Lisa Dougherty

Founder & CEO

Lisa Dougherty

Founder & CEO

Lisa Dougherty is a pioneer in the medical fitness industry and the Founder & CEO of the MedFit Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives by advancing education at the intersection of healthcare, fitness, and wellness.

For more than 25 years, Lisa has been driven by a simple but powerful belief: exercise has the ability to transform lives, but only when it is delivered safely and appropriately by educated professionals. Throughout her career, she witnessed countless individuals living with chronic diseases, cancer, neurological conditions, disabilities, and the challenges of aging who wanted to be physically active but struggled to find fitness professionals with the specialized knowledge to guide them.

That gap became her life’s work.

Lisa founded the MedFit Education Foundation to bridge the divide between healthcare and fitness by providing evidence-based education, professional training, and collaborative opportunities that empower fitness and healthcare professionals to confidently work with individuals living with medical conditions. Her vision is a world where every person—regardless of age, diagnosis, or physical limitation—has access to qualified professionals who can help them improve their health, independence, and quality of life through movement.

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Long before the phrase “Exercise is Medicine” became widely recognized, Lisa was building relationships between physicians, rehabilitation specialists, and fitness professionals, advocating for a more integrated approach to healthcare. That vision led to the creation of Whole Body Fitness in 1999, the MedFit Network in 2013, and ultimately the MedFit Education Foundation in 2017.

Under Lisa’s leadership, the Foundation has developed internationally recognized educational initiatives including MedFit Classroom, MedFit TV, the MedFit Global Conference, mentorship programs, and specialty certificate courses that have educated thousands of professionals around the world. By bringing together experts from medicine, rehabilitation, fitness, nutrition, and behavioral health, the Foundation continues to raise the standard of care for individuals living with chronic disease and medical conditions.

Lisa has been recognized as a leader in the medical fitness industry by organizations including Personal Fitness Professional Magazine and The Huffington Post. In 2016, she was honored as a finalist for the White House Champion of Change initiative for her work advancing medical fitness and improving access to qualified exercise professionals.

Today, Lisa continues to educate, mentor, write, and speak internationally while also working directly with clients through the MedFit at Gratitude Ranch in Murrieta, California. Gratitude Ranch represents the next evolution of her vision—a place where education, movement, nature, and human connection come together to inspire healing and lifelong wellness.

Although her work has evolved over the decades, her purpose has remained remarkably consistent: to improve lives by educating the professionals who serve them. Lisa believes that when we empower one healthcare or fitness professional with evidence-based knowledge, we don’t just change one career—we create a ripple effect that can improve the lives of thousands of people and strengthen communities around the world.

That belief continues to guide every program, partnership, and educational initiative of the MedFit Education Foundation.

“Education changes professionals. Empowered professionals change lives. That is the mission of the MedFit Education Foundation.”

► Read Lisa’s story, Improving Lives with Medical Fitness

Education

Lisa is a graduate of the Fitness Instructor Program at University California, Irvine 1999. This program included full university-level anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, psychology, and many others.

Certifications

Lisa is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise since 1999.  The American Council on Exercise (www.acefitness.org) is the largest nonprofit fitness certification and education provider in the world. Widely recognized as “America’s Authority on Fitness,” ACE continually sets standards and protects the public against unqualified fitness professionals and unsafe or ineffective fitness products, programs and trends.

Lisa has been a Healthy Moms® Fitness Certified Perinatal Fitness Instructor since 2006. Healthy Moms® is dedicated to enhancing the physical and psychological well being of women before, during, and after pregnancy

Lisa is American Heart Association CPR & AED certified.

Other Special Training and Continuing Education

  • Medical Fitness Tour conferences. Each event included 10-14 hours of educational sessions, with topics including active & healthy aging, nutrition, genomics, CBD, pre & postnatal fitness, and exercise benefits & programming for medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s, breast cancer, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis.
    • Phoenix, AZ, Feb 2018
    • Glassboro, NJ, April 2018
    • San Francisco, CA, Sept 2018
    • Chicago, IL, Oct 2018
    • Irvine, CA, Feb 2019
  • Stroke Recovery Fitness Specialist: MedFit Classroom June 2021
  • Parkinson’s Disease Fitness Specialist: MedFit Classroom Jan 2021
  • Arthritis Fitness Specialist: MedFit Classroom Dec 2020
  • Stages of Menopause & Exercise Intervention: MedFit Classroom Oct 2020
  • Multiple Sclerosis Fitness Specialist: MedFit Classroom May 2020
  • BEST Exercise Program for Osteoporosis Prevention, 3rd Edition Course; DSW Fitness, Jan 2016
  • Physical Activity Instruction for Disease-Specific Conditions Certificate Program; DSW Fitness, Sept 2015
  • Exercise and Arthritis, 7th edition: Enabling clients to manage arthritis and chronic pain; DSW Fitness, Aug 2015
  • Training the Pregnant Athlete; IDEA Health & Fitness, Aug 2015
  • Exercise and Heart Disease – strategies to help clients prevent and manage heart disease; Oct 2014
  • Exercise and Respiratory Disease – condition-specific exercise design and management strategies to help clients’ lead normal and productive lives; Sept 2014
  • Understanding Dementia – outlines risk factors, symptoms, treatments; INR Seminarsm Aug 2013
  • Exercise and Arthritis – enabling clients to manage arthritis and chronic pain through exercise; DSW Fitness, Dec 2012
  • Exercise and Multiple Sclerosis – tools & strategies to improve fitness and functional ability for clients with MS who have varying symptoms and levels of abilities; DSW Fitness, Sept 2012
  • Exercise for Knee & Hip Replacement – appropriate progressions and guidelines to improve strength, mobility & flexibility; DSW Fitness, June 2012
  • Exercise & Parkinson’s Disease – exercise management strategies for the primary neurological disease of the elderly; DSW Fitness, May 2012
  • Exercise & Diabetes – creating, monitoring & progressing exercise programs for clients with diabetes; DSW Fitness, Mar 2012
  • Breast Cancer Recovery Exercise program – assisting breast cancer recovery patients as they build confidence and regain function through specialized therapeutic exercises; DSW Fitness, Dec 2011
  • TRX Suspension Training Certification; Nov 2009
  • Trigger Point Technologies  Myofascial compression techniques™; Feb 2008
  • Exercise & Fibromyalgia – Gwen Hyatt, MS; DSW Fitness, 2005
  • Yoga and Strength – Linda Freeman Resist-A-Ball & BOSU Master Trainer;  2005
  • Training for Strength & Nutrition for Muscle – Len Kravitz, PhD Sr Exercise Physiologist; IDEA Health & Fitness Assoc., 2005
  • Counseling for Health and Fitness; Nutrition Dimension, 2005
  • Full Body Flexibility – Jay Blahnik, Nike Fitness Athlete sponsored by Nautilus, 2005
  • Fit 4 Mom Pre/Postnatal Fitness; Stroller Strides Oct 2006
  • Fit For Labor – Lisa Druxman, MA, Owner of Stroller Strides; 2005
  • Biomechanics of Motherhood – Lisa Druxman, MA Stroller Strides; 2005
  • Exercise & Menopause – Sabrena Newton, MS Curriculum development; A.C.E., 2005
  • Prenatal & Postpartum Fitness Specialty Certification; A.C.E., 2003
  • Teenage Obesity What Can We Do About It; Chris Vega, MPH, RD, 2005
  • The Skill to Define and Design Exercise – Cheryl Soleway, physical therapist; CanFtiPro’s, 1999
  • Yoga Studies – Yoga Teacher; University of California Irvine, 2005
  • Experiential Anatomy & Basic Physiology; University of California Irvine, 2005
  • Yoga for a New Day – Teaching Yoga Asana for Health & Fitness; DSW Fitness, 2004
  • Psychology for Health Fitness Professionals; A.C.E., 2002
  • Fitness Motivation; DSW Fitness, 2002
  • Dietary Supplements Critical Thinking Skills; County of Orange Health Care Agency, 2002
  • Functional Training; MF Athletic Company, 2001
  • Obesity, Diabetes & Overeating in Children & Adults; Institute for Natural Resources, 2001
  • Current Trends in Nutrition; County of Orange Health Care Agency, 2000

Lisa in the News