With Karen Sturges Serving on Team LA28, the Upcoming Olympics Will Go for Gold

In four years, Los Angeles will light the torch for the 2028 Olympic Games. After a highly praised—and profitable—event in 1984, the city hopes to duplicate that success in 21^st-century fashion. And a South Bay resident is part of the team leading that charge.

Intelligence, an intuitive nature and business acumen helped Karen Sturges climb the ranks from an auditor at Arthur Andersen to a 25-year career in the entertainment industry—including stints at Disney, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Three years ago she was appointed as chief financial officer for LA28, the nonprofit organization that oversees the L.A. Olympics and Paralympics.

While a professional force of nature, Karen disarms with her warmth and thoughtfulness—admirable traits that certainly distinguish her in the field. At the Manhattan Beach home she shares with her husband, Tom, and son, Kian, she is both accommodating and fully relaxed—a manner that belies her position as the executive of a massive and far-reaching endeavor that will likely dazzle our city with the largest and most compelling Olympic sports program in history. The event is expected to employ 5,000+ staff members and 70,000+ volunteers and is already modernizing our infrastructure and public transit system. 

“The challenges are extraordinary because the complexities involved are tremendous,” she shares. “We will spend billions of dollars across hundreds of categories and must consider potential market pricing escalation, supply chain, labor market impacts, scope and amount of government-funded projects that impact the Games’ footprint, as well as the timing of our major revenue streams like our sponsorships, broadcast partners and ticket sales. All of this with complete transparency. And that’s just one brick in the wall.”

Karen is playing three-dimensional chess while the rest of us are playing checkers. There’s a reason she was appointed CFO; Karen can juggle all moving parts masterfully.

“We have the opportunity to bring together the best of L.A.—the people, the places, the cultures and the creative spirit that built this city—all in service to the Olympic dream,” she says. “I can’t wait to see these plans as they come to life—to see the world’s athletes competing and inspiring generations to come on one of the greatest stages in sports.”

Many question how the Olympics will affect an already challenging traffic problem in the city. Karen explains that the goal is to host a “transit-first” event. 

“We will rely on the completion of several public agency transportation and mobility projects,” she says. “We added five sports—baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash—so we will have the largest sports program in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now it’s our responsibility to plan and execute and enable a great athlete and fan experience.” 

Thanks to these efforts, one can hope that snarled traffic on the way to SoFi Stadium, among other venues, will be less of a factor than in years past. 

When asked what she was most looking forward to down the road, Karen first detailed with businesslike precision the various complexities of the upcoming event. Eventually she relented and admitted that she could see herself at the end of the Games, sitting on her balcony with her husband, a martini in her hand, watching the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean. 

Pro tip: Find out the best way to access the Olympic Games and VIP services, learn more about offerings, and sign up to be the first to know when tickets and packages go live by visiting hospitality.la28.org.