Rita served as Executive Vice President and Corporate General Counsel for Fox Corporation following the purchase of 20th Century Fox by Disney. Prior to that role, she served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Fox Networks Group (FNG), responsible for all legal matters and Human Resources and other operational units for the non-news worldwide television businesses.

Rita is a recognized champion of educational and service organizations throughout California. She has served on numerous philanthropic, non-profit, and corporate boards, including National Geographic Channel, BTN (formerly Big Ten Network), and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Rita serves as a mentor with The Hollywood Reporter’s Big Brothers Big Sisters – Women in Entertainment mentorship program, and she has remained keenly involved in the Northern California farming community where she was raised, building the reading and literacy programs and after-school services serving the migrant farmworker community from which she hails. Most recently, Rita was honored at the T. Howard Foundation’s 2019 Diversity Awards and the Legal Aid Foundation’s 2019 Award for Distinguished Public Service.

Rita graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology, and she earned her Law Degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law. Rita and her husband live in Los Angeles and are the parents of two college-aged children.

2022-2023 

• 10th year of service on the Board of Trustees
• Executive Committee; Chair 
• Committee on Trustees 
• Legal & Reputation Advisory Committee (LARAC); Chair