Christine Simmons '21 Contributor Since 2021

Christine Simmons is an accomplished COO, business executive, and board director with 20+ years’ experience devising strategy and leading transformational change for iconic B2B/B2C leaders: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles Sparks, NBCUniversal Inc., The Walt Disney Company, and Magic Johnson Enterprises. She has delivered market growth and triple bottom-line impact across media, TV, film, sports, shared services, manufacturing, food, and facilities management. Simmons brings a powerful network of influence and provides boards with an understanding of business disruption, operations, strategic alliances, inclusion and representation impact, customer brand loyalty, new revenue streams, and business profitability. 

Simmons is strategic COO of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, leading 200+ global employees and a $130M budget for this iconic brand with $1B AUM and 10K global members. In this highly strategic role, she facilitated the process with the board, PwC, and senior leadership to gain buy-in on the academy’s strategic plan while leading daily responsibility for the organization. In her two-year tenure, as partner to the CEO, Simmons has created the organization’s global strategy and led a multi-phased reorganization across all entities and 500 employees.  

Alongside the CEO, Simmons solidified and communicated the academy’s key annual business priorities and the next phase of the academy’s business strategy. She created the first office of representation, inclusion, and equity, and led the academy’s strategic inclusion initiative, Aperture 2025. She also launched the academy’s sustainability initiative and led the COVID response task force worldwide. Overseeing the academy’s digital/marketing strategy, she increased social campaigns to 200M views. 

A former board chair of the UCLA Alumni Association, Simmons led a ~$15M endowment and $8.5M operating budget, representing 500K people globally, including 30 powerful alumni leaders and the UCLA chancellor. She led the board to balance the budget for the first time, increased revenue 54%, and decreased expenditures 28%. In her vast board experience, Simmons has chaired the Audit and Strategic Planning Committees, served on Finance, Investment, Nominations, and Governance Committees, and led the board standards of conduct task force. 

As president and COO of L.A. Sparks for five seasons, Simmons led its first independent financial audit and WNBA league compliance while overseeing a $9M budget. She achieved a 66% increase in ticket sales, leading to a No. 1 ranking in the league’s attendance, and 50% increase in viewership in A25–54 ratings. Under her tenure, the Sparks won the championship in 2016. As EVP of Magic Johnson Enterprises, Simmons supported formation of Johnson Loop Capital, which raised $303M for its first fund with a goal of at least $1B—deploying funds to renovate the LaGuardia and Denver airports. She led business development, achieving $350M in gross sales across consulting and licensing, foodservice and facilities maintenance, staffing agency, and capital management divisions. 

Simmons is a passionate humanitarian and mentor advocate, mentoring the next generation through the Brown Girls Dream foundation. She is a thought leader and speaker on business, strategy, leadership, inclusion, and women’s empowerment. This proud mother loves travel and adventure, including off-roading, water sports, and genealogy.