich ( ; born August 12, 1951) is an American politician. He served as Los Angeles City Attorney from 2009 to 2013. Biography Trutanich grew up in San Pedro where he attended elementary and high school. Trutanich ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Fran Pavley Frances J. "Fran" Pavley (born November 11, 1948) is an American politician who served two terms in the California State Senate and three terms in the California State Assembly. A California Democratic Party, Democrat, she last represented the Ca ...

, the majority of the

as well as the 16 IATSE west coast studio locals, AFSCME DC 36, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association and most of Southern California's building trades locals. Essel was also endorsed by the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

.Christine Essel for City Council's District 2, Los Angeles Times, Sep. 12, 2009 She placed 2nd in the September 22nd, 2009 Primary election (a field of 10 which included

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

Boardmember Tamar Galatzan) to reach a December runoff election against then-Assemblyman Paul Krekorian. Krekorian won the election, which was bitterly contested.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essel, Christine American media executives Women in California politics Living people People from Studio City, Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women California State University, Northridge alumni