Livestrong Foundation CEO Resigns Ten Months Into The Job

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN-UT, TX -- The CEO of the Livestrong Foundation has resigned after just 10 months on the job, according to a published report.

Citing “personal and family issues,” the foundation’s chief executive, Chandini Portteus, announced she is stepping down, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday.

Portteus was named the CEO of the Livestrong Foundation in March 2015, three years after a doping scandal led to the fall from grace of its founder Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong, a cancer survivor, started the foundation in 1997 to support others affected by the disease. But the foundation experienced a precipitous drop in donations after Armstrong revealed he had been using performance-enhancing drugs during his career as a professional road racing cyclist.

The bicyclist won the Tour de France competition seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 before being stripped of those victories in 2012 after his longtime doping habits were revealed.

Up to the point of Armstrong’s admission, the charity had raised upwards of $325 million from the sale of yellow bracelets emblazoned with the term “Livestrong” prominently displayed.

“It has been a privilege and an honor serving the Livestrong Foundation,” Porreus said in a prepared statement. “At this time, I am concluding my leadership for personal reasons in order to focus on my family.”

Portteus added she still plans to be supportive of the charge of a charity she led during troubled times.

“I will continue to support the organization and its mission, and I’m proud of what we have achieved together,” she said in her statement.

The charity immediately appointed its CFO to the top executive post.

“Lee, who has served as an outstanding leader and Chief Financial Officer for nearly ten years, will assume the duties of president, focusing on fulfilling Livestrong’s patient navigation, survivor support and fundraising goals,” the statement reads. “As well as its commitment to creating the Livestrong Cancer Institutes in conjunction with the University of Texas Dell Medical School.”

The Livestrong Foundation offices are located in downtown Austin at 2201 E 6th St. Armstrong made Austin his home after having grown up in Plano, a suburb of Dallas.