Recently Christine Gillis has been honored in the Cal Business magazine in an article by Sandra Millers Younger. She was noted for her groundbreaking leadership as a Wall Street broker and, particularly recognized here, as a "pioneer" in bringing change as a woman attacking Wall Street’s old-boy barricades by becoming a registered representative of the New York Stock Exchange.
She started her business career with a B.S. in Business Administration at UC Berkley and an MS in Education at USC. She quickly moved on to successfully study for the NYSE and National Association of Securities Dealers test. As a registered representative, she landed a $6 million account and doors flew open. It was 1963.
The first five years of her career were on Wall Street in New York where she founded the Women Stockbrokers’ Association, the industry’s first and only professional organization for women. She continued her career with a move to Los Angeles, working first with Shearson Hammill, then moving to the position of Vice-President of E.F. Hutton and then Vice-President Barbara Bettin of Dean Whitter. In addition to these duties, in 1975, she led members of the Women Stockbrokers on a tour of Europe’s major stock exchanges and later met with First Lady Betty Ford. Her career has included numerous awards, lectures, as well as contributions to civic and government groups. In October, 2005, she was entered into the New York Stock Exchange archives as part of the history of women in Wall Street.
Christine retired from this amazing career in March, 2008, with her move to La Costa Glen. In terms of family she has two daughters (identical twins) and four grandchildren. It is our pleasure to have such a distinguished resident in our midst.