SBA‘s Region IX Administrator, Elmy Bermejo oversee SBA programs, offices, and operations in the SBA’s Pacific region, serving Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, and Nevada.

Ms. Bermejo has a passion for building and strengthening relationships while assisting people and organizations attain their goals. She has been a senior government official with more than 25 years of experience at the executive level and has established a successful record of collaboration with public and private stakeholders on a range of issues including workforce development, disaster relief, and small business. Ms. Bermejo recently served as the Northern California Director for External Affairs for Governor Gavin Newsom; before that, she served as a Senior Adviser and Outreach Director for Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis of California, the first woman ever elected to this position. Ms. Bermejo also served in President Barack Obama’s administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Regional Representative to the Secretary and as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. She serves on the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, The Women’s Foundation of CA, and as an Advisory member of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) and the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Public Good.

Robert Field was appointed as the City Manager for the City of San Bernardino, effective September 21, 2020. In this role, Mr. Field serves as the chief executive officer of the City, responsible to the Council for the management of all City affairs placed in the City Manager’s charge by or under the City Charter. Mr. Field is the sole authority for managing City operations and appointing and directing City staff, except as otherwise provided in the Charter.

Previously, Robert Field served the County of Riverside as Assistant County Executive Officer/Economic Development Agency (EDA). In that capacity, Field oversaw an agency with 22 divisions, a staff of about 840, and an annual budget of approximately $650 million. EDA’s responsibilities were numerous, and included the management of all construction within the County’s $1.5 billion Capital Improvement Program, management of all the County’s Workforce Investment and Development programs, provided for the public’s needs through the Community Services Division, ran various types of housing programs, ran the County’s 36 branch library system, managed and maintained all of the County’s real estate, and ran the County’s airports and the annual County Fair & National Date Festival.

Field received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and his Master’s Degree from California Baptist University, and also holds Extension Certificates in both Economic Development Management and Land Use and Environmental Planning from UCR. Field is a past chair of both the Dean’s Advisory Council for the UCR School of Business and the UCR Highlander Athletics Association Board of Directors, and of The Unforgettables Foundation Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Inland Empire Community Foundation, the March Field Air Museum Board of Directors, and the Advisory Council for UCR’s Economic Development and Innovation Center.

Lily Otieno serves as the Director for Supply Chain and Diverse Business Enterprises for SoCalGas. In this role, she is responsible for supply chain strategy, contracting and procurement of services, material management, and supplier diversity. In this capacity, she has oversight of over $2.1 B in contract spend for SoCalGas. She is also responsible for management of over 70 material distribution locations. She will also continue to spearhead transformational projects and advancing the mission of the company.

She previously was the Technology Intelligence and Policy Solutions Manager for Southern California Gas Company. In this role she oversees Contract Management, Policy & Compliance, Transaction Enablement, Business Intelligence and Sustainability & Investment Recovery teams for the Supply Chain Organization. The team supports 12 applications with over 17K users across the enterprise. She is responsible for leading a 5-year Technology Roadmap, Enterprise ARIBA implementation, supply base optimization and demand planning.

Previously, she was the Portfolio Manager for Major Construction Projects & Programs overseeing supply chain, procurement and contracting strategies of several large capital programs including Pipeline Safety Enhancement Project), Projects Construction Management Group – Pipelines and Compressor Stations), Transmission Integrity Management Program & Mobile Home Park Utility Upgrade Programs. Annual spend ranged from $1-$1.5 billion annually. She was also responsible for calibrating and maintaining an enterprise-wide view of categories under management, providing expert Supply management intelligence and insights, and continually assessing new opportunities to drive value to the Supply Management organization and to the Company.
Prior to that, Lily Otieno served as the Project Management Office (PMO) Manager for SoCalGas in the Pipeline Safety Enhancement Project organization, currently the largest pipeline enhancement project in SoCalGas’s history. As the PMO manager, Lily oversaw several functions including governance, management of change, document control, and reporting. In that role, Lily immediately developed a process for validating data integrity and created the structure for accurate reporting and analysis for the PSEP organization. She was the co-lead for developing project management principles, philosophy and work process maps for the utility’s major construction projects. She also developed and implemented continuous assessments, which were instrumental in executing program wide process improvements.

Previously, Lily served as the CEO of her own consulting firm, Infinity Business Solutions (IBS). As a premier consultant, Lily helped organizations reach their diverse business goals via diverse business training and business development. Lily has a passion for working with clients to develop strategies to be successful in the marketplace while ensuring they comply with federal and other public sector mandates. IBS customized diversity training modules that have garnered numerous accolades and contracts from corporations including Jacobs Engineering, Southern California Gas Company, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, Los Angeles World Airport, NV Energy, Walsh Austin JV among others.

Her areas of expertise include supply chain, procurement, contracting, compliance/quality improvement, change management, project portfolio management, business development, instructional design and facilitation. Lily has 25 years of international management experience and expertise across multiple industries including utilities, banking, construction, IT, universities, healthcare, and non- profit organizations.

Lily’s brand as a leader, mentor and innovator has resulted in several awards and recognition, most recently including: 2019- Phenomenal Women Awards by the YWCA-Los Angeles, 2015 Business Leader “Star” by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, 2013 Spirit Award by the National Association of Minority Contractors Southern California Chapter, and 2012 National & Regional Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Lily is also a recipient of the prestigious Proclamation (National Mentoring Month) signed by President Barack Obama as well as several proclamations from the Senate and the congress for her work in the diverse business arena.

Her education includes Master of Science in Environmental Studies, concentration in Policy and Planning from California State University at Fullerton. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Management. She enjoys spending time with her family, cooking food network dishes and watching her favorite chef Rachel Ray and using her talents and abilities to support organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park, Asian Business Association of Orange County, and Women Business Enterprise- Council- West. She is currently an executive board member for GLAAACC.

Elizabeth Martinez is the Vice President of Government Relations & Business Development for Meruelo Enterprises, Inc. (MEI). MEI is an affiliate of the Meruelo Group, a privately held company that provides strategic consulting and business support services. The Meruelo Group’s affiliates vary from Construction and Engineering, Hospitality and Gaming, Television, Radio, Real Estate, Food Services, Financial Services, to Private Equity and Sports.

Elizabeth started at MEI in 2019, as Director of Government Relations. Her role focused primarily on identifying, developing and maintaining key relationships with new and existing clientele. Her regular meetings with key decision-makers are designed to bring value-added services to the work relationship. Elizabeth also maintains awareness of political and social issues that most influence her customers, and those communities served by MEI.

Partnered with MEI’s leadership, the team is able to design events and social causes that make the most impact. She is responsible for tracking market dynamics, political campaigns and movements that impact the construction industry, and those competitors that are also changing the industry. Elizabeth can often be found at industry trade shows or participating in local or state associations. Her tenacity for the industry, coupled with her intelligence and her gift for building positive relationships, are primary reasons why she was promoted to Vice President in 2021.

Before joining MEI, Elizabeth was in the Waste Industry for over 20-years. Her experience includes overseeing contracts for large municipalities, school districts and major commercial accounts. Elizabeth is a five-time winner of the prestigious, Republic Services Chairman Awards.
Elizabeth’s secret to success is her passion for providing exceptional customer service, and understanding the needs of her clients. Elizabeth grew up in El Monte as a first generation Mexican-American. She attended Cal State Los Angeles and studied communications.
Affiliations

Past Chair of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce
Board Member Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce
Board Member of Adventist Health White Memorial
Board Member of United Latinx Fund
Latina Leads Advisory Council

​Ramiro A. Cavazos is President and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), America’s largest business advocacy organization for Hispanics. He is a trusted economic development expert and champion for bipartisan solutions that generate wealth to advance economic opportunity for the Hispanic community. Prior to his role at the USHCC, Ramiro was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SAHCC), the nation’s first Hispanic Chamber of Commerce founded in 1929. During his time at the SAHCC, he fought for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), was recognized as a 5 Star Accredited chamber, and also led numerous annual trade missions to Spain, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Cuba and Italy.

Ramiro previously served as the Director of Research and Economic Development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he advanced public-private projects promoting entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. He was also the past Director of Economic Development for the City of San Antonio, where he oversaw projects that focused on business expansion, retention and trade that led to the creation of more than 20,000 higher paying jobs for the seventh largest city in America. Cavazos also taught Economic Development at the Institute of Law and Public Affairs for The University of Texas at San Antonio.

His global perspective was honed by his experience working in the private sector for the Levi Strauss Company and Levi Strauss Foundation as Manager of Global Public Affairs & Contributions, where he was responsible for the Texas, Mexico, and Latin American regions. Additionally, he spent 15 years as a Bank Director at InterContinental Bank Shares Corporation (InterCon). His passion for small business is also fueled by his experience running his own public affairs business for 3 years serving clients such as AT&T, Valero Energy and H-E-B. Ramiro began his career in public service, where he worked in city management for the cities of San Antonio and Helotes, served as a Special Assistant to former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas and as a legislative researcher for State Representative Irma Rangel, the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas Legislature.

Today, Ramiro proudly serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for Fortune 500 companies to invest in more equity and fair representation for Hispanics on corporate boards and publicly traded companies.

Ramiro has shared his views on Latino entrepreneurship, small business growth, trade, and commerce on: Fortune, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, CNN, the Associated Press, The Economist, The Washington Post, El País, El Heraldo, and many other media outlets. He has also been recognized by Latino Leaders Magazine as one of America’s “101 Most Influential Latinos” for the last four years. In 2015, the Kingdom of Spain named Ramiro the Honorary Consul of Spain for San Antonio and South Texas. His efforts brought His Majesty King Felipe VI and Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain to San Antonio’s Tricentennial events celebrating its founding by Canary Islanders in 1718. The King of Spain bestowed upon Ramiro the Order of Isabel the Catholic (Orden de Isabel la Católica), its highest honor given to a non-Spanish citizen for his service as a business advocate to expand the binational economic relationship between the United States and Spain.

Ramiro earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from St. Mary’s University, where he received the honor of Distinguished Alumnus, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Government from The University of Texas at Austin in three years. A native of Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley, he is a 7th generation Texan. He and his wife Christa are the proud parents of two boys.

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• Nominee must provide and submit at least a 500 word biography and photo.
• Statement why nominee is being submitted.
• Nominees must agree to participate in Hispanic Lifestyle’s BizCon 2022
• Must be in business in for 10 years. 
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• Nominees must not have been previously recognized by Hispanic Lifestyle 
• Self-nominations are accepted.
• Please submit the nominations via email to info@Hispaniclifestyle.com

NOMINATION REQUIREMENTS

• Nominee must provide and submit at least a 500 word biography and photo.
• Statement why nominee is being submitted.
• Nominees must agree to participate in Hispanic Lifestyle’s BizCon 2022
• Nominees agree to a video interview via zoom.
• Nominee gives permission to Hispanic Lifestyle to use biography, logo, and photos for distribution via our media network online, social media and television.
• Nominees must not have been previously recognized by Hispanic Lifestyle
• Self-nominations are accepted.
• Please submit the nominations via email to info@Hispaniclifestyle.com

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