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today's visionaries, The future is here. What's next?

BY Sena Christian tomorrow'svi sionPHOTOGRAPHY: Terence Duffy

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and my only thought is: How do I make Stockton the best michael tubbs city it can be for everyone?” Tubbs has found support among both established Stock- Age: 26 / Mayor of Stockton tonians and millennials eager to make grassroots change. He has a favorite scripture: “Don’t let anyone look down on Michael Tubbs could have gone anywhere. He had accu- you because you are young,” which is an outlook he hopes mulated a bachelor’s degree in comparative studies in race to use to inspire other young people not to wait to run for and ethnicity, and a master’s degree in policy, leadership public office. “Issues aren’t waiting 20, 30, 40 years to be and organization studies from — and solved when you’re ready,” he says. had internships with Google and the White House on his resume. “When you grow up in Stockton, success is always de- fined as leaving,” he says. “I thought when I had graduated annie amaral Stanford, I had survived Stockton. I had made it.” Raised in south Stockton, Tubbs lived in neighborhoods Age: 37 / Partner, Downey Brand with high rates of violent crime. His mother gave birth to him when she was young and his father has been incar- Annie Amaral was 11 years old when she found herself in the Annie Amaral cerated most of his son’s life. Tubbs could leave for better hospital for a week, eating nothing but sugar-free lime jello. opportunities. And, for a while, he did. While interning in Her health had rapidly declined, causing her parents to seek Partner, Cynthia Moreno Washington D.C., Tubbs saw the significant changes that emergency medical care. When she got home, she planned to Downey Brand Capitol can happen at the local level. Meanwhile, back home, his eat whatever her cravings desired. But that didn’t happen: The Correspondent, cousin was murdered in a string of homicides and the city seventh-grader was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Vida en el Valle had declared bankruptcy. Tubbs questioned his decision to As a child, Amaral heard the adult conversations about live far away when it was Stockton that needed him. He real- her but couldn’t make sense of them. What did they mean her ized it was time to go home. illness would never go away? “People assumed because I was In 2012, Tubbs was elected to the Stockton City Council, a responsible and smart kid that I was doing what I needed to at age 22 — the youngest in the city’s history. In 2016, he do,” she says. But she didn’t truly grasp the daily practicalities set new records as Stockton's youngest mayor and the first of managing diabetes. “There was a gap in my diabetes educa- black person to serve in the role. Not to mention he crushed tion and I didn’t understand that until I was older.” the incumbent with 70 percent of the vote. Having diabetes has impacted much of Amaral’s young There aren’t many mayors in the region who can boast life — but she hasn’t allowed the disease to define or constrain that they were endorsed by former-President her. Raised in Rancho Murieta, Amaral attended school in Elk and Oprah. But these accolades aren’t the first major life Grove and graduated from Sacramento State with a degree accomplishments that come to Tubbs’ mind. Instead he in communications and government. She then attended Mc- lists the city council’s successes in increasing community George School of Law and completed a judicial clerkship. policing and developing programs for disaffected youth. A In 2007, she got a job at Downey Brand, Sacramento’s credit union opened in an underserved neighborhood in his biggest and most prestigious law firm, and became involved district during his tenure, which he was proud to support. in a high-profile legal case that made national news: the Tubbs also launched Reinvent South Stockton, a coali- Moonlight Fire case. Downey Brand represented Sierra Pacific tion of stakeholders involved in education, housing, safety, Industries, one of the defendants. The state and federal gov- Michael Tubbs public health and job creation to comprehensively tackle ernments alleged the company was responsible for starting the neighborhood’s many challenges over the next 20 years. a fire in 2007 that burned 65,000 acres in Plumas and Lassen Mayor of Stockton “I’m really proud of that because everyone said it couldn’t counties, most of it public land. be done,” he says. Enormously complex, the litigation lasted from 2009 to While on the part-time city council, he taught at Aspire 2014, when a state court judge awarded defendants attor- Langston Hughes Academy and later held a fellowship at neys’ fees, expenses and sanctions in the amount of about Stanford. Now as a full-time mayor, Tubbs can devote his $32 million based on misconduct that occurred during the whole day to one task. “I most like that I wake up every day investigation and litigation. This is believed to be the largest

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sanction award ever issued, Amaral says. “There will never be “The whole issue took a huge toll on me,” Moreno says. rary installation and follow-up to last year’s successful Art another case like it,” she says. “There just won’t.” (The ruling Her studies faltered and she was dismissed by Berkeley in raphael delgado Hotel. For eight years, he and his sister have run the Crayons is on appeal.) 2006. The family eventually filed lawsuits against the newspa- to Canvas Art Supply Drive. And while he’s now focused on What a year 2014 was for Amaral: She became a partner at per (which settled) and the school district (which didn’t and Age: 36 / Artist, Raphael Delgado Art Studio tapping into the international art market, more Sacramen- Downey Brand, served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Moreno lost the case). tans will soon see his work on the club scarf he designed for Research Foundation (she has since left) and gave birth to her In the aftermath of the incident, Moreno struggled with Raphael Delgado has two large acrylic paintings leaning the Sacramento Republic FC. “I’m a hungry artist,” he says, first child. Doctors had told her that having children would depression. But in 2007 she returned to her studies and while against the wall of his downtown Sacramento studio. They “not a starving artist.” be difficult because of the health risks associated with Type 1 at Fresno Community College, Moreno took journalism class- depict two faces — the front views and profiles of a man and diabetes. But she and her long-term endocrinologist made a es and began to more fully understand media and the power a woman. The paintings, in a contemporary cubist style in concerted effort to ensure she sustained a healthy pregnancy. of the written word. She returned to Berkeley to dark blues and royal purples, were commissioned by the Her son was born in 2012 three weeks early, at 8.5 pounds, earn her degree in legal studies. Capital Dance Project, an art collective launched by danc- chantel delivered by C-section. In 2010, Moreno was hired as a tempo- ers with the Sacramento Ballet, to serve as a backdrop for a “He was completely perfect and I was overjoyed,” Amaral rary reporter by Vida en el Valle, the largest ballet performance at Crest Theatre. “Imagine 20 of the most johnson says. “Immediately after he was born, I couldn’t believe how bilingual newspaper in the coun- beautiful people — male and female — unveiling your art,” much I loved him.” Two years later, she gave birth to try and owned by the McClatchy says Delgado, who grew up in Sacramento. Age: 31 / Community Engagement a daughter. Company. Two years later, she was Delgado might next make a metal sculpture. Or create Representative, SMUD promoted to cover politics in a conceptual printmaking installation using film. His art is Sacramento. She often provides mood-based, reactive to his emotions and what’s happening Chantel Johnson’s childhood was political commentary on the around him, so his style constantly morphs. “I’m trying to spent moving around the East cynthia moreno Spanish television networks find new mediums to deliver this message,” he says. “It’s not Bay in the throes of the foster- Univision 19 and Estrella just a flat canvas. It has to do something.” care system. She describes Age: 33 / Capitol Correspondent, Vida en el Valle TV. Moreno recently At 8 years old, Delgado took apart an adding machine herself as an “at-risk kid,” the wrote about Woodland’s to rearrange the pieces from smallest to largest. “That’s my youngest of six children and Cynthia Moreno’s journey to journalism began one night in new mayor, Angel Bara- first memory of art,” he says. This idea of how components eventually the first to gradu- 2005 — though she wouldn’t know it until years later. Then jas, who won in a historic fit or don’t fit together continues to influence his work. As a ate college. She planned to a junior at UC Berkeley, she attended a football game in her election that resulted in the student at ’s Academy of Art University, Delgado one day become a social work- small hometown of Coalinga. The town had high dropout and first Latino majority on a city found inspiration in the city’s skyline. er. teen pregnancy rates, and a number of racist residents, she council in a town where Latinos “It was a time where I was very broke and alone, and I would Johnson earned a degree says. She looked around and saw evidence of a backwards way constitute nearly half the spend hours drawing my views of the Tenderloin, Nob Hill and in sociology and political sci- of thinking, lots of profanity and sexist comments. She felt population. Russian Hill,” he says, pointing to one such work: The buildings ence in 2008 from Cal State ashamed. Moreno describes her most that make up the painting have the combined structure of a East Bay, where she served as Her parents had emigrated from Mexico to chase the meaningful assignments as computer’s motherboard, but interwoven passages and ladders student body president. After American Dream. They came as farm workers but weren’t those that deal with immigra- depict the turbulent and confusing essence within. graduation, she interned for content to toil in the fields. Her mother and father built a tion: “Whenever I interview Delgado returned to Sacramento in 2006 and opened Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas as multi-million-dollar trucking business and encouraged their students who are undocumented, his gallery in Midtown — for 48 consecutive Second Sat- part of the prestigious Capi- four children to be ambitious, Moreno says. She describes I am shocked and surprised and urdays — to gain the exposure necessary to make a living. tal Fellows Program, where herself as a nerd and was determined to become a lawyer. But amazed at how incredibly resil- The economic crisis was a tough time for Sacramento’s art Johnson says she learned that Coalinga didn’t exactly foster the same sort of ambitions her ient they are.” Stories that put a scene, Delgado says. He credits his survival to loyal patrons political decisions “affect real parents instilled. human face on immigration, she who continued to buy his work. “There’s a savvy art collector people.” She recalls one young “I decided to write a blog called ‘An Ode to Coalinga,’ and says, will become increasingly base in Sacramento,” he says. Delgado lists some of his most man who, having been released it wasn’t a very nice blog,” she says. “I’ll be honest.” important over the next loyal local collectors as: Ali Youssefi, principal at CFY Devel- from prison after serving a year Moreno posted her blog to MySpace. The backlash, she four years. opment; Nancy and Jeffrey Dorso, principal of Pioneer Law for a crime he didn’t commit, says, was immediate and overwhelming. Residents were “I love the work that I do,” Group; and Omar Haq and Josh Tillman, founders of Dial- was devastated to realize he upset over her harsh words about the town. The incident grew she says. “I love reporting on the Source Sacramento. wouldn’t receive any financial progressively worse after the local newspaper published it Latino community. I love giving Delgado has since moved to a gallery on S Street. “This compensation because he had pled without Moreno’s permission. She says her younger sister was them a voice. I love writing sto- was before Warehouse Artist Lofts and Verge and Beatnik,” he guilty — due to a false confession, bullied and eventually removed from school, and her parents ries that often get overlooked in says. “It was kind of lonely on this street for a long time, but according to Johnson. Some days had to pull her younger brother from daycare. Customers the mainstream media.” I’m now situated in the heart of [the art scene].” she left the office in tears, but she boycotted her parents’ trucking business. The family put their Recently, Delgado collaborated again with the Capital says the fellowship emphasized the house up for sale and moved over an hour away. Dance Project, this time on a project for ArtStreet, a tempo- commonalities we all have as well.

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“A lot of times despite our political differences, we all the hard, dirty — literally — work to build your background chantel johnson have the same goal, we just disagree on how to get there,” and experience to go to the next level.” Community Engagement Johnson says. Cross (who has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Representative, SMUD After the fellowship, Johnson worked nearly four years UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in anthropology from for Youth Connection, a nonprofit that empowers the College of William and Mary) speaks fondly of her career. foster youth. Then at 23 years old, while living with room- During construction of the UC Davis Medical Center in mates in the Bay Area, she got an emergency phone call that Sacramento, she helped excavate a Gold Rush-era “pauper’s her 18-month-old niece, Allison, needed a home. “It was cemetery," where poor people, many nameless, were buried. only supposed to be temporary, and that was six years ago,” The team found human remains, gold teeth, shoe leather says Johnson, who is now the child’s legal guardian. They and coffin remnants. “We didn’t know anything about these relocated to Sacramento to be close to her mentors for a people; we didn’t know their names,” Cross says. But using better support network. the artifacts and examining the skeletons, archaeologists In May 2016, she joined the board of Lilliput Children’s tried to figure out their story. Services to give back to a foster-care organization that She grows animated discussing the excavation in Palo helped her raise Allison, whom Johnson calls her daughter. Alto of a Ohlone Native American village with a buried “Not only could I have not raised a kid without the right mother and child laying in the fetal position, facing the support systems, I definitely couldn’t be where I am in my setting sun. “Here’s these people from 3,000 to 4,000 career.” years ago and you can still see evidence of their Johnson, who later earned a master’s degree in public lives,” she says. The mother clutched an obsid- administration from the University of Southern California, ian blade to her chest and wore abalone beads joined Sacramento Municipal Utility District in December around her neck. The remains, she says, were Michelle Cross 2014. There she oversees community sponsorships and the repatriated to the Ohlone tribe identified as planning of community events. Johnson also coordinates the the most likely descendents. Cultural Resources utility’s new scholarship program, which launched in 2016. Archeological adventures have also Practice Lead, The program is intended to assist low-income students with taken Cross to China, in 2012, where Stantec the costs of college and encourage them to pursue STEM she toured the 175,000-square- careers. SMUD awarded 21 scholarships — ranging from foot excavation site of 7,000 $1,000 to $5,000 — and each recipient was offered a paid life-size terracotta warriors, as internship. Johnson is also president of the SMUD Young a co-host for a PBS documen- Professionals Employee Resources Group, which organizes tary. mixers, gift drives and professional development activities. In October 2014, the “I’ll never forget this: Somebody told me, ‘Sometimes you Sacramento chapter of Stantec just have to dream new dreams,’” she says. “That really stuck — an international consulting with me. It seemed very simple, but I can tell another young firm that provides engineer- professional the journey is long and it often doesn’t look like ing, design, architecture and what you think it will look like, but it can be just as good.” environmental science services to private and public development projects — hired Cross to launch the company’s cultural resources michelle cross practice. She hired five perma- nent employees, has 30 seasonal Age: 39 / Cultural Resources Practice Lead, Stantec employees and runs a laboratory for processing archeological Michelle Cross may be 17 years into her career as an collections. archaeologist, but her excitement hasn’t waned. Not even Her team works with devel- when reminiscing about the five years she spent living out opers on assessments, which Raphael Delgado of hotels and traveling around California “shovel bum- include examining historical Artist, Raphael Delgado ming” — jumping from project to project wherever low-level records, land topography, soil Art Studio archeology work was available. “That’s the way our industry analysis and ongoing discus- works,” Cross says. “You have to prove your muscle and do sions with Native American

48 comstocksmag.com | March 2017 March 2017 | comstocksmag.com 49 "I believe this career chose me. Sometimes tribes. These assessments allow projects to move forward, while After graduation, she worked for several years at the He’s passionate about the region’s farm-to-fork move- it doesn’t feel like ensuring that cultural resources are protected, stabilized and miti- Youth Leadership Institute in San Francisco, during which ment, serving on Visit Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork steering gated during the planning, design and implementation process. time she also earned a master’s degree in public adminis- committee. He’s also on the board of the California Rice work because it’s Ultimately, her work is about untold stories: “We give a voice tration from Golden Gate University. She returned to the Commission. to the voiceless. History books, what you learn in school is written Sacramento area in 2005 for a job at the UC Davis School While earning his master’s degree in agricultural and what I’m called to do." from a certain, privileged perspective and does not necessarily of Education. Eventually, she got a call about the job at the resources economics from UC Davis, Bosworth had an idea convey information or the history of those that were not edu- Sierra Health Foundation. for a food distribution business. He recognized an un- cated, did not speak the language or passed down their history Her role at the Center involves forming relation- tapped revenue opportunity when he once peeked into the — Kindra Montgomery-Block [orally].” Discovering things through archaeology, she says, pro- ships with people from all walks of life and backgrounds, kitchen at Fuji Sushi Boat & Buffet in Da- vides an opportunity to expand upon or rewrite what we thought including top executives and mothers who have lost their vis and spotted 1,000 pounds of rice. we knew. children. Over the last year, she spearheaded the establish- “This sparked the idea of selling ment of Community Incubator Leads — on-the-ground our rice directly to restaurants,” hubs, in seven Sacramento neighborhoods, where families he says. Until then, his farm’s rice can access workforce training and job placement resourc- was sent to a large distributor es, as well as information and resources about reducing and exported all over the world kindra montgomery-block death rates among children and access to county services. — not marketed as its own brand. Families struggling the most are offered one-on-one coun- So Bosworth called dozens of sushi Age: 37 / Program Officer, Sierra Health Foundation seling with volunteers who work with the Center. restaurants and began local distri- “I do believe that some people choose their careers and bution with 50,000 pounds Kindra Montgomery-Block has a piece of white butcher paper I believe this career chose me,” she says. “Sometimes it of Rue & Forsman’s rice. tacked to the wall in her office where she writes words of wisdom, doesn’t feel like work because it’s what I’m called to do.” “[By late 2006] once such as Maya Angelou’s famous quote, “People will forget what I started having success you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never with the rice, my cus- forget how you made them feel.” tomers started asking “That is like the truth,” Montgomery-Block says. “I know that for other locally grown now more than ever in this line of work.” michael bosworth products from neigh- Montgomery-Block’s focus at the Sierra Health Foundation is boring farms,” he says. the reduction of deaths in black children, who are dying at twice Age: 35 / CEO, Next Generation Foods “This is when I started the rate of other children in Sacramento County. In October Next Generation Foods to of 2015, Sacramento County approved $8.85 million in grant Michael Bosworth steps outside the front door of his aggregate and distribute money to create a steering committee managed by The house in Olivehurst and enters his workplace: fields of rice locally-grown foods more Center (part of the Sierra Health Foundation) and which that when flooded give hundreds of ducks, swans, geese, efficiently.” Montgomery-Block oversees. The committee is made up herons, wild pheasants, turkeys and other bird species a The company sells of representatives from local hospitals, nonprofit organi- place to rest and feast. “That’s why we live out here in the directly to restaurants and zations and governmental agencies focused on the goal of middle of the rice fields — we get to see birds all the time,” customers throughout reducing African-American child deaths by 10-20 percent Bosworth says. Northern California and the by 2020. Bosworth, a fifth-generation California farmer, is Bay Area. His farm’s rice “To sit where I’m sitting and do the work I’m doing, I’m a the farm manager of the family enterprise, Rue & Fors- also supplies several uni- glass half full type of person,” Montgomery-Block says. “I think man Ranch, which started operations in 1946 and today versities and well-known you have to be that to motivate people to action.” produces organic and conventional rice, beef cattle and tech companies, and She is, at heart, a community organizer. “I definitely attribute walnuts in Yuba County. In 2015, the business diversified continues to sell rice to my love for people and culture and the ability to communicate into specialty rice, including jasmine, basmati, long grain two original clients — with a diversity of people to growing up in south Sacramento,” and short grain. Billy Ngo of Kru and says the Valley High School grad. While studying political sci- Bosworth makes a concerted effort to provide wildlife Randall Selland of the ence at UC Riverside, Montgomery-Block worked at a nonprofit habitat; he was involved with the inaugural Farm Tank Kitchen. “There were that developed substance abuse intervention and prevention Summit held in Sacramento last year, where he gave at- people who didn’t think it programs for youth. This, she says, inspired her career focus on tendees a tour of conservation practices on local farms. would work and I was one of improving the lives of young people.

50 comstocksmag.com | March 2017 March 2017 | comstocksmag.com 51 them at different times in the business,” he says. “But we’re "What's important 10 years down the road and the business is doing better than ever.” to me is that we fight A big part of that success has to do with the “incredible shift” in the Sacramento region toward a local food system, for excellence in all with a growing desire among consumers to understand Michael Bosworth where their food comes from and the journey it takes to CEO, Next their plate. Farm-to-fork isn’t some fad, Bosworth says: “It of our schools, and Lange Luntao Generation Foods feels like it’s here to stay.” Board Trustee, that we leave room for Stockton Unified lange luntao constant innovation." School District; — Lange Luntao Age: 26 / Board Trustee, Stockton Unified School District; Early College Educator in Sociology, Aspire Langston Hughes Academy

Lange Luntao is the son of two retired elementary school teachers. As a child, he would occasionally sit in the class- rooms of his mother and father. “I always believed in the power of education to fight for school board in 2016, winning a seat against three oppo- the integrity of all, and as a gateway to the middle class,” nents. Luntao says. “I think I always understood implicitly that “All the students in Stockton are creative and resil- education mattered, but I wasn’t sure what my role was in ient and really scrappy,” he says, but not all classrooms all of that.” are created equal. While one public charter high school In high school, Luntao served as a student trustee on the can provide a MacBook to each student, many traditional Lincoln Unified school board in Stockton, before attending public schools still lack access to the basic technology and Harvard where he earned a bachelor of arts in social resources they need. And in a city where too many studies in 2012. Then, on a Fulbright fellowship, he of the 40,000 students experience poverty, spent a year teaching English in Malaysia before illiteracy and violence, teachers often have a brief stint in the Philippines for humanitarian much more on their plates than simply that response work. day’s lecture. In 2014, Luntao returned to Stockton at “Too often we fall into an unproduc- the urging of his friend Michael Tubbs and be- tive debate about whether charters or came a substitute teacher. He was in the first traditional schools are inherently bet- cohort of educators when Teach for America ter for kids, and neither side is right,” partnered with the Stockton school district to Luntao says. “What's important to me alleviate a local teacher shortage. Luntao then is that we fight for excellence in all of got a permanent position as an early college our schools, and that we leave room for educator at Aspire Langston Hughes Academy, constant innovation to better meet the a college-preparatory charter school needs of our kids and families.” where 100 percent of graduates His vision for SUSD are accepted into a four-year includes shrinking the university. But he began to achievement gap for think about the thousands of male students of color, other students in the city, and students with special decided to run for Stock- education support kindra ton Unified School District and English language montgomery-block Program Officer, Sierra Health Foundation

52 comstocksmag.com | March 2017 March 2017 | comstocksmag.com 53 learners. He wants to expand opportunities for college and career readiness for all students, and give teachers more support to effectively do their job. Luntao participated in his first school board meeting in December; the week before, he got a 450-page packet that took him 16 hours to read and included an ac- tion item on a $500 million budget. “I’m just really optimistic,” he says. “There’s a lot to learn, but having been raised by two teachers and having spent a lot of time with Stockton Unified administrators, I’m lucky to have that foundation.”

rachel zillner Rachel Zillner Assistant Vice President Age: 35 / Assistant Vice President of Community Banking, SAFE Credit Union of Community Banking, SAFE Credit Union Rachel Zillner can’t be accused of loafing. The Sacramento native has always been up for a challenge, even at the young age of 12 when she started working for her family’s limousine business after her parents divorced. Zillner handled scheduling, payroll, collections and other operational duties while her father was out driving. “I really got an extreme intern- ship, if you will, at being an entrepreneur and small business owner,” she says. This hard-working child turned into an industrious teenager; on her 16th birth- day she got hired as a hostess at Denny’s and four months later became a waitress. Following a customer’s advice, she got a job as a bank teller at Golden 1 Credit Patrick Harbison Union, where she worked for seven years before moving over to SAFE Credit Owner, Patrick Harbison Union a decade ago. Public Relations Zillner had been working in the call center at SAFE for a few years when a branch manager position became available. “I knew I could go to the branch and be successful,” she says. “I could see that plan and that Elena Ruiz path.” But she knew the high-performing branch would be boring. Manager of Engagement, Preferring to fix or start something, she waited until a better position Greater Sacramento opened up — in the new Community Banking department. Economic Council So she took a step down in title to become the head of the new de- partment, which now consists of 13 people. Zillner was promoted in 2013 to her current position. “I made the right choice,” she says. Zillner oversees the company’s indirect lending group, which is responsible for re- lationship management with car dealerships in a 12-county region. This team does more than $300 million in auto loans annually, she says. She also manages SAFE’s financial literacy program for their members, which she designed — creating the classes, teaching workshops and training employees — for people who are “financially distracted,” which means they are worried about how to pay their mortgage, get a car loan or raise their credit score. This distraction leads to people operating at only about 60 per- cent productivity in the workplace, she says. “If we can provide [your] staff with financial education, then you’re more likely to close that gap in the productivity,” she says. SAFE holds hundreds of free workshops a year. Zill- ner recently hosted one for Metro Edge, the young professionals program of the Metro Chamber, which she chairs. As if her day job isn’t enough to occupy her time, Zillner also owns an escape room in Rocklin with her husband, brother and sister-in-law. Zillner says she and her husband pretty much “live there on the weekends.”

54 comstocksmag.com | March 2017 March 2017 | comstocksmag.com 55 Nations Association chapter. She is also vice curator patrick harbison elena ruiz of the Sacramento hub of the Global Shapers, which is an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Age: 36 / Owner, Patrick Harbison Public Relations Age: 29 / Manager of Engagement, Greater In 2015, Ruiz got a call from Hillary Clinton’s Sacramento Economic Council presidential campaign to gauge her interest in a Patrick Harbison gets stir crazy. He likes to be on the move, doing something differ- fundraising position. “It’s always tempting to go back ent every day. A cubicle dweller he most certainly is not, so a profession in public Elena Ruiz learned the true value of a tight-knit out on a race and especially the bigger they get,” she relations has proven the right fit: On any given day, he might be writing in his office community while living in rural Arizona. She was says. However the choice was surprisingly easy. She space on Capitol Mall before recording a segment at a radio station and later meet- in high school when her mom was diagnosed with declined the offer. “When I look at what matters ing with a client. At night, he might emcee a charity event, as he did in December cancer and spent months in a hospital receiving treat- to me right now in my career and in my for the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus. ment. Community members made the family dinner life, it’s finding a community — which This Sacramento native runs Patrick Harbison Public Relations, a boutique three nights a week. “It wasn’t even a thought in I found here — I care about and I’m firm with statewide and national clients, and an even mix of nonprofits and for- anybody’s mind that they wouldn’t do that,” Ruiz says. invested in, and where I feel like I can profits. But the bulk of its business is hyperlocal: “I am a hometown kid and my life “It was just that somebody needed help that we know make a difference for my friends and is here," Harbison says. "I’m so inspired and encouraged by the innovation and the and that we care about, and we’re going to help in any neighbors.” n development that’s happening not just in Midtown and not just in downtown, but way [we] can.” everywhere." Ruiz’s commitment to community led her to the He earned a degree in communications from Sacramento State in 2003 and got world of public service. A summer internship with Sena Christian is the departments a job at the Sacramento News & Review. Eventually he left journalism for in- Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords resulted editor for Comstock's. house communications jobs, and by 2011 was making good money in a stable in a job on a 2010 campaign where Ruiz got her first position as a communications director. But he wanted to curate his own port- taste of political fundraising. She re-joined Giffords’ folio of clients. PHPR was born. His company is now up to four staff, and he staff in 2011 soon after the congresswoman was the Styling: Kachet Jackson- works with several contractors to manage the roughly 25 projects his firm victim of an assassination attempt. After working on Henderson; Hair: Heather takes on per year. another federal campaign in Colorado, Ruiz joined Grabin, Tatiana Banda; Make-up: Yvette Matthews- Among his clients, Harbison’s firm handled public relations for the Congressman Ami Bera’s campaign in August 2013 as Mason, Kristina B. Kapowski inaugural Sacramento Mural Festival. “That’s one of the most rewarding finance director until October 2015. projects I’ve worked on because you’ve got these amazing local artists “I really fell in love with the city and the region,” that are painting large murals throughout Sacramento, and then to see she says. “I met so many interesting people who it come to fruition and for people to be able to enjoy it after the fact is cared so passionately. And Sacramento is really at an amazing,” he says. important moment where it is establishing its identity Harbison also assists the local Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign. and there’s a lot of conversation about who we are, “I call it a party with a purpose,” he says. “It’s a bunch of men in high and the youth and the energy here is just something heels literally walking a mile around Capitol Mall. But when you think really special compared to a lot of the other cities I’ve about that, that’s incredible all these men do that. And the money is lived in.” so vital to the domestic violence and shelter programs that we provide Ruiz was hired by the Greater Sacramento women in Sacramento.” Economic Council in August 2016 to manage relation- Raised by parents who were philanthropic — his mom was a ships and engage the community on key initiatives teacher and his dad board president of the Make-a-Wish Foundation’s for the nonprofit organization in its efforts to pro- Sacramento chapter — Harbison applies this value to his day job. His mote the Sacramento region. She engages with both clients are often “near and dear to his heart,” including the Sacramento CEOs in the private sector and leaders from the LGBT Community Center. Within a few hours after the mass shooting at public sector, and manages the organization's events Pulse nightclub in Orlando last June, Harbison had helped the local center and industry councils. She creates opportunities for organize a solidarity rally outside Faces Nightclub in Midtown for later that investors and the public to understand the strategies afternoon, which was attended by an estimated 1,100 people. Greater Sacramento uses to bring businesses to “I love that I get to meet new people and highlight new projects, and really our region. in my own way help tell the story of Sacramento and hopefully affect its change for Ruiz serves on the boards of the Food Literacy the better,” Harbison says. “That is without a doubt my favorite part of the job.” Center, the New Leaders Council and the local United

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