PEORIA MAGAZINE December 2022

“I grew up in a museum, taking art classes and learning to do ceramics,” she said. “While I can’t drawor paint, I’m creative in other ways. I was exposed to differentways of doing things.Marketing and communications require creativity in problem-solving and looking at different ways of doing things.” Making those learning experiences available to other children is another Gates passion, manifested in part by her last six years of service on the board of Peoria Riverfront Museum (PRM). “I love the organization dearly,” said Gates. “They’re doing great things for the community.” From viewing the far reaches of the galaxy in the museum’s planetarium to seeing the works of some of the most prominent and exciting artists of our time, central Illinoisans can access experiences one typically does not find even in larger markets, she said. Particularly exciting for her is the museum’s partnership with Art Bridges, a nonprofit organization funded by Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, which loans paintings from her own collection as well as other participating museums to smaller community museums for exhibit. PRM was the first to participate in this exchange, displaying works from major artists such as Andy Warhol to those of important female and African American creators who often are not represented in museums. “But thething I’mmostpassionateabout is the Every Student Initiative,” through which all students in public, private and homeschool settings in central Illinois receive a free, curriculum-based visit to the museum, said Gates. Since its inception in 2017, the initiative has provided more than 50,000 museum experiences at no cost to students. By getting those students into the museum, she hopes they see themselves throughout life as museum-goers, open to inspiration and great aspirations. “LisaGates is thepreeminentmarketing mind among young, emerging leaders of central Illinois,” said PRMPresident and

CEO JohnMorris. “She attendedKellogg, the number onemarketing school in the world. She and her husband Bob could go anywhere to live and they chose here. Her home.” As a board member, Morris said Gates has been “invaluable. Her level of wisdom and guidance for the museum is so mature and sophisticated and worldly for her being still a young, emerging professional.” Due to the COVID pandemic, every museum in America closed, for a time. “We had a crisis,” said Morris. “Lisa was a dominant force in helping us create a virtual museum, with emails, videos, socialmedia,”which to thisday receiveup to 11,000 digital engagements per week. Why is that digital engagement so important? “We’re in the business of inspiring people. The business we’re in is howmany young people we lifted up,” said Morris. “The digital aspects help museum visitors get ready for their visit andbe ready to learnwhen they get here.” Morris applauds Gates for her leadership on that score and others: “She’s just getting started.” MAKING TIME FOR OTHER THINGS In her so-called “free time,” for Gates it’s all about family. Lisa and Bob Gates are parents to a daughter, 7-year-old Alex. Lisa’s mother, Connie, still resides in Peoria. Gates enjoys bicycling, horseback riding and has competed in triathlons. Spending time outdoors with her husband, daughter and mother is the best of all worlds for her. “Our favorite thing to do is going to the Farmers Market in downtown Peoria on Saturday mornings. “We really do take advantage of all Peoria has to offer.”

Lisa, with her sister Sara, learned early about do-it-yourself home projects

INHERITING A HARD WORK GENE Gates’s work ethic was ingrained early. Her father, nowdeceased, “encouraged us to have high expectations for ourselves, get a good education, work hard and trust if you do those things in that order, you’d always be successful.” Gates recalls spending a lot of time with her father refurbishing cars and “fixing things around the house.” “He expected us to be self-sufficient,” she said. “Change your own oil, mow your own lawn. Do-it-yourself was our middle name.” After college, the Gates sisters took their do-it-yourself roots and knowledge and put them to work. “My sister and I renovated a building in Chicago from top to bottom,” Gates said. “It took us 10 years to do it, but we did it ourselves. We’d live on one floor, rent out the other two. Then when we finished a floor, we’d move into another apartment. “We had our 9-to-5 job and our 5-to 9 job,” said Gates. “We had a lot of fun doing it.” PAYING IT FORWARD Another Peoria childhood experience Gates appreciates was attending preschool at Lakeview Museum.

Linda Smith Brown is a 37-year veteran of the newspaper industry, retiring as publisher of TimesNewspapers in the Peoria area

38 DECEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE