CEO Case Study | Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises
The Organization
Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises, also known as Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, Inc., is a university-affiliated nonprofit enterprise supporting California State Polytechnic University, Pomona through a broad portfolio of auxiliary services, commercial operations, hospitality, housing, and other mission-supporting activities. With an enterprise portfolio of approximately $101 million and more than 1,000 employees, the organization plays a significant role in supporting the university community while operating with the financial and operational discipline required of a complex business enterprise.
The Leadership Challenge
Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises engaged Scion Executive Search following the departure of its CEO after six years of service. The transition came at a particularly consequential moment, coinciding with the arrival of a new university president, significant growth opportunities, major capital initiatives, and a need to strengthen alignment between Enterprises and the broader campus community. Stakeholders wanted a leader who could move the organization beyond historical perceptions of operating independently from university priorities and instead build a more collaborative, transparent, and mission-driven partnership with Cal Poly Pomona.
The incoming CEO would oversee a complex enterprise portfolio, support more than 1,000 employees, guide major hospitality and housing initiatives, manage significant unrestricted reserves and debt obligations, and ensure strong financial performance while remaining closely aligned with the university’s academic mission.
What Success Looked Like
Scion worked with university and board stakeholders to define three central priorities for the incoming CEO:
- Strengthen strategic alignment and trust between Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises and university leadership while building productive relationships across campus.
- Advance major strategic initiatives, including the Kellogg West Hotel transformation, housing portfolio integration, and future real estate and public-private partnership opportunities.
- Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, collaboration, and empowered leadership while maintaining strong financial performance across the enterprise portfolio.
The role required an executive who could balance entrepreneurial business leadership with the governance, politics, relationships, and public mission of a major higher education institution.
Scion’s Approach
Scion conducted extensive stakeholder interviews across university leadership, the Board of Directors, executive leadership, faculty representation, student leadership, and operational stakeholders to uncover the deeper leadership requirements behind the search.
While operational and financial expertise were essential, discovery revealed that political navigation, relationship building, campus partnership, transparency, and culture leadership would be equally important to the CEO’s long-term success.
Scion developed a calibrated profile targeting executives with experience leading university auxiliaries, nonprofit enterprises, hospitality portfolios, housing operations, and other complex mission-driven business organizations.
- Extensive stakeholder discovery and calibrated success profiling
- Targeted candidate mapping across higher education auxiliary and complex enterprise leadership markets
- Intentional diverse slating and inclusive process design
- Weekly reporting and stakeholder alignment across a layered governance structure
- Evaluation of financial stewardship, operational leadership, political acumen, and culture-change capability
- Reference, background, and offer calibration
The search unfolded within a highly visible leadership transition involving both university and enterprise governance. Scion maintained close alignment among multiple stakeholder groups while helping the committee evaluate candidates against both immediate operational priorities and the longer-term need to strengthen campus relationships.
The market itself was highly competitive. Nine potential candidates withdrew from consideration because of compensation, timing, or broader economic uncertainty. The compensation ceiling of $250,000 also became a decisive factor late in the process when the initially selected candidate, who would have needed to relocate from Washington, D.C., declined the offer after a seven-day decision period.
Scion and the hiring committee were able to move immediately to a highly qualified finalist already deeply familiar with the organization and its strategic priorities.
Navigating a Complex Stakeholder Environment
The Selected Leader
Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises selected an individual who had been serving as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer.
This individual brought direct experience leading large-scale auxiliary and enterprise operations within higher education, including contract negotiations, hospitality services, campus partnerships, commercial operations, and strategic business initiatives. Prior to joining Cal Poly Pomona, they held executive leadership roles within university enterprise organizations, leading complex operational projects, commercial partnerships, and service improvements.
Their combination of institutional knowledge and broader auxiliary leadership experience positioned them to provide continuity while immediately advancing priorities including hospitality modernization, housing integration, operational optimization, and stronger campus alignment.
This individual emerged as the strongest match because they paired deep knowledge of auxiliary operations with a highly collaborative and relationship-oriented leadership style.
Stakeholders consistently described them as transparent, adaptable, politically astute, and capable of empowering leaders while maintaining accountability. Their understanding of both the university environment and the enterprise portfolio allowed them to bridge operational realities with the broader mission and priorities of the campus.
Reference checks reinforced their strengths in collaboration, communication, planning, execution, integrity, adaptability, and leadership through complexity. Strong alignment among university leadership, Board stakeholders, and enterprise executives ultimately solidified their selection.
Why This Leader Was the Right Fit
The Impact
The placement gives Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises a leader with the institutional knowledge and executive capability to provide continuity during a period of significant change while also advancing a more integrated relationship with the university.
Their background positions them to immediately contribute to major strategic initiatives across hospitality, housing, commercial operations, capital planning, and campus partnership while supporting a culture of greater transparency, accountability, and collaboration.
The Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises search demonstrates Scion’s ability to navigate complex higher education governance structures, align diverse stakeholder groups, and identify executives capable of balancing sophisticated business operations with institutional mission.
Why Scion Executive Search
Scion Executive Search partners with higher education institutions, university auxiliaries, foundations, and mission-driven enterprises nationwide to identify transformative leaders who strengthen operations, build stakeholder trust, and guide complex organizations through periods of growth and transition.
