MARY-ELIZABETH MICHAELS is a public affairs and community engagement executive with nearly twenty years experience in the Los Angeles region. She serves as the Director of Government and Community Affairs for the J. Paul Getty Trust where she provides strategic oversight and connects and partners with community members, non-profits, elected officials and civic organizations to extend Getty’s impact in Los Angeles and the region.
Prior to joining the Getty, Mary-Elizabeth served as the Director of Community Engagement at Warner Bros. Entertainment for nearly a decade where she led all corporate community affairs outreach in key regions where the company has a presence. In this capacity she developed partnerships with neighborhood stakeholders, nonprofits, elected officials, Warner Bros. filming productions and city, county and state legislators to establish community good will. Additionally, she oversaw signature corporate outreach programs including the Warner Bros. Board Leadership Program, the Impact employee giving program and the Reach Honorship program.
Before joining Warner Bros., Mary-Elizabeth served as the Acting Senior Manager of State Government Affairs and Manager of Corporate Communications and Government Affairs at Mattel, Inc. Prior to that, Mary-Elizabeth was the Manager of Business Development at the Central City Association and Director of Special Events at Cerrell Associates, Inc., a full service public affairs firm.
Mary-Elizabeth is active in the community and has served on a number of nonprofit boards. She was a four-term chair of the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission, board member of the LA County Arts Ed Collective and cochaired the Southern California Grantmaker’s Corporate Leadership Council. Currently she serves as Vice Chair of the Santa Monica Arts Commission in addition to serving on the board of trustees for P.S. ARTS. She is a long-time member of the Junior League of Los Angeles where she held numerous leadership positions and is actively engaged with several other local nonprofits. Mary-Elizabeth earned a BA in Government from Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Leadership Los Angeles, Leadership Southern California, Leadership Burbank and the Santa Monica People’s Academy.
