Board Member

Position

Local government elected official

Committees

• Finance & Administration Committee, Chair
• Risk & Audit, Vice Chair
• Investment
• Performance, Compensation & Talent Management

Board Terms

Upon appointment by Gov. Gavin Newsom

Profile

Lisa Middleton is serving her first appointment to the CalPERS Board of Administration. She was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in May 2019.

She was elected to the Palm Springs City Council in November 2017. Lisa serves on the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the Sunline Transit Board of Directors, the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, and on Coachella Valley Association of Governments' Transportation, Energy & Environment, and Conservation committees representing Palm Springs.

She is vice chair of the League of California Cities Revenue & Taxation Policy Committee, second vice chair of the League's Riverside County Executive Committee, and is on the League's LGBTQ Caucus.

Lisa also represents the Coachella Valley on the Southern California Association of Governments’ Transportation Committee. She is a member of the California State Department of Transportation Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force.

Prior to her election, Lisa served as a member of the Palm Springs Planning Commission and as chairwoman of the Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs. She is a member of the board of directors of the Equality California Institute and the Desert LGBTQ Center. In 2014 she was the Center's interim executive director.

Lisa retired after serving 36 years with California's State Compensation Insurance Fund. At her retirement she was the senior vice president of Internal Affairs with executive responsibility for internal audits, fraud investigation, public records, and governance. Lisa was also a member of California's Fraud Assessment Commission, which she chaired in 2010.

She earned a bachelor's degree in political science and holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. She also completed the LGBT Leadership Institute program through the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management. Lisa is the first transgender person elected to a non-judicial office in the State of California.