Linda Newton is the executive director of HARRT at UCLA.  In this role, she has expanded the membership and reach of this senior executive HR forum for Southern California employers who are committed to a strategic and global economic and social perspective.  By combining a member-based approach with current faculty research, she has developed programs that are contemporary, pertinent, and stimulating for senior executives. Topics range from Innovation in Leadership, Organization and Management Practices to Talent Management, Diversity and Inclusion, Organizational Sustainability, Global Forces of Change, Employee Engagement, and Managing Risk and Opportunities in a Changing Workplace.

Linda has built her career on applying principles of marketing, communications, and human resource management based on her academic background in business and the social sciences.  Her special acumen as a creative thinker has led to inventive approaches in programming, content development, problem solving, and organization design.  Her expertise in relationship management and ability to balance power and politics among multiple constituencies has contributed to her success in building networks and strategic alliances that bring the best together from and result in mutual benefits to both academic and business communities.  She is able to recognize and act on opportunities, add value and take each program she has directed to the next level. 

At the UCLA Anderson School of Management, she elevated the MBA capstone experience into a strategic problem-solving experience that integrated the first year academic curriculum with real-world problems and action plans.  She recognized the globalization of the economy and took the program international with studies in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Africa, Mexico, South America, and Micronesia in the 1990’s.  She introduced into the curriculum workshops and seminars on creative problem solving, client-based consulting and communication, self-directed teamwork, evidence-based logic, and integrated strategic thinking and analysis into the program. She coached faculty and students during stages of issue identification, project development, and conflict resolution.  She infused into the program the importance of understanding context and the process of building a persuasive and logical business case for change with actionable recommendations.

Prior to returning to UCLA as a program director, Linda worked in Development at the University of Washington for the College of Arts and Sciences and the School and Graduate Schools of Business, increasing the involvement of alumni and business community leaders to increase private funding to the University.  She also worked with the Los Angeles United Way, raising and distributing funds for social service organizations in LA County.  She began her career as a teacher in mathematics at a private school in which she headed the math department and originated special projects, which helped students see the relevance of math in current and historical contexts and later worked at ARCO on projects to increase organizational effectiveness after receiving her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

A native of California, Linda enjoys the outdoors where she is home at the beach or hiking or cross country skiing in the mountains.  She is an avid reader, movie buff, and exercise enthusiast.  Above all, she enjoys a good sense of humor and the gratification she receives from the people she knows.

Areas of interest: Maximizing Human Potential and Organizational Performance; Management and Social Innovation; Aligning Strategy, Values and Capabilities, Creativity in Problem Solving; Dynamic Change and the Future of Management.