Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County CEO and leadership

Gretchen Humbert is a CFO/Treasurer at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She has worked as Chief Financial Officer at Rent.com and Chief Financial Officer at Genext. Gretchen attended University of California - UC Berkeley and UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS.

Paul Bessire is a Chief Advancement Officer at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked as Director of Institutional Support at MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Deputy Director for External Relations at Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and Director of Marketing at MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. Paul attended Kenyon College.

McDivitt is responsible for NHMLAC Operations, Security and General Museum Services, and Capital Project Management, and is the chief liaison with the County of Los Angeles CEO’s Office and Board of Supervisors. She also serves as Administrator of La Brea Tar Pits and the William S. Hart Museum.

Prior to joining NHMLAC in 2014, McDivitt worked for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office Capital Projects/Debt Management Division. In her 24 years as a County employee, she has worked on most of the high profile projects undertaken by the County’s cultural institutions, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Grand Park, and the Grand Avenue Project.

Nooshin Nathan is Chief Talent Officer, Nooshin Nathan is responsible for developing, and managing strategic and culturally pertinent human resource policies and programs. She supports and guides management and staff to cultivate, recommend and implement mission-aligned HR objectives, policies and practices for the Museum that fosters a culture of highly engaged staff. She serves as a member of the Executive Team and partners with the President and leadership on employee relations, staff development, recruiting, compensation, and benefits administration.

Prior to joining NHMLAC, Nathan worked as the Vice President of Human Resources for JM Eagle. She has over 15 years of experience and overall responsibility for developing, planning and executing full scope innovative strategies, best practices and programs for Corporate Human Resources that aligned with functional organizational objectives at a high level perspective.

Mathur, who became the Chief Strategy and External Relations Officer in 2021, has served in various roles with cultural brands across the country. During her ten years as Chief Marketing Officer at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, she led a large, multifaceted marketing, communications and customer experience operation for the institution and its venues, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl. She produced record-breaking sales and audience growth through innovative campaigns, built award-winning digital and audience engagement initiatives and rebranded the organization to facilitate its evolution as a more inclusive partner to the communities of Los Angeles.

Prior to taking her role at NHMLAC, she was Chief External Affairs Officer for The Broad Stage at Santa Monica College and an independent consultant for cultural non-profits, for which she provided strategic planning and execution across branding, marketing, communications, fundraising, and customer experience functions, and stewarded equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. An anthropologist at heart, she looks for ways that they connect to one another, create meaning within their communities, and can be agents for change to actualize the vision to advance racial and social justice.

Fredrick Cowell Jr. is a Chief Operations Officer at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and is based in Lorton, Virginia. He has worked as Chief Operations Officer at New Home Media and Gunnery Sergeant (Retired) at MOTOR TRANSPORT OPERATIONS. Fredrick studied at University of Maryland.

Joseph Marotte is a CFO at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and is based in New York City, New York. He has worked as Accountant at The Shubert Organization. Joseph studied at College Of Staten Island between 1985 and 1990.

Leslie Negritto oversees NHMLAC’s Finance Department. She is responsible for supporting the Museum’s Board of Trustees and committees, operating departments, and administrative management with necessary financial information and forecasting; establishing and maintaining relationships with external financial organizations, auditors and government agencies; overseeing NHMLAC’s financial processing and cross-departmental reporting functions, while providing support and analysis of mission-critical activities and complex divisions; working with internal colleagues on monitoring and maximizing the revenue generation portion of the Museums’ stores, cafes and theaters; and leading the current Finance team to refine and execute NHMLAC’s vision and strategic direction.

Prior to coming to NHMLAC, Negritto spent more than 14 years at Claremont Graduate University where she was the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, previously serving as their Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer. Throughout her time at CGU, Negritto was responsible for fiscal and operational leadership. She joined the university as a budget director and then served as administrative dean at the Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. Previously, Negritto was a senior consultant at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), where she designed custom software applications and re-engineered business processes for clients in the consumer products practice.