Since its first edition in 2016, Comstock’s annual Young
Professionals issue has been a showcase of the Capital Region’s
emerging stars. We’ve been lucky enough to watch many of the
profiled professionals develop into leaders in their fields, the
region and beyond — and many tell us that being featured in the
magazine had an important role in that growth. Here’s what a
few former Young Professionals have to say about the experience.
Click their names to view their
original profiles.
“Being featured as a Comstock’s Young
Professional marked a pivotal moment in my career trajectory.
With the exposure came a realization that I was part of a
community of individuals doing remarkable things. This
realization prompted me to set my sights higher and aspire to
achieve more. At the time, I was working for Congressman Ami Bera
and serving as a planning commissioner for Elk Grove. Since then,
I have joined the ranks of the California Army National Guard,
have a great position with Clutch, and was elected to the Elk
Grove City Council.”
“Shortly after being featured as one of
Comstock’s Young Professionals in 2021, I was selected to be part
of Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 under 40. Comstock’s served
as a catalyst to a series of unique opportunities to tell my
story. My story is not unique to others like me, especially in
California, however Comstock’s gave me a voice to serve as
representation for young first-generation Latino men and women.
The countless messages I received via email and social media
regarding the article written and the messaging that the
Comstock’s staffer was able to convey really resonated with
readers. I come from the Central Valley from a low income,
immigrant family with very little means and opportunity and
rising to C-suite within a statewide construction industry
association through hard work and resilience. As a result, I got
varying opportunities for public speaking engagements to connect
with the local Sacramento community’s immigrant youth to continue
telling my story in podcast interviews, articles, and more.
Additionally, I was able to leverage the Comstock’s spotlight
that was so graciously given to me through that issue, by
speaking more about the potential for viable career opportunities
in the construction industry that can be life changing for men
and women alike. Further, I had the opportunity to deepen my
community involvement and grow professionally by expanding my
network and learning more about the Sacramento region through my
nomination into the American Leadership Forum (ALF). I am
currently in Class 27.”
“While packing for a recent move, I
found the 2016 Young Professional issue and was reminded what a
truly wild ride it’s been. It was heartening to think back to the
weeks and months after the issue ran. I was fortunate to have
such kind and thoughtful things said and shared with me
throughout the community, which made my overall job feel so much
more satisfying and impactful. Food and ag folks still tend to be
the best folks. One of my favorite parts of being included in
this Comstock’s line-up was the camaraderie and what feels like a
forever connection and an always open door to fellow
professionals. Few things will carry us as well and as far as the
strength of our friends, professional networks and colleagues;
and having this incredible group of humans to associate with
was/is a real honor.”
When I was featured back in 2017, I was
the only reporter and journalist from the group, which made it
very special. Being featured on the magazine and sharing my
personal story that led to my career trajectory up until that
point, really helped elevate my profile to the larger Sacramento
community. I felt they could get a peek of my background and
understand my passion and drive for uplifting the voices of
historically underserved, marginalized and underrepresented
communities of color, and specifically, the Latino community. My
story also helped reach an audience that would likely not have
been exposed to the type of reporting and storytelling I was
doing at the state Capitol (for several years) as a political
reporter.
“Upon the release of the issue within
which I was featured, I was met with a great deal of outreach
from peers, family, colleagues, and people from unexpected places
to offer congratulations and kind words. Each meeting I attended
for some time after began with someone holding up the issue and
sometimes offering physical applause. I was recognized in public
and many of those moments resulted in support for my
organization. I had an anonymous donor show up at our offices
with a donation. Many industry partners sought me out
specifically to mention that learning of my personal background
was a shock to them, and it deepened their belief and support for
the mission of my organization. An industry legend and icon,
Harry Elliott, stopped me at an event to share how touched he was
to hear about my background and his family foundation gifted
HomeAid with one of its highest single donations in the history
of our org.”
“Being recognized for our work during a
time where people were looking for positive impactful community
stories was very reaffirming for us and added more fuel to the
mission. The honor came at a time where we were really working
tirelessly to provide for the community through the Scholars
Playground initiative without having any funding. The positive
press got us connected to the right folks, and within a few
months we were funded, delivering hundreds of laptops throughout
the city, offering free online programming to youth throughout
the states, and brought the oftentimes fragmented nonprofit
community together to work in one unified direction.”
“When you step out as a leader, take on
a new challenge or decide to embrace opportunities for growth,
with it comes uncertainty. The distinction as one of Comstock’s
Young Professionals is special because it’s a mark of validation,
a boost of confidence and an opportunity to connect with
inspiring young leaders in Sacramento who are shaping the
region’s future. More than anything, it serves as motivation and
encouragement that your age doesn’t have to dictate your
contribution to community or limit your leadership.”
“While my feature as a Comstock’s Young
Professional has not led to a career change, it has provided me
an opportunity to continue growing awareness for the great
partnerships that our team at Sacramento Republic FC have
developed to support important and critical community causes. The
feature allowed for further recognition of the important work we
do, and showcased the priorities and objectives we have as a club
and community pillar. We believe we are more than just a soccer
club, we are a ‘uniter’ amongst this community and I am glad that
a member of our team was recognized here.”
“Being named a Comstock’s Young
Professional gave me a different level of credibility for the
work I have done to support the region. It meant so much to
receive the award during the global pandemic and receive
recognition for my efforts to keep neighbors fed and the
community connected.”
Being featured as a Comstock’s Young
Professional created lasting bonds with some of my fellow young
professionals either working on or featured in that same issue.
Ash Roughani (special projects manager for the Sacramento city
manager and Comstock’s Class of 2016) and I have now worked
together at the City of Sacramento on incredible projects such as
digging into data for how we can develop the city’s first
alternative 911 response system across our existing departments
to innovative grant programs. We first worked together in the
Mayor’s office and continued to work well together on projects.”
“Being a Comstock’s Young Professional
felt like being a ‘rockstar’ in Stockton. It was an honor not
only to be featured but especially to feel like the
representative of the greater Stockton community. The applause
and praise I received from the local readership was loud and
proud, and highly elevated the nonprofit work we’re doing in
Stockton to a whole new level.”
“Being featured as a Comstock’s YP
helped me gain recognition in the area among the business
community, leading to multiple new customers who had seen the
article. Being young at the time helped me establish legitimacy
and help others learn about my entrepreneurial journey. This
includes Five Star Bank, who saw the article and chose to offer
us an SBA loan to expand so we could start Streamline, our
product for special districts which has become a standalone
company.”
“It was a genuine honor to be recognized
as Comstock’s Young Professional alongside other diverse leaders.
Being recognized gave me the incredible opportunity to share my
story with the region and elevated my platform which supported my
work in the community. Not long after my recognition I landed a
new job as executive director of the Florin Road Partnership and
became the chair of the Sacramento chapter of the Young Leaders
Group of the Urban Land Institute.”
“It was an honor to be selected as a
young professional along with an incredible group the year we
were featured. For me, in my day job working for Siegfried, I was
still relatively new in the field of the engineering,
architecture, and construction industry. Being featured really
helped open doors to meeting new clients and working on some
high-profile projects in the Sacramento area. But probably the
biggest benefit was that the article came out while I was
president of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. Being able
to highlight the great work we were doing through COVID for our
business community was critically important.”
“The week after I was featured in
Comstock’s Young Professional edition, I got a job offer from
Blue Shield of California for my current role (Senior Manager of
DEI and Corporate Citizenship Communications). After 12
incredible years with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento,
this new role offered me an opportunity to bring my passion for
making a difference in the lives of others to a larger, corporate
space that could also provide me with more work-life balance to
give me the opportunity to explore some long-term personal goals
of mine, including starting to think about family planning and
purchasing a home.”
“My feature as one of Comstock’s Young
Professionals promoted me in the community as both a leader and
expert during the pandemic. This led to increased media
appearances and solidification of my position as a trusted source
of medical information. This then afforded me multiple
opportunities to interact with executives within Sutter Health
leading to additional leadership roles and culminating in my
recent appointment as the first female Chief Medical Executive at
Sutter Roseville Medical Center.”
“At the time I was featured as one of
Comstock’s Young Professionals, I was just beginning to embark on
leadership of my own firm. While I had a history of engaging with
other community leaders, I believe that this feature reinforced
both the notoriety and the brand that I was trying to build
professionally. Being recognized by Comstock’s demonstrated to
both my clients and my peers that I was connected in this
community and that I shared the common values expressed by the
magazine.”
“Not long after the Comstock’s article
(and my wedding), River City Bank went through a restructure of
its risk management department. As a part of that broader
restructuring, I stepped into the role of Chief Credit Officer
and joined the bank’s executive team.”
Just under 2.4 million people live in the
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metropolitan area, an increase of
roughly a quarter since the turn of the century.
The field of architecture is changing, and technology is playing
a central role, but it’s not the only element that’s shifting: so
is the expectation of what young and emerging professionals are
looking for in an architectural job.
No agency is safe. No office off limits. Boardrooms will be
infiltrated. Communication barriers will crumble for
the sake of collaboration. As the old guard inches toward that
horizon called retirement, Sacramento’s young power players are
taking center stage.
The Capital Region has seen a stunning metamorphosis over the
past decade. These changes didn’t happen on their own; they
occurred due to the work and vision of a range of notable people,
from developers and public officials to sports executives and
innovators.
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