SACRAMENTO, CA — Visit Sacramento has appointed Chief Marketing Officer Sonya Bradley to the position of Chief of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). This new position was created specifically to address the organization’s commitment to taking action and creating change when it comes to DEI within Visit Sacramento, the tourism industry in the Sacramento region and throughout the country.
Bradley, a 25-year veteran of the travel and tourism industry, has overseen marketing at Visit Sacramento for the past 15 years. She helped lead the creation of the position after the killing of George Floyd prompted Bradley and the team at Visit Sacramento to reexamine its own actions around equity and inclusion and look more deeply at the organization’s role in the community.
“At Visit Sacramento, we often say that tourism isn’t about the tourist, it’s about making Sacramento a better place for the people who live here,” said Visit Sacramento President & CEO Mike Testa. “Tourism employs thousands of people in our city and brings millions of dollars here each year. But if not everyone in Sacramento is represented in what we’re doing, then we aren’t going far enough. This new position is the next step in making sure that tourism really is a positive force for our entire community.”
“Tourism has been fulfilling both professionally and personally, and I’ve had tremendous opportunities in this industry,” said Bradley. “Yet, I still see a relatively small number of people who look like me in the industry. This is Visit Sacramento’s chance to change that. Because this moment in time since last summer is too big to ignore or end up on the back burner because a box has been checked.”
Bradley has already begun establishing steering committees to inform her work, made up of local leaders and experts who can speak to the challenges and experiences of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and other historically underrepresented groups in Sacramento. She currently serves as the chair for the CalTravel (California Travel Association) DEI committee established last year.
Look for a feature on Sacramento’s renovated and expanded SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in the 2021 F&D SuperBook.
