It’s Women’s History Month!

Here at the Lead With Your Brand! podcast, we are amplifying the voices of women during Women’s History Month, and beyond. Each Tuesday in March we’ll be featuring a guest with a fantastic career story to share, and who just happens to be female. In addition, be sure to check out LeadWithYourBrand.com/womenonbrand to listen to our collection of shows featuring amazing executives, business leaders and innovators who continue to share their wisdom and move their industries forward. So, celebrate women's achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality. And, to all of the women who lead with their brand everyday, we salute you.

To kick off this special month, and in honor of Oscars week, Jayzen is thrilled to welcome Christine Simmons to the show. Christine Simmons is an accomplished President, COO, Business Executive, Entrepreneur, and Board Director. She was the first African American and first woman to serve as Chief Operating Officer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences where she led 200+ global employees and a $130M budget for this iconic brand. While in the role, she also created the organization’s first Office of Representation, Inclusion, and Equity. She’s managed a championship WNBA team, held senior leadership positions and top entertainment brands and now advises start-up, mid and large size businesses on operational excellence, strategic planning, business development, and representation initiatives.

Guest Bio

Christine Simmons  

Strategist | Impact Maker | Operator | Speaker I Entrepreneur | Creator

Christine Simmons is an accomplished President, COO, Business Executive, Entrepreneur, and Board Director with 20+ years’ experience devising strategy and leading transformational change for iconic B2B/B2C leaders such as: the 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, finance, manufacturing, food, and facilities management.

Simmons’ strategic consulting firm, Alis Volat Propriis, LLC (which means “she who flies with her own wings” in Latin), advises start-up, mid and large size businesses on operational excellence, strategic planning, business development, and representation initiatives, among other things. Simmons also speaks globally on these topics as well as leadership and empowerment. Her firm helps bring stories, ideas, and economic impact to life, that empower and inspire.

Christine is formerly the 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 3.5-year tenure, Christine created the organization’s global strategic plan and led a multi-phased reorganization across all entities and 500 employees. She 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.

As President and COO of LA Sparks for five seasons, she achieved 66% increase in ticket sales, leading to a #1 ranking in the league’s attendance, and50% increase in viewership in A25-54 ratings. Under her tenure, the Sparks won the championship in 2016. 

Links 

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