Jacqueline Reynoso: Creating Change

As President and CEO of the National City Chamber of Commerce,  Jacqueline Reynoso has created change in the community for over 12 years through different positions and involvement in organizations. 
After her parents got married, they settled in National City, because her parents saw it as a good place with good schools. Soon after, moving there, more relatives followed Reynoso’s parents. 
Reynoso was born in National City and says that she found her motivation as she was growing up in this area. 
“I saw many changes when I was in high school. I saw that there was a lot of illegal activity in the community. My parents always gave me a good example,” she said. “My parents liked school, but they were not able to finish their schooling, so they encouraged me to study; I was the first in my family to go to college.” 
Jacqueline’s sister was 18 years old when she got married and got pregnant. This lead Jacqueline to continue with her studies to motivate her younger sister and younger brother. 
“When my older sister left the house, I was aware that I needed to be an example for my younger siblings,” she said. 
“I also wanted to be an example in my community, because of all the negativity back then. There were a lot of murders, drugs, and you could hear that Latinos didn’t progress. I wanted to break that image. So I focused a lot in school,” Reynoso explained. 
When she was in high school, Reynoso started volunteering in different programs, including being a tutor for children in primary schools. 
Also her personal interests in science and math grew during her high school years, and she was part of Upward Bound Math and Science, a federal program that helps minorities to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. 
“Being in the Upward Bound Math and Science program had a great impact on my life. I had the opportunity to visit different universities and that’s when I realized that I could really go to college,” she said. “When someone doesn’t get out of their community they don’t see the opportunities that are available. I took advantage of the program’s resources to pay for my college application fees, to pay for my SAT prep, and more. That helped me to don’t have an excuse to give up.” 
Jacqueline was her class valedictorian at Point Loma High School and also received the Gates Millennium Scholars scholarship, which has the goal to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential. 
“I sent my application to the Gates Millennium Scholars scholarship when I was in my first year of college. I got a full scholarship, and that was a great blessing for me. My scholarship covered my school, books, housing, everything,” she said. 
It was during her college years when she saw social and economic problems in the Latino community. 
“I saw a the lack of progress compared to the Anglo population. That was something that motivated me to make a change in the system and to have influence in the future of my community,” she said. “I started getting more involved in public polities even though I was a pre-med student in college.” 
Her new interests were public administration, public policies, public finances, and economic development. 
After getting her degree in psychology from UC Berkeley, in 2002, she started working in her new areas of interest. 
For two years she worked in different companies, and during that time she also got a fellowship in the California Department of Justice at the Office of the Attorney General in Sacramento from 2003 to 2004. 
“During the year I was at the California Department of Justice I had more clarity about my interest in government issues,” she said. “I decided to get a masters degree in public policies and finances. I got a scholarship to study at Harvard University.” 
She earned her master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University in 2006. 
After graduating from Harvard, she received job offers from different Fortune 500 companies, but she decided to focus on the Latino community, taking a job as the Board and Shareholder Relations Manager at Promerica Bank. She eventually received a job offer from the City of National City, a job she couldn’t turn down, especially because her younger sister was working as a student representative for the National City Council at that time. 
In 2007, she started working as the community development coordinator in the Economic Development Division in the City of National City, a job she held until June of 2008 when she accepted charge at the National City Chamber of Commerce. 
Since she started working as the President and CEO of the National City Chamber of Commerce, she has achieved many accomplishments including the improvement of the National City image through the creation of the National City Tourism Marketing District. 
“The President and CEO position has been something that fills me with a lot of pride. We have seen a lot of local accomplishments, and that’s something important to me,” she said. “Being able to do something where I grew up and to be able to raise my family here has been a reward after many years of sacrifice. I’m also here to motivate the next generation, and to teach them that they can fulfill their dreams and keep ahead.” 
Her goal in the near future as National City Chamber of Commerce President and CEO is to have local breweries operating in the area with all type of facilities.