Julie Rusk

Julie is a strategic leader focused on social impact partnerships leading towards equity and wellbeing for all. After three decades in local government and nonprofit leadership positions, in July 2020 Julie co-founded Civic Wellbeing Partners, a startup project designed to advance and spread wellbeing leadership and practices.

Julie has partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in several endeavors including authoring a chapter in the book Well-Being: Expanding the Definition of Progress and is co-leading a project with the Institute for Collective Wellbeing in Madison, Wisconsin. Julie is the Board Chair of the Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council.

In her prior work, Julie developed the City of Santa Monica’s award winning work to define, measure and actively improve community wellbeing including Santa Monica’s wellbeing index. Prior to this, Julie developed and led the City’s Human Services which included a diverse portfolio of social, health, cultural, education, affordable housing, recreation, and placemaking initiatives.

She has pioneered nationally-recognized efforts to tackle complex social issues, including homelessness and youth violence, bringing compassion to her work. Julie led Santa Monica’s Cradle to Career Initiative, spearheaded Santa Monica’s winning submission for the 2016 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health prize.

Common Future (formerly Business Alliance for a Local Living Economy) and was named to the 2017 List of Top 25 Influencers by ELGL (Engaging Local Government Leaders). Julie is currently a Senior Fellow with UCLA’s Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities