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 or 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 ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

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 an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

for

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

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, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

resident, she is a graduate of Valley public schools 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 inexpensive ...

. Essel attended

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as o ...

and finished her education with a

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business ...

degree from Redlands University.

Career

Los Angeles municipal appointments

She served California and the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

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 ...

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 corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Tom Bradley and was reappointed by the succeeding mayor,

Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (May 1, 1930 – April 19, 2023) was an American businessman, investor, military commander, philanthropist, and politician. A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Republican Party, Riordan served as the 39th ...

. After being elected commission chairwoman, she led the effort to turn around

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

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 Green building (also known as green construction, sustainable building, or eco-friendly building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's li ...

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 of Los Angeles, mayor and the Los Angeles ...

Wendy Greuel Wendy Jane Greuel (born May 23, 1961) is an American politician. She served as Los Angeles City Controller from 2009 to 2013. Greuel was the second woman elected to citywide office in Los Angeles, after her predecessor Laura Chick. Previously, ...

. Essel's candidacy was endorsed by Greuel, former Los Angeles Mayor

, 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, Los Angeles, California, San Pedro where he attended ele ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

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 Democrat, she last represented the 27th Senate District, which en ...

, the majority of the

as well as the 16

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

west coast studio locals, AFSCME DC 36,

Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...

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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

.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 State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

Boardmember Tamar Galatzan) to reach a December runoff election against then-Assemblyman

Paul Krekorian Paul Krekorian (born March 24, 1960) is an American politician who has represented the second district on the Los Angeles City Council from 2010 until 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the president of the Los Angeles City ...

. 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