Throughout her career, Dr. Kindel has navigated various constituencies and distinguished herself in prominent public and private sector leadership positions, most notably, her appointment by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as President of the Los Angeles City Board of Public Works. Dr. Kindel was the first woman in the history of the city to preside over this half-billion dollar agency with over 6,000 employees providing daily essential city services and ensuring well-managed complex contracting arrangements. She set the tone for the involvement of minority and women-owned businesses in public contracting. She was a founding director of the Los Angeles Business Federation, the Los Angeles Business Council, and the Pacific Council of Foreign Relations. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Committee of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), which is a worldwide elections assistance and democracy building organization working in 26 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Sudan. She is Secretary of the 1984 Olympic Foundation, the repository of the 1984 Olympic proceeds, whose mission is sports and youth. She is a former Director of the Southwest Water Company.
Dr. Kindel has embraced public education as a professional and personal passion. Her clients have included L. A. Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer and the President of the California Charter School Association, Caprice Young. She has served as Chair of the L.A. Chamber Education Committee and presently chairs the L.A. Business Council’s Education Committee. Additionally, she has helped design, organize and lead three major Education Summits in Los Angeles, integrating participation by business and civic leaders, educators and public officials in examining both the current status and the acute needs of the public education system. Kindel is a Board Member of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management’s Council on American Politics in Washington, D.C. She serves as a Regent Emeritus of Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Chair of the Board of Visitors at the LMU School of Education, and as a strategic advisor of the LMU‘s Family of Schools program. Kindel has a Masters of Education degree and was recently awarded her Doctorate in Education from Loyola Marymount University. Her dissertation is entitled, “The 1992 California Charter School Law: Its History & Unintended Consequences” is being revised for publication as a book. In addition, she has recently served on the Transition Committee of California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and on his Teacher Quality Subcommittee.
In 2009, Maureen Kindel was recognized by the Los Angeles League of Women Voters with their prestigious Founders’ Award. Dr. Kindel also had the honor of working with President Nelson Mandela when he was released from prison and when he was elected President of South Africa.