When Brenna Garcia Butler isn’t busy acting as an advocate for small or minority-owned local businesses, the Chief Executive Officer of San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce can be found riding her beach cruiser along the Delta, and enjoying all the perks San Joaquin has to offer.
As a child, Brenna led a driven life in Salem, Oregon, alongside her younger sister. Together they explored their passion for violin, community service and ballet. The girls challenged and supported each other, and as Brenna explains, their specific focuses did the same. “Ballet is such a disciplined art form; one that requires you to push past your comfort zone in order to succeed,” she explains. While all that childhood training, practice and competition didn’t turn Garcia into a professional musician or dancer, she credits her experience as one that broadened her perspectives, gave her a healthy respect and appreciation for individual talent, and taught her when to lead and when to follow. These important characteristics and life lessons followed Garcia into adulthood, as she found herself thirsty for a taste of independence. With family ties to Oakdale and the Bay area, Brenna moved to California to begin her next chapter. The Central Valley immediately felt like home as Garcia explains, because of it’s similarity to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. She was able to access the city with just a short drive and still remain grounded by the rural agricultural communities and spectacular scenic landscapes.
As Brenna established herself in the sales industry within the Central Valley, the joys she found as a young girl active in community service resurfaced. She began volunteering, until ultimately deciding on a career change. “My passion for serving others and finding ways to create impact within my community is what drove me to make a career shift to non-profit development. I was so fortunate to have some wonderful mentors along the way that encouraged me to develop my role within some of the most reputable organizations in Central California,” she says. Society for Disabilities, Emanuel Medical Center, Hospice of Emanuel and Jessica’s House welcomed Garcia’s caring heart as she wore many hats developing fundraising strategies, supporting children through family loss, creating workforce development opportunities and much more. From there, her involvement in the Turlock Chamber of Commerce ultimately led her to the position she holds today, as CEO.
So what does this kind heart hope for the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce? “We work to help business owners achieve success quickly and efficiently. By increasing our services online, building strategic partnerships with community agencies to broaden our scope of relevant services and expansion into our outlying footprint areas, we can enhance our members’ opportunities and increase the value in their investment.”
Personally, SJCHCC’s leading lady strives to assist local businesses navigate in a streamlined, business-friendly environment all while creating significant impact programs and resources to help the small and minority-owned business community thrive. And through “the development of collaborative strategies that will allow the Hispanic business community to prosper and offer services that will promote sustainability in the marketplace” Garcia hopes she and the chamber can make a serious impact on our community.
With such dedication, Garcia clearly loves the area in which she works to further develop. She praises the community for its great representation of culture, agriculture and industry. In addition, Garcia notes how fortunate we are to have one of the best educational institutions on the west coast with the University of the Pacific, amazing arts and music programs, historical treasures and a thriving tourism and wine industry. And as a true San Joaquinian, Garcia has begun a new project: wine connoisseur!