Photo courtesy
idyllwild arts foundation
The Associates of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation’s Spotlight on Leadership next presentation is at 10 a.m. Monday, June 10, in the Idyllwild Arts campus’ Fireside Room in Nelson Dining Hall.
Faith Raiguel will share her lifelong commitment to the arts. The series is open to all at no charge.
Raiguel will speak about her lifelong love of the arts and blending her passion into a career as an arts manager. A certified public accounting, corporate financial officer, executive vice president, corporate operations officer — all of these have been a colorful and fulfilling journey to recent retirement.
Idyllwild Arts figured large in her teen years, first as a scholarship student in the 1960s, when she was in the Festival Choir, then as a counselor. Her children began as early campers, with Idyllwild filling summers as they were growing up.
Her daughter Anna graduated the from the academy in 2005. Her son Tommy is a 10-year veteran of the Summer Program, and now is a returning teacher in Family Camp. With new grandchildren, Raiguel looks forward to continuing the legacy in her family, that Idyllwild Arts is a place for all arts, all levels, all ages.
A board member for more than 20 years, Raiguel served as chair for seven years, and helped the organization weather the downturn of 2008, leadership transitions and major building projects. Her contributions to Idyllwild Arts have been honored with the naming of “Faith’s Way,” the street behind Lowman Hall, a recognition she treasures.
She’s thrilled to be addressing the associates, and with the above in mind, will gladly answer questions.
Raiguel recently retired as CFO of the Los Angeles Opera, a position she has held since 2008. Until 2017, she taught finance and accounting for non-profit arts organizations for nine years at The Drucker School of Claremont Graduate University as an adjunct professor. She also taught programs and workshops at the League of American Orchestras, UCLA’s Anderson School and USC’s Museum Studies program. As a trustee of the IATSE Local 33 Pension and Welfare Trust Funds, she served for three years on the board, resigning in 2018.
From 2008 to 2014, Raiguel served as chair of the board of Idyllwild Arts Foundation. She is currently chair of its Finance Committee. She is chair of the Finance Committee of the board of the Silkroad Project, founded by Yo-Yo Ma, promoting international cooperation through music.
She recently joined the board of Street Symphony, dedicated to placing music at the heart of social justice, through serving the homeless and incarcerated in Los Angeles. Raiguel has also served on the Audit Committee of Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge.
Prior to the opera, she was COO of the Autry National Center. Throughout her professional career, she also has been CFO for the Music Center of Los Angeles County and Center Theater Group, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theater. In life outside of nonprofits, she was VP, Administration and Operations, Worldwide for Walt Disney Feature Animation from 1995 to 1997, overseeing animation studios in Burbank, Orlando and Paris. Early in her career, she was a partner with Lutz and Carr, CPAs, a New York-based public accounting firm with a specialty in nonprofit, arts clients.
Raiguel has a master’s in business administration from UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts in american history and economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is a CPA, inactive status.
She and her husband are longtime residents of Silver Lake in Los Angeles, and have three LA-based adult children and three grandchildren.
