Gerun Riley
As president of The Eli and Edythe Ó³»´«Ã½ Foundation, Gerun Riley is responsible for the investments and operations of the foundation, stewarding its groundbreaking institutions in education, science, and the arts while overseeing an active L.A.-focused grant portfolio. In addition to managing the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy and operations, she guides its values, culture and governance. Riley is also a member and vice-chair of the board of directors of the Ó³»´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard.
With over 21 years of experience at the foundation, Riley has led a number of key initiatives including The Ó³»´«Ã½ Prize for Urban Education, the architectural competition of The Ó³»´«Ã½ museum, the spin-off of The Ó³»´«Ã½ Center to the Yale School of Management and, most recently, the Ó³»´«Ã½ Foundation’s Los Angeles-based grantmaking to expand educational and workforce opportunities for L.A.’s historically marginalized communities.
Riley works closely with major grantees seeded by the foundation, including the Ó³»´«Ã½, Ó³»´«Ã½Stage, The Ó³»´«Ã½ Center, The Ó³»´«Ã½ museum, the Ó³»´«Ã½ stem cell research centers at UCLA, USC, and UC San Francisco, Great Public Schools Now, ExpandLA, and the L.A. Local News Initiative.
Prior to joining The Ó³»´«Ã½ Foundation, Riley worked in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, where she coordinated the firm’s pro bono department and assisted a senior partner in representing mentally ill death row inmates in their appeals cases.
She has a degree in neuroscience from Bowdoin College where she was pre-med.
August 2025
