Austin Beutner is the former Publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, and the first Publisher to serve in both roles. Earlier in his career, he worked at The Blackstone Group, and at age 29 became the firm’s youngest partner. He left Blackstone to serve in the U.S. government, where he led efforts to help Russia transition to a market economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He went on to found Evercore Partners and as President and Co-CEO built the firm into one of the leading independent investment banks in the world. In 2010, he accepted a $1 annual salary to serve as First Deputy Mayor and Jobs Czar for the City of Los Angeles. He currently serves on the Boards of The California Nature Conservancy, the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation, the National Park Foundation, the Pacific Council on International Relations and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation; and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the former Chairman of the Board of CalArts and The Broad Stage. In 2012, he created Vision To Learn, a nonprofit that provides free eyeglasses to children in low-income communities in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa and Maryland.