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The GO-Biz Team
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth, economic development, and business assistance efforts.
We offer a range of no-cost consultation services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit assistance, regulatory guidance, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. Our teams are comprised of experts that span industries, geographies and business backgrounds who are happy to assist your economic development and job growth efforts.
Meet our talented team from each department:
- Business Development
- California Competes Tax Credit
- Community and Local Equity Grants Unit
- Energy and Climate Unit
- International Affairs and Trade
- Innovation and Emerging Technologies
- Office of Regional Economic Development Initiatives
- Office of Small Business Advocate – CalOSBA
- Office of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development
Dee Dee Myers
Senior Advisor and Director
Emily Desai
Chief Deputy Director
Tyson Eckerle
Senior Advisor for Clean Infrastructure and Mobility
Sandy Reynoso
Executive Project Manager
Office of Legislative and External Affairs
Lauren Greenwood
Senior Deputy Director of Legislative & External Affairs
Kristi Cortez
Senior Legislative Affairs Specialist
Blake Kaiser-Lack
Assistant Deputy Director of External Affairs and Operations
Office of Communications
Vacant
Office of Legal Affairs
Van Nguyen
Deputy Director, Legal Affairs
Hannah Goldsmith
Assistant Deputy Director, Legal Affairs
Innovation and Emerging Technologies
Trelynd Bradley
Deputy Director, Innovation and Emerging Technologies
Jayden Saldana
Tech Transfer and Commercialization Coordinator
Business Development
Business Investment Services Unit
Poonum Patel
Deputy Director, Business Investment Services
Julie Herd
Associate Deputy Director, Business Programs and Outreach
Gabrielle Stevenson
Associate Deputy Director for Regional Business Development
Dustin McDonald
Regional Business Development Manager, Los Angeles and Orange County
Stephen Suderman
Regional Business Development Manager, Sacramento and Sierra Region
Melissa Howlett
Regional Business Development Manager, Inland Empire
Moeed Farooq
Business Development Coordinator
Nina Natina
Regional Business Development Manager, North State
Rebecca Eusey
Regional Business Development Manager, Southern Border
Tiger Nguyen
Business Development Analyst
Durrah Wagner
Business Programs Analyst
Sangeeta Jha
Business Development Analyst
Julian Ramos
Regional Business Development Manager, Central Valley
Megan Worthington
Regional Business Development Manager, Bay Area/Central Coast
Office of Permit Assistance
Lillian Conroe
Senior Permit Specialist – Southern California Region
Kate Uyeda
Senior Permits Specialist, Northern California
California Competes Tax Credit
Scott Dosick
Deputy Director
Jee Liyanage
Assistant Deputy Director
Jonathan Sievers
California Competes Specialist
Dan Krebs
California Competes Specialist
Brandon Lowe
California Competes Specialist
Mai Mai
California Competes Analyst
Priti Nadar
California Competes Analyst
Steve Heath
California Competes Analyst
Lance Dornan
California Competes Analyst
Community and Local Equity Grants Unit
William Koch
Deputy Director
Alejandro Raygoza
Assistant Deputy Director
Natasha Lodahl
Assistant Deputy Director
Katie Raley
Grant Supervisor
Joel Radtke
Grant Analyst
Carlos Barron
Grant Analyst
Elizabeth Witthans
Grant Analyst
Sarah Bulletset
Grant Assistant
Ryan Bethke
Grant Analyst
Erik Brown
Grant Analyst
Janeth Marroletti
Grant Analyst
Sayed Ahmad Ahmadi
Grant Analyst
Hewut Woldeyes
Grant Assistant
Elyza Yim
Grant Assistant
Energy and Climate Unit
Rohimah Moly
Deputy Director of Energy and Climate
Ben Roman
Energy Analyst, Energy and Climate
Julie Hubbard
Energy Analyst, Energy and Climate
International Affairs and Trade
Henan Li
Trade and Investment Representative – Asia
Diana Dominguez
Trade and Investment Representative – Americas, Oceania
Tricia Utterback
Trade and Investment Representative – Europe, MEA, India
Odet Ford
Immigrant Integration Manager
Idyl Farah
Executive Fellow
David Pasquini
International Industry Engagement Manager
Brenden Jacoby
Foreign Investment Analyst
Office of Regional Economic Development Initiatives
Danna Stroud
Associate Deputy Director, Regional Engagement & Development
Maria Onorato
Associate Deputy Director, Industry Engagement & Development
Brian Coleman
Project Financing Manager
Jeffrey McInnis
Statewide Industry Engagement Manager
Joleah Jackson
Regional Engagement & Development Manager
Ethan Nash
Economic Impact & Research Coordinator
Taylor Boomer
Business Ready Sites Coordinator
Tracie Feinberg
Regional Coordinator
Julieta Arreola
Administrative and Policy Coordinator
Grant and Contract Administration Unit
Mariana Guevara
Associate Deputy Director for Grant and Contract Administration
Christa Newkirk
Grant Coordinator
Shani Alford
Grant Coordinator
Virginia Gutierrez
Administrative Coordinator
Office of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development
Gia Brazil Vacin
Deputy Director, ZEV Market Development
Heather Hickerson
Assistant Deputy Director, ZEV Market Development
Jessie Denver
Lead Advisor, Utilities & ZEV Market Development
Nidia Erceg
ZEV Equity Advocate
Lillian Liu
Program Manager, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Market Development
Cortney Copeland
Program Manager, ZEV Market Development
Bella Hopkins
ZEV Equity Analyst
Catherine Dunwoody
Hydrogen Program Advisor
Elsa Alves
ZEV Market Development Specialist
Sharon Goodwin
Special Assistant
GO-Biz Programs
Cannabis Equity Grants for Local Jurisdictions
California Civic Media Program
California Community Reinvestment Grants
California Competes Tax Credit
California Film and TV Tax Credit
California State Trade Expansion Program
Regional Investment Initiative
State Programs
Statewide Disaster Response Tool
Leadership
GO-Biz Team
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Arturo Carmona
President of the Latino Media Collaborative
Arturo Carmona serves as the Managing Partner of Tzunu Strategies and heads the Latino Media Collaborative. He has appeared in in media outlets such as MSNBC, ABC, CNN, Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Univision, Telemundo, USA Today, NPR, La Opinion, and many others. Hispanic Magazine honored him with the Hispanic Achievement Award. He is the current Sr. Strategy Advisor to ImpreMedia and served as a Digital Media and Strategic Communications Advisor to the Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for President campaign (Mexico) and the Deputy Political Director for the Bernie Sanders for President campaign. He was the Executive Director of Presente.org and as the founding Executive Director of the Council of Mexican Federations.
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Chuck Corra
Associate Director of Policy & Advocacy at LION Publishers
Chuck Corra designs and leads advocacy efforts on behalf of local independent online news businesses at LION Publishers, helping drive policy outcomes at the state and national levels across the United States. Chuck’s professional background spans public affairs, issue advocacy, strategic research, and legal fields. Most recently, he advised renewable energy developers on navigating community support for deploying wind and solar energy in rural communities. Chuck graduated with honors from Michigan State University College of Law, and currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Martha Diaz Aszkenazy
Publisher of the San Fernando Valley Sun & El Sol Newspapers
Martha Diaz Aszkenazy was born in the San Fernando Valley and raised in the city of San Fernando where she headquartered the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol newspaper after purchasing it over 24 years ago. She grew up in San Fernando attending local schools before enrolling at Loyola Marymount University where she received her bachelor’s in business administration. Volunteering and giving back to her community is very important to Martha and throughout the years she has served on numerous boards and commissions, including as Treasurer for the California News Publishers Association, Chair of the National Newspapers Association, and a member of the Latino Media Collaborative.
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Julian Do
Co-Director of American Community Media
Julian Travis Do is the Co-director of American Community Media, California’s largest coalition of 300+ ethnic media outlets, where he leads initiatives focused on long-term sustainability of local journalism, including editorial and digital media capacity development. With extensive experience in cross-sector coalition building, Julian coordinates efforts among more than 130 community-based organizations to address media equity and the systemic challenges facing local news. He has played a pivotal role in major legislative and industry milestones, including advocacy for multiple media sustainability legislative bills and the coordination of historic multi-year agreements to support the local news ecosystem. His work also includes managing infrastructure upgrades for ethnic and community media markets to ensure state resources effectively reach prioritized populations. Julian currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Local News Fellowship program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
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Sean Emery
Sean Emery, President of the Media Guild of the West & Journalist at SCNG
Sean Emery is president of Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA that represents hundreds of journalists and media workers at the Los Angeles Times, the Desert Sun, the Southern California News Group, and other news outlets across California, Arizona and Texas. Sean is also a working journalist who has written for the Orange County Register since 2006 and currently covers courts, crime and public safety for the Register and other papers in the Southern California News Group.
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Jeff Glasser
General Counsel at the Los Angeles Times
Jeff Glasser is General Counsel of the Los Angeles Times. As head of the company’s legal department, Glasser handles newsroom counseling, litigation, intellectual property, contract and commercial matters, privacy, compliance and other legal issues. In addition, he represents the Los Angeles Times in legislative and policy matters in California and Washington, D.C. Glasser is a board member and chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the California News Publishers Association and a member of the Legal Affairs Committee for the News Media Alliance. Before joining the company in 2013, Glasser practiced law at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, worked as a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report and served as Bob Woodward’s researcher on “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate.” A graduate of Yale University, Glasser received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
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Marian Kaanon
President and CEO of the Stanislaus Community Foundation
Marian Kaanon is the President & CEO of Stanislaus Community Foundation. A first-generation Assyrian American, Marian was born in Iraq. She immigrated with her family to Canada at age 7, and then the U.S. as a high school student. After graduating from UC Davis, Marian began a career that spanned broadcast journalism, public affairs and nonprofit management. Marian joined Stanislaus Community Foundation as CEO in late 2012. Stanislaus Community Foundation is a place-based funder that provides grants and scholarships to community organizations in Stanislaus County. To date, the organization has invested over $63 million in local nonprofits. During Marian’s tenure, Stanislaus Community Foundation has quadrupled its assets under management and tripled its grantmaking, supporting programs in education, economic opportunity and civic engagement. Coming out of the pandemic, Stanislaus Community Foundation launched Stanislaus 2030, an inclusive economic development sprint focused on creating quality jobs, which secured over $20M in state and federal funds in the local region. She currently chairs the Board of Directors for the League of California Community Foundations.
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Julie Patel Liss
Head of Journalism, California State University, Los Angeles
Julie Patel Liss is the head of journalism and an associate professor at California State University, Los Angeles. She conducts investigative reporting projects with students for local news outlets and established the university’s community news outlet, which reports on under-covered neighborhoods in East and South Los Angeles where Cal State LA students come from. Julie worked as an investigative reporter at nonprofit news outlets such as the Center for Public Integrity and D.C.’s National Public Radio affiliate, and as a reporter at the South Florida Sun Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News. Her beats over the years have included education, race and demographics, utilities, insurance and federal politics. Her coverage has earned over 15 awards and honors. Julie is a proud alumna of the University of Chicago, Stanford University and AmeriCorps’ City Year program. She volunteers on several local and statewide boards, including the California College Media Association and the Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles. Julie was born in India, raised in Chicago and lives with her husband, also a journalist, and their two children in Long Beach. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, running, dancing and spending time outdoors with her family.
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Regina Brown Wilson
Executive Director of California Black Media
Regina Brown Wilson is a media entrepreneur and leading advocate for African American–owned news outlets in California. Since 2012, she has served as Executive Director of California Black Media, leading a statewide network of more than 30 print, digital, radio, and streaming platforms serving Black communities and advancing their participation in California’s media economy. Under her leadership, Wilson has led major public information campaigns on COVID-19 response, voter engagement, and emergency preparedness, partnering with state agencies to strengthen the role of ethnic, rural, and independent media in public outreach. She served on California’s 2020 Census Complete Count Committee and is a member of the African American Empowerment Council of California and the Sacramento NAACP. She serves as co-chair of the Minority-Owned Small Business Task Force, chair of the Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Council, and on the UC Berkeley School of Journalism Local News Fellowship advisory board.
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Erik Cushman
Publisher of Monterey County Weekly
Erik Cushman is the publisher of Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County Now (the company’s digital platforms) and has been on staff since 1999. During Cushman’s tenure, the Weekly’s staff has earned hundreds of local, regional, and national awards for editorial content, design, newsletters and photography. Cushman was previously the General Manager at the Colorado Springs Independent (Sep 1997 - Mar 1999) and Publisher of the Missoula Independent (Feb 1991 - Mar 1997). He has served on the Advisory Committee of the Marina Technology Cluster, the Boards of Directors of First Night Monterey and the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. Since 2015 he has been the Chair of the Monterey County Workforce Development Board. Cushman has also been a board member of the California News Publishers Association since 2016. He is a graduate of the University of Montana and is married to Kristin Cushman. They have two adult daughters; he and Kristin live in Pacific Grove.
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