Experience

• Alderman at Large, Ward 7, 2010 – current
• Vice-Chair, City of Newton Citizen Advisory Group, 2008-2009: Defining choices about municipal and educational service levels; improving Newton’s operational efficiency and effectiveness; and increasing revenues
• Newton’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Municipal Budget, 2006-2007
• President, Chestnut Hill Association, 2004 – 2009.
• Co-Chair of Brookline’s Financial Planning Advisory Committee and member of Brookline’s Finance Committee, Chair of its Strategic Planning Sub-Committee, 1993-1994.

Citizen’s Advisory Group: Ruthanne Fuller served as Vice Chair of Newton's Citizen's Advisory Group in 2008-2009.  Mayor David Cohen, Board of Aldermen President Lisle Baker, and School Committee Chair Dori Zaleznik appointed the Citizen Advisory Group in May 2008. They asked the committee to help (1) define the choices facing Newton with respect to municipal and educational service levels and their long-term funding requirements and identify, within this context, (2) innovative ways of increasing short- and long-term operational efficiency and effectiveness, and (3) new or enhanced sources of funding for City services.

In addition to serving as Vice Chair, Ruthanne was the principal author of the Benchmarking Report, served as co-chair of both the Municipal Cost Structure and the School Cost Structure sub-committees, and oversaw the work of the Municipal Revenues sub-committee.

Blue Ribbon Commission: Ruthanne Fuller served on Newton's Blue Ribbon Commission in 2006-2007. Appointed by Mayor David Cohen and President of the Board of Alderman Lisle Baker, the Commission reviewed all aspects of Newton's projected financial resources and expenses. It also determined what, if any, changes or responses should be made to the forecast assumptions concerning the City's revenues and expenditures. The Commission was asked to ensure that the forecast for the next five years was within the range of reasonable projections, and if not, then to outline what measures might be feasible to close any gap between anticipated expenses and anticipated revenues. The Commission also examined whether the appropriate balance was being anticipated for allocations between operational expenses and capital investment in the City and School plant and equipment over the next five years.

Planning, Analysis, Organizational Design: Ruthanne worked for years as a management consultant, specializing in strategic planning, industry and market analysis, and organizational design. She worked extensively with companies in the automotive, telecommunications, health care and professional services industries. Her major projects included: evaluating the feasibility of entering the U.S. market for a major foreign automotive manufacturer; developing a strategic plan for a division of a multi-billion dollar telecommunications company; and, designing organization structures for a number of automobile importers.

Ruthanne also worked part-time for many years as the Manager of Strategic Planning at WGBH. She developed and implemented WGBH's first strategic planning process. This strategic planning process was used by all management areas, including television and radio production and broadcasting.  In the process, she worked with top managers on the overall WGBH strategy and managed the annual planning cycle for the individual strategic units.

Community Involvement:
For five years, Ruthanne served as the President of the Chestnut Hill Association. She actively spoke for residents who were concerned with the traffic and parking related to Rt. 9 and Boston College. She was also actively engaged with the plans for the Chestnut Hill Square development at the Omni site on Rt. 9 and sat on both the Boston College Neighborhood Council and the Boston College Traffic Council. She worked actively with groups from Brookline and Boston to improve the Boston College reservoir on Beacon Street. Working closely with neighbors, she encouraged good communication within the neighborhood and built connections through informational meetings, block parties, and family events.

Ruthanne sits on the boards of a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Boys & Girls' Club of Boston and Facing History and Ourselves. She has been actively involved in WGBH (public television and radio), the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, City Year and the Temple Israel Pre-School.

Ruthanne received her undergraduate degree from Brown University (Phi Beta Kappa) and earned a Masters in Business Administration with distinction from the Harvard Business School.