Lou DiGioia

A recognized leader in the nonprofit/association community, Lou DiGioia currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Cinema United – the trade association for movie theatres. Cinema United is the largest exhibition trade association in the world, representing over 35,000 movie screens in all 50 states, and additional cinemas in over 80 countries worldwide. Hired in 2022, he oversees the association’s operations, including areas such as membership, finance, information technology, human resources and program implementation.

DiGioia has a long history of leadership in national nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining NATO, DiGioia served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to ending colon and rectal cancers. Before that, he served as the Executive Director of educational nonprofits such as the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) and the MATHCOUNTS Foundation. During his tenure at MATHCOUNTS, he greatly increased the number and diversity of US middle school students engaged in extracurricular math through the creation of The National Math Club®, a program which builds student enthusiasm for math by providing schools with free resources to hold afterschool math clubs. Since its inception, over 1 million students have taken part in this program. Prior to his time at MATHCOUNTS, he served in leadership positions at the civic education nonprofit Presidential Classroom.

DiGioia has served in numerous volunteer roles with the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and is a frequent speaker at their conferences on topics relating to nonprofit operations. He is an active mentor for both the ASAE ReadyMe and DELP and has worked with many aspiring association professionals. He earned the Certified Association Executive credential in 2008 and was recognized with one of the profession’s highest honors by being inducted as an ASAE Fellow in 2019. DiGioia holds a BA from Georgetown University, an MBA from George Mason University, and a certificate in Performance Measurement of Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard Business School. He resides in Virginia with his wife and son.