Lisa Morris

Former Executive Director of the School Employees Retirement System

Lisa J. Morris is the recently retired Executive Director of the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) of Ohio. Her public-sector career spans top leadership positions in multiple industry regulatory environments and public pensions. Most recently she is known for her expertise in public pension governance and senior leadership. As Deputy Executive Director of SERS of Ohio, she was the chief operating officer of a $12.8 Billion fund and had responsibility for all programs and financial operations of the system. As the Executive Director of SERS, she developed key relationships with legislators and legislative committee staff, as well as with all stakeholders to advance two successful pension reform initiatives. SERS was one of the first systems in the country to pursue pension reform and implement important demographic corrections.

Lisa has significant knowledge of public pension fund leading practices, and as Executive Director she attracted top-tier investment professionals; she saw SERS' performance advance to the top quartile for one, three and five years. Known as a progressive leader focused on leading practices fostered by a high-performance culture for employees and leaders, and as a champion for transparency and accountability, Ms. Morris led SERS to national recognition and saw SERS become an employer of choice, attracting top performers in all areas.

Prior to joining the public pension world, Lisa spent several years as the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Director, representing Ohio on the bi-national treaty negotiating team to protect the Great Lakes, and overseeing a large state-wide regulatory staff. Before becoming the Clean Water Director, she spent several years as the state of Ohio's chief mining and mine safety regulator responsible for all coal and mineral mining regulation.

Lisa began her career in the private practice of law. She is an honors graduate of the College of Wooster and has a juris doctor from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Lisa participates in numerous community activities and has significant non-profit and governmental board experience. She has a particular passion for animal welfare activities.