Angela Castellanos Strives to Create a Thriving Valley

When Angela Castellanos moved from the Bay Area to the Gateway to the Sequoias, (Visalia, CA), she was not sure what to expect. She was quickly inspired to get involved in her new community after learning about how drastic income-level disparities and limited job access impacted the futures of Valley residents. Angela began working in the inclusive economic development sector as a regional coordinator at the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). While at GO-Biz, she witnessed the impact of disenfranchisement firsthand, learning the importance of listening to community members’ aspirations and supporting residents to be informed decision-makers.

This experience made Angela well-suited to transition into her current role as the Sierra San Joaquin Jobs (S2J2) Senior Program Manager, where she oversees the implementation of the S2J2 Initiative across the four-county region of Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare. She was able to utilize connections she made in her previous position with community-based organizations (CBOs) and local government agencies to “be part of a movement to better the Valley’s way of life.”

As the Senior Program Manager for S2J2, Angela has found the work greatly uplifting. “S2J2 was inspired by the encompassment of the entire San Joaquin Valley area including mountain regions,” Angela said. “There is so much enthusiasm, passion and desire to create a region where people can thrive. Our S2J2 Regional Table selected eight incredibly impactful projects across the region. Each of these projects uniquely advances equity as one of the foundational pillars of S2J2.” Throughout the initiative, S2J2 defined equity collaboratively, which was reflected in the call for Community Engagement proposals. “Our partners were committed to elevating voices, building trust and developing relationships with communities that have historically been left out of conversations about economic development — because those conversations often happen around them instead of with them,” Angela said. She sees community inclusion as vital for providing better opportunities and healthier and safer environments for all community members, citing rural, Black and tribal communities as groups that have historically not received equitable opportunities. To put this commitment into action, S2J2 worked with 10 CBOs across the region, engaging more than 4,300 community members. From those conversations, they synthesized a Community Engagement Report centered around S2J2 themes. “This work became a foundational element to the larger S2J2 Regional Investment Plan Draft and was grounded in community voices of the people who call this place home,” Angela said. 

S2J2 has ensured that tribal communities are integrated in their strategy by hiring two tribal engagement leads to formulate tribal-led economic development planning and having a geographically diverse regional roundtable. Throughout the initiative, the team has evaluated their impact by engaging in activities like analyzing what  groups were not already a part of their workgroups and intentionally incorporating these communities in additional efforts. 

Angela is most proud of S2J2’s Catalyst Participatory Funding Process and the eight projects selected through it. She shared that this was a new endeavor for CVCF. “As with many of S2J2’s components, it was a collaborative process,” Angela said. S2J2 worked closely with partners and the S2J2 Regional Table to design and finalize a call for applications that encouraged pilot project submissions that would address local community needs.

“What makes this process especially meaningful is that we focused on developing the capacity of our stakeholders and S2J2 Regional Table to evaluate these project applications, since they are the people most closely connected to these needs,” Angela said. “This was a huge undertaking.” There were project application evaluation trainings in English and Spanish with hands-on learning opportunities, conflict of interest safeguards to maintain transparency and fairness and scoring and justification templates created to support integrity and facilitate equity-centered evaluation discussions. “Our S2J2 team and partners all played an instrumental  role in advancing this work, and it wouldn’t have been possible without them,” Angela said.

Now, as many of the Catalyst Project Partners near the end of their  work with S2J2, Angela is looking forward to showcasing their impact, accomplishments and what is next for each project. A few of the project highlights include Sequoia Riverlands Trust constructing a greenhouse that will benefit the region, Youth Leadership  Institute (yli) empowering youth to design and analyze surveys focused on young people’s economic aspirations in Madera and  Fresno counties and Visión y Compromiso supporting former farm-working women in launching their own small businesses to drive meaningful economic growth in Tulare County.

Angela is hopeful that S2J2’s work will continue beyond the end of the project in 2027. She would love to see partners secure further funding to continue developing projects that align with the Regional Investment Plan. Angela hopes for the partnerships established through S2J2 to continue well into the future to maximize the collective impact organizations, agencies and community leaders can have in the Valley.

To learn more about S2J2 and support the work of the initiative and its Catalyst Partners, visit www.s2j2initiative.org, subscribe to the S2J2 newsletter and follow S2J2 on Instagram @s2j2initiative.