Leadership Award 2008
Elise Buik—President and CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles

Elise Buik made history by becoming the first female president and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Elise has been with UWGLA since 1994, and worked her way up through the ranks. She has been instrumental in transforming UWGLA from its historical fundraising role into a community impact organization that identifies social issues, 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 Buik is a consummate convener, fearless in tackling intractable problems, and determined to keep her eye on the prize. She has taken on the complexity of poverty, and does not hesitate to link the issues to their causes, such as domestic violence, poor education, health issues and lack of job training.

Elise Buik’s commitment to solving our region’s challenging social issues is personal as well as professional. As a CEO and as a mother to two young boys, she connects on a human level with the work she does everyday. Peace Over Violence is especially proud to present her with the 2008 Humanitarian Award for Leadership.