Cassandra Lichnock is the first female chief executive officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.  Established in 1913, CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world with approximately $300 billion in assets under management, providing secure retirement to more than 1,000,000 members and beneficiaries.

As CEO, Lichnock builds and executes strategy, delivers on operational excellence, and maintains a strong relationship with the Teachers’ Retirement Board. She continues to lead organizational efforts to modernize CalSTRS systems and processes, build on the pension fund’s commitments to sustainability and diversity, and focus on evolving CalSTRS’ culture of innovation.

A native of California, Lichnock grew up in the foothills of El Dorado County spending formative years with family and friends in the Tahoe Basin where she and her husband own a home. She holds a bachelor of arts in management from Golden Gate University, San Francisco; an executive certificate in technology operations and value chain management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and certificates in human resource management from Golden Gate University and labor management relations from the University of California, Davis.