Renata Simril
President and Chief Executive Officer
The LA84 Foundation
The LA84 Foundation is a legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the most financially successful Games in Olympic history. As President & Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Simril oversees an endowment invested in a diversified portfolio, provides strategic direction, and manages all operational aspects of the organization.
Ms. Simril guided a brand repositioning to reestablish the LA84 Foundation as a national leader in sport-based youth development and formed a historic collaboration with twelve (12) professional sports teams in Southern California in 2020 to expand the work of the LA84 Foundation’s charitable partner, the Play Equity Fund.
She developed the Super Bowl LVI Legacy Program in collaboration with the NFL Foundation and the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee, “Champions Live Here” – which provided funding for a mobile vehicle to bring healthy activities to communities lacking parks – in addition to new support for 56 nonprofits. As a legacy of the 2023 College Football Championship, Ms. Simril created the “Champions Educate Here” program while working closely with the Los Angeles College Football Playoff National Championship Host Committee and the College Football Playoff Foundation. The program awarded 46 local educators up to $20,000 who are using play to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic.
Prior to her appointment as President & CEO, Ms. Simril served as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Publisher of the Los Angeles Times. Her earlier career included three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where she served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs and managed the team’s government and community relations, as well as its charitable foundation. She also worked for over a decade in real estate development with Jones Lang LaSalle, Forest City Development and LCOR, Inc. where she managed the acquisition, entitlement, finance and development of multimillion-dollar mixed-income/for-rent and for-sale residential, and mixed retail/commercial projects.
Ms. Simril’ s public service includes serving as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Housing in the Hahn Administration, as well as a Development Deputy to Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, when she helped steward over $5 billion to rebuild communities in South Los Angeles after the 1992 civil unrest. She began her career in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. and Germany.
Ms. Simril is active in the community outside of her duties with the LA84 Foundation. She serves as an Independent Director of Steel Connect (STCN), a publicly traded diversified holding company where she is on a Special Committee to negotiate a take-private transaction. She is an appointee of Mayor Karen Bass to serve as President of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. She also serves as a board member of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to serve on the Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being, a statewide effort to enact policy and funding priorities to ensure healthy Californians of all ages.
Previous board appointments include serving as Governor Brown’s appointee on the California Science Center Board, where she led successful negotiations of long-term lease agreements between the State of California and USC to manage and operate the Coliseum and former Sports Arena properties.
Ms. Simril served for over 10 years as a member of Loyola Marymount University’s Board of Regents, including as Chair of the Board in her final term. In 2023, she was invited to serve as a Regents’ Lecturer in the UCLA Department of Sociology, a program where distinguished leaders from outside of traditional academics enrich instruction. She was also invited to speak to the Board of Councilors at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Honors Ms. Simril has received include being selected among “The Most Influential Black Women in Sports” by Sports Illustrated in 2022; Langston Hughes Bar Association’s Community Impact Award in 2022; The Los Angeles County Commission for Women’s “Woman of the Year” in 2020; and inclusion in The Sports Business Journal’s listing of “Game Changers Women in Sports Business” in 2017.
As well as serving as an adviser to national youth sports task forces, boards and commissions, Ms. Simril’s writing as an advocate for childhood health has appeared in Authority Magazine, EdSource.org, Forbes, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Los Angeles Daily News and The Sacramento Observer. She has been featured as a primary source in broadcast, print and digital media.
Ms. Simril holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s in Real Estate Development from USC. She resides in Studio City with her husband and two sons.
Ms. Simril guided a brand repositioning to reestablish the LA84 Foundation as a national leader in sport-based youth development and formed a historic collaboration with twelve (12) professional sports teams in Southern California in 2020 to expand the work of the LA84 Foundation’s charitable partner, the Play Equity Fund.
She developed the Super Bowl LVI Legacy Program in collaboration with the NFL Foundation and the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee, “Champions Live Here” – which provided funding for a mobile vehicle to bring healthy activities to communities lacking parks – in addition to new support for 56 nonprofits. As a legacy of the 2023 College Football Championship, Ms. Simril created the “Champions Educate Here” program while working closely with the Los Angeles College Football Playoff National Championship Host Committee and the College Football Playoff Foundation. The program awarded 46 local educators up to $20,000 who are using play to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic.
Prior to her appointment as President & CEO, Ms. Simril served as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Publisher of the Los Angeles Times. Her earlier career included three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where she served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs and managed the team’s government and community relations, as well as its charitable foundation. She also worked for over a decade in real estate development with Jones Lang LaSalle, Forest City Development and LCOR, Inc. where she managed the acquisition, entitlement, finance and development of multimillion-dollar mixed-income/for-rent and for-sale residential, and mixed retail/commercial projects.
Ms. Simril’ s public service includes serving as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Housing in the Hahn Administration, as well as a Development Deputy to Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, when she helped steward over $5 billion to rebuild communities in South Los Angeles after the 1992 civil unrest. She began her career in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. and Germany.
Ms. Simril is active in the community outside of her duties with the LA84 Foundation. She serves as an Independent Director of Steel Connect (STCN), a publicly traded diversified holding company where she is on a Special Committee to negotiate a take-private transaction. She is an appointee of Mayor Karen Bass to serve as President of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. She also serves as a board member of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to serve on the Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being, a statewide effort to enact policy and funding priorities to ensure healthy Californians of all ages.
Previous board appointments include serving as Governor Brown’s appointee on the California Science Center Board, where she led successful negotiations of long-term lease agreements between the State of California and USC to manage and operate the Coliseum and former Sports Arena properties.
Ms. Simril served for over 10 years as a member of Loyola Marymount University’s Board of Regents, including as Chair of the Board in her final term. In 2023, she was invited to serve as a Regents’ Lecturer in the UCLA Department of Sociology, a program where distinguished leaders from outside of traditional academics enrich instruction. She was also invited to speak to the Board of Councilors at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Honors Ms. Simril has received include being selected among “The Most Influential Black Women in Sports” by Sports Illustrated in 2022; Langston Hughes Bar Association’s Community Impact Award in 2022; The Los Angeles County Commission for Women’s “Woman of the Year” in 2020; and inclusion in The Sports Business Journal’s listing of “Game Changers Women in Sports Business” in 2017.
As well as serving as an adviser to national youth sports task forces, boards and commissions, Ms. Simril’s writing as an advocate for childhood health has appeared in Authority Magazine, EdSource.org, Forbes, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Los Angeles Daily News and The Sacramento Observer. She has been featured as a primary source in broadcast, print and digital media.
Ms. Simril holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s in Real Estate Development from USC. She resides in Studio City with her husband and two sons.