Founder and Principal
Board Focus

Gretchen Milligan is the founder and principal of Board Focus, which advises independent school and community nonprofit boards. She works to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit boards by sharpening their skills through board training, board retreats, governance analysis, and strategic planning.

Early in her career, she spent six years with Wells Fargo Bank in corporate and community lending. She held assignments in San Francisco, Orange County, and Ventura County.

Ms. Milligan has been a dedicated community volunteer. She is the past board chair of Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara. In addition, she sits on the boards of the Santa Barbara Foundation, College Access Foundation of California, and the Marlborough School in Los Angeles, which she chaired. She is a past board member and board chair of Crane Country Day School in Santa Barbara.

Volunteering for Stanford has been a continuing interest since graduation. She has served on the boards of the Stanford Alumni Association, the Stanford Business School Alumni Association, the Stanford Business School Trust, the Stanford Parents’ Advisory Board, and Stanford Associates, which she chaired. She also has been involved in fundraising, including chairing both her undergraduate and graduate reunion campaigns. Currently, she serves on the Bing Overseas Studies Program Advisory Council and on the external advisory board of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences. She was recognized for her work with the Stanford Associates Award in 1987 and 2003. She also was an inaugural recipient of the Stanford Medal and is the recipient of the Gold Spike Award this year.

Ms. Milligan holds bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Stanford University. She and her husband, Marshall Milligan (Stanford MBA ’76), have two daughters, Lucy (Princeton ’04, UCLA MBA ’10) and Claire (Stanford BA ’06, MA ’06). They reside in Santa Barbara.