Ritchie L. Geisel

Experience

Heaven on Earth Society for Animal, Board Chair and Executive Director
Heaven on Earth, located in North Hollywood, CA, is a leader in the Los Angeles animal rescue community. With its $1.5 million budget, Heaven on Earth operates a 5,500 square foot sanctuary and adoption center, as well as a spay/neuter and veterinary clinic, and saves, treats and adopts out more than 3,000 cats and dogs every year. Quintupled the number of lives saved annually during his tenure and established the veterinary clinic through a contract with Los Angeles Animal Services.

Bienvenidos Children's Center, President & CEO
Bienvenidos, a Los Angeles-based comprehensive social service non profit, serves several thousand low income, primarily Latino families, with a variety of programs, including family preservation, mental health, foster care and adoptions, wrap around, and school-based health centers. In 2016, Geisel facilitated a merger of Bienvenidos with a sister agency, Hillsides, resulting in a $50 million organization.

AbilityFirst, President & CEO
Geisel led a transformational change process, including changing the culture and name of the organization, from Crippled Children's Society of Southern California, re-structuring and rightsizing the Board, establishing a foundation for fundraising purposes, eliminating a $3 million operating deficit, and re-organizing the housing program. Among the lifespan services at its 22 locations are after school enrichment, supported employment, camping, and adult day programs. In 2001, AbilityFirst was featured in a half hour national PBS documentary as part of the series The Visionaries.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, President & CEO
RFB&D, since renamed Learning Ally, is a $25 million national non profit with 22 chapters, whose mission is to make education accessible to students who are unable to read standard print. During his tenure, RFB&D initiated a national outreach effort to students with learning disabilities, and led the global digital revolution, converting digital files to being fully accessible for blind and otherwise print disabled students.

Mount Sinai Medical Center, Vice President, Development
Mount Sinai is one of the leading academic health centers in the United States. Reporting to the CEO as the chief development officer, Geisel directed a $150 million campaign to build a new hospital at Mount Sinai's New York City campus.

Education

• MBA, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
• BA, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey