Breakfast w/ Krisztina Tokes & Alix Walsh O’Brien, FAIA – Facilities Services Division, LAUSD

AIA|LA City Leaders Breakfast Reception w/ Krisztina Tokes & Alix Walsh O’Brien, FAIA – Facilities Services Division, LAUSD

2023 City Leaders Breakfast Series Presented By: Gannett Fleming

The 2023 AIA|LA City Leaders Breakfast Series serves as an opportunity for architects & designers and other community stakeholders to meet directly with key individuals transforming Los Angeles in a roundtable setting to discuss innovative ideas that will ensure a healthy, sustainable and economically competitive future.

Krisztina Anahid Tokes – Chief Facilities Executive, Los Angeles Unified School District

Krisztina Tokes is the Chief Facilities Executive for the Los Angeles Unified School District where she is responsible for directing and reviewing the planning, design and construction efforts related to the District’s $33.1 billion capital bond program, and the maintenance and operations of the District’s 1,300 schools and centers, and various administrative sites. As Chief Facilities Executive, Ms. Tokes oversees approximately 3,400 professionals with expertise in planning, development, real estate, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance and operations.

Ms. Tokes directs and reviews the planning, design and construction efforts related to the District’s bond program, which has invested more than $23 billion in school facilities and completed over 23,600 school modernization projects to date, with more than 1,050 Board-approved projects for a combined budget of $7.2 billion currently underway. Ms. Tokes also oversees and provides guidance in the management of the District’s real estate assets and planning for future capital projects to address ongoing and unmet school facility needs.

Ms. Tokes joined Los Angeles Unified in 2005 as regional Development Manager and oversaw the development of over $1.3 billion of new school and modernization projects in the south and southeast areas of Los Angeles. In 2011, she was appointed the Director of Facilities Asset Management Branch where she was responsible for planning the allocation of $7.8 billion of the District’s capital bond program, led the strategic plan to prioritize $4.2 billion to modernize existing school sites and oversaw approximately $2 billion of funded projects in design and development. As Branch Director, Ms. Tokes was also responsible for managing the District’s assets and led the District’s initiative to develop affordable work-force housing projects, joint-use health clinics, and various greening initiatives on District property. In 2017, she promoted to Deputy Chief Facilities Executive.

Ms. Tokes has 25 years of experience in large-scale building programs and projects and has worked for private clients and public agencies at the federal, county and local level on large-scale civic improvement projects and joint-venture partnerships. She holds a Master’s in City Planning from the University of California Berkeley and a Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Southern California.

She was named the Chief Facilities Executive in 2023 after having served as Deputy Chief Facilities Executive for more than six years.

Alix Walsh O’Brien, FAIA – Deputy Director of Facilities, Planning and Development, Los Angeles Unified School District

Alix is the Deputy Director of Facilities, Planning and Development for the Facilities Services Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Her responsibilities include overseeing the planning of existing school sites for major modernization projects incorporating both new buildings and the repair, seismic retrofit and improvements of existing school buildings and facilities. The department currently manages more than $6 billion bond funded projects with in-house planning and development teams supporting design services provided by outside design professionals.

Her professional experience includes design and management of large institutional and governmental projects and programs in California for more than 40 years. Prior to LAUSD she held significant leadership roles on local projects including UCLA Santa Monica Hospital & Medical Center, LACCD Valley College, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2020 the American Institute of Architects recognized Alix for her professional dedication and achievements, honoring her as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Alix’s approach to design and management of large projects is to build collaborative engaged teams of professionals who work together to provide communities well-planned facilities, delivered with the understanding that we are responsible stewards of public and private funds.

2023 AIA|LA City Leaders Breakfast Series Presented By: