Staff

Wayne Schell
Message from the President
President and Chief Executive Officer
wschell@caled.org  ext. 11

Wayne has practiced economic development in California for over 3 decades. It only takes a couple of minutes in conversation with Wayne to see he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as an enthusiastic drive to help economic developers be successful in their pursuit of creating prosperous, sustainable communities. It is no wonder that he has led the CALED team for over 15 years and is one of the founders of the association.

Gurbax Sahota
Chief Operating Officer for CALED
Executive Director for the California Downtown Association
Executive Director for the CA Academy For Economic Dev.
gsahota@caled.org  ext. 15

Gurbax Sahota is an experienced association professional who believes in the importance and need to collaborate and create meaningful partnerships in order to accomplish the goal of creating healthy, wealthy communities. She turns this belief into action by bringing together and leading multiple organizations aligned with the goal of helping businesses thrive in California. Gurbax holds senior positions with CALED, the California Downtown Association, and the California Academy for Economic Development. Gurbax is using her experience in association leadership, knowledge of organizational studies, and her communications background to support the missions of all three organizations while ensuring that their operations are sustainable.

Michelle Stephens
Program Manager
michelle@caled.org ext. 12

As Program Manager, Michelle will assist with CALED's grants by working with the CALED team on delivering the work plan associated with them. She will also continue to support the California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA) with the issuance of tax-exempt bonds and will engage the CALED membership on numerous projects including the Quarterly CALED Bulletin, the Western Innovation Network, and the California Lenders Network.

Rachael Alexander
Office Manager
ralexander@caled.org  ext. 10

As Office Manager, Rachael is the Executive Assistant to the CEO and COO and manages the operations of the front office. Rachael's other duties include acting as the CALED, CA Academy for Economic Development and the California Downtown Association Board of Directors Liaison, managing job advertisements, and working closely on website updates and the electronic newsletter. Rachael also provides support at events and special projects.

My Kristy Nong
Manager of Administration and Member Activities
mknong@caled.org  ext. 13

Kristy Nong, Manager of Administration and Member Activities is responsible for general administration including bookkeeping and membership renewals and retention for CALED and the California Academy for Economic Development. Kristy is also the Course Director for the Introduction to Economic Development Certificate Program and heads the Awards of Excellence Program for CALED.

Darren Schell
Project Assistant
darrens@caled.org ext. 14

As Project Assistant, Darren Schell will assist in the creation and verification of membership databases for the California Downtown Association (CDA) as well as for the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED). His goal is to create an organized and useful database to help CALED and CDA to better serve their members. 

Contract Support

Bill Davis
Technical Assistance & Professional Advisory Service bdavis@wrdaviscollab.com (916) 806-6407