Executive Director
Lisa A. Stiglich is the Executive Director of 128 Business Council. She has been with the Council for over 21 years, and her advancement closely mirrors (and has directly impacted) the development of the organization itself.
She first joined the Council in September 2001 as its Administrative Coordinator—overseeing member relationships, shuttle services, and administrative functions. She was later promoted to Director of Operations, continuing to build experience in the development, management, and promotion of the Council’s shuttle services network.
As the scale of 128 Business Council’s operations have dramatically increased—with its on-road vehicles quadrupling and its areas of expertise expanding into the education, design, and consulting spheres—Lisa has progressed from an entry-level support role to having ultimate responsibility over all aspects of vendor management; member relations and new member development; employee relations and office operations; budget development and management; accounting; and policy and procedure development. Today, in her capacity as Executive Director, she further oversees the strategic planning and long-term vision of the Council, ensuring the quality of the Council’s services and leading its diversely skilled staff.
Alongside her team, Lisa has guided 128 Business Council through multiple points of crisis and opportunity. She began work at the Council two days after 9/11—a time of uncertainty that prompted an immediate reduction in membership and the scaling back of the Council’s shuttle services. The 2008 recession was similarly challenging for a membership-based non-profit. After years of work, in 2017, Lisa shepherded the complete overhaul and re-launch of 128 Business Council’s shuttle offerings as “The Grid”—with a newly unified fleet, brand new equipment and technology, and a fundamentally new approach to the rider experience. This overhaul was, by all measures, a resounding success and the next two years saw industry-leading growth in both ridership and rider satisfaction. Then, in 2020, Lisa and her team were once again faced with the challenge of keeping services on the road, preserving the fleet, and ensuring the long-term viability of the organization in the face of national crisis.
All of these periods have been defined, in one way or another, by a lack of a preexisting playbook. Lisa’s steady and pragmatic approach to the independent development of policies, procedures, and best practices—and her ability to cultivate this independence and proactivity in her staff—has been largely responsible for 128 Business Council’s continued operations.
Both 128 Business Council as an organization and Lisa as its Executive Director are deeply committed to continuing education. Lisa continuously challenges herself to expand her knowledge of the region’s communities and to build her professional skillset through webinars, reading, and other trainings. Current areas of focus include fostering employee development and workplace diversity, improving the organization’s communication practices, and staying abreast of regional and national economic and real estate market trends.
Prior to joining 128 Business Council, Lisa worked as a photographer and darkroom technician, as a medical assistant, and as a project manager in the environmental consulting and medical publishing fields. Her introduction to the transportation industry was something of a happy accident; she had no idea when she accepted her initial administrative support role at 128 Business Council that transportation would become her lifelong career. However, she quickly found herself committed to the urgency of the Council’s mission—providing essential access for individuals and communities, mindful of the fact that public transportation is the only transportation option for most and a critical, greener alternative for many.
Lisa considers herself a quintessential local of Eastern Massachusetts, growing up in Newton, then living for thirty years in the Acton/Littleton area, and finally enacting her dream of living alongside the ocean by moving to Marshfield.