Ludmila Montoya

For most of her career, Ludmila Montoya was in the corporate marketing arena, providing advertising, public relations and promotions services for small, mid-size and Fortune 500 companies.  She worked on a range of products from garbage disposals to financial institutions to ballet companies.  Two examples of highly successful and major award-winning campaigns created by her company, Montoya & Bell, were for Downey Savings & Loan which introduced a new marketing concept encompassing all lifecycles  which became the model for contemporary marketing approaches  and the Florida/Alaska Friendship Bridge which brought together two financial institutions – First Federal of Osceola and Alaska Federal Savings & Loan – in a collaborative public relations campaign.

In 1990, Ludmila was hired as a consultant by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to assist with development efforts.  Working for the first time in her life in social services, she says her life was transformed.  “It was one thing helping corporations add to their bottom line and getting paid well.  It was another helping people get back on their feet.”   Access to our legal system
for the poor became her passion.

.

UP

In 1991, she was hired as the Director of Resources for Legal Aid of Long Beach.  When Long Beach merged with the Los Angeles offices in 2001 her title changed to Director of  Special Projects.  During her 19 years at Legal Aid, Ludmila has created and implemented marketing concepts, written grant proposals for new programs, served as editor of the Long Beach Foundation’s newsletter, and on the LAFLA marketing committee, brought the  “Art for Social Justice” exhibit to the Long Beach office;  run annual fund drives, golf tournaments and phonathons, built a volunteer base of over 300, and created a successful event, the Long Beach Grand Cru.  She was formally recognized as the Founder & Executive Producer of this wine competition and public tasting by the Long Beach Legal Aid Board in 1999.  Always ready for a new challenge she was responsible for  creating the LAFLA Associates Advisory Board.  Ludmila was  recognized by the city of Long Beach for her role in creating the “Hot Summer Nights”  awareness program.  She co-founded the Willie Gault Summer Youth Enrichment Program for inner-city children.   All of her efforts increased  awareness of Legal Aid’s programs and services in the greater Long Beach area and beyond, increased the number of supporters, donors, sponsors, volunteers, and in the process has raised millions of dollars.

Ludmila has served on many Boards over the years such as  the Public Corporation for the Arts, Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach Ballet, Long Beach Education Foundation, and the Long Beach Library Foundation where she successfully assisted in the creation of “Grapes Expectations” an important fundraiser for the Library.