Lisa Green (CAS’03) is passionate about art. But she isn’t an artist.

“I’m not artistic in any sense,” says Green, a private equity leader based in Santa Barbara, California. “I can’t create art and I don’t think in an artsy way. But I’ve always loved art, and always had an appreciation for it.”

It’s a testament to one of Lisa’s fundamental beliefs: “Art is for everyone,” she says. “And I
think it’s really important to educate people about art so they feel knowledgeable, informed, and opinionated about it.”

Those values are the impetus behind Lisa and her husband Mitchell’s generous gift to the BU College of Arts & Sciences. The couple recently pledged $1 million to create the Lisa and Mitchell Green Endowment for Humanities Faculty, which will benefit BU’s humanities faculty, especially those teaching in the History of Art & Architecture program. With this gift, the Greens hope to increase access to the study of art at BU so more students can appreciate it.

“Art has had such a prolific, long-standing effect on my life,” says Lisa. “It would be amazing to allow that to happen to someone else.”

An unexpected twist Lisa has cared about art for as long as she can remember. Born in South Africa but raised in New Jersey, she grew up wandering museums with her mother and admiring the art on display. In high school, she took art history courses and completed an internship at Robert Miller Gallery in New York City. By the time she entered BU, she was certain she wanted to major in art history and work in the art world.

Initially, all went as planned. Shortly after graduating from BU in 2003, Lisa landed a job as registrar at Sotheby’s, where she had the opportunity to catalog the work of famous artists, witness historic moments such as the first $100 million sale, and find her new favorite artists, including American photographer Diane Arbus. With time, however, Lisa discovered her career choice came with a cost.

“I had this epiphany when I was 23 that I really wanted to own art,” she says. “And to make that possible I realized I needed to explore working in other industries.”

She pivoted to entrepreneurship, starting her own luxury event planning business in Manhattan. The business grew for years, but the evening and weekend work schedule became hard to sustain after Lisa had her first child. With Mitchell’s encouragement, she pivoted to private equity and joined the firm he founded, Lead Edge Capital, in 2011.

From loving art to living with it

Five years and four daughters later, the Greens decided to move their family from New York to California. And it was there that Lisa fulfilled a dream. She started building an art collection, starting with a photograph by Diane Arbus—the artist she had discovered at Sotheby’s. “It meant so much to me,” Lisa recalls.

In the years since, the Greens have continued to grow their art collection and educate their daughters about pieces within it, especially the work of female artists. “We’re very girl powered in our house,” Lisa explains. “I love [talking with my daughters] about the younger generation of American female artists who are doing things differently.”

Growing the family’s appreciation for art is something Lisa credits, in part, to BU. It was there that she learned how much art can enrich your life, no matter what path you take.

“I wouldn’t be where I am now without the art history department,” she says. “My BU professors have been influential in everythingI’ve done. To get to this point, from appreciating art to being able to own art, has been amazing.”