This article was originally published on the UCLA Newsroom website on January 31, 2024. We share it here with UCLA Newsroom's permission.

The UCLA Foundation names Cheryl Lott new chair-elect

by Lilyann Mito

Cheryl Lott, an attorney who earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from UCLA, has been named chair-elect of the UCLA Foundation board of directors, which oversees $5.5 billion in total assets. She will succeed current chair Alicia Miñana de Lovelace on July 1.

Lott has been a member of the foundation’s board of directors since 2018 and is an active volunteer leader across campus. She previously served as chair of the foundation’s audit committee, helping to facilitate discourse and inspire support for a variety of initiatives, especially in the area of student support.

During her time on the board, Lott was president of the UCLA Alumni Association, from 2018 to 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, she also served as an alumni regent-designate, alumni regent and vice president of the alumni associations of the University of California.

Lott received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 2001, majoring in political science and African American studies with a minor in Chicano studies. She continued her education at UCLA School of Law, where she earned her juris doctorate in 2004, with a concentration in critical race studies and a specialization in corporate law. As a law student, Lott was co-chair of the Black Law Students Association, inter-organizational chair of La Raza Law Students Association, managing editor of the Chicano Latino Law Review and convention coordinator for the National Black Law Students Association–Western Region.

She currently serves as a member of both the alumni board and advisory board of UCLA Law and is a founding member of the board of UCLA Law Women LEAD, an intergenerational professional development network. In 2019, Lott was honored by the law school with its Emerging Leader award.

Lott is a shareholder in the Buchalter law firm, which represents corporate clients, banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions in both state and federal court. Her practice focuses on general business and commercial litigation, as well as labor and employment litigation, construction defect litigation, and class action defense. She has extensive experience working on local, state and federal regulatory matters, including assisting financial-institution clients with Bank Secrecy Act and anti–money laundering detection procedures. She co-chairs the litigation department for Buchalter’s Los Angeles office.