Bernadette Austin is an award-winning woman of color with two decades of experience from the boardroom to the C-suite. She cultivates inclusive and equitable cross-sector partnerships and develops solutions for the greatest challenges that communities face with a balance of pragmatism and ingenuity. Her areas of expertise include climate change, environmental justice, affordable housing, public health, land use planning, and state and local government.
As Chief Executive Officer of CivicWell, she supports local leaders transforming vision into action their communities. She leads a nonprofit organization with a 40-year track record of inspiring, equipping, connecting, and cultivating leaders working toward a more sustainable and resilient future. She guides a hybrid team of 35 employees based in five states as they navigate a culture shift, re-branding, and organizational restructuring while emerging from the impacts of the pandemic. She oversees a diverse portfolio that includes four statewide coalitions with dozens of member organizations, 130 AmeriCorps Members in three states, and signature events that collectively drew 1,500 attendees in 2023.
In her prior role as Executive Director of the Center for Regional Change at the University of California at Davis, she participated in statewide efforts to reduce barriers to community engaged learning and research. Her research projects included inclusionary housing, gentrification and displacement, regional migration, transportation equity, and carbon neutrality. Prior to her work at UC Davis, she founded a consulting firm specializing in community development. She has worked for an affordable housing developer, local redevelopment agency, community development financial institution, and several nonprofit community health organizations. Her projects include Sacramento’s first true transit-oriented development, West Sacramento’s first urban farm stand, and the first project in the country to implement a federal program combining housing vouchers and health services for disabled adults.
Bernadette is an active member of and content contributor to several professional organizations for the real estate and land use planning industries, including the Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association, and Lambda Alpha International. She is President of the California Planning Roundtable and a member of the ULI Health Leaders Network.
Bernadette serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health. She serves on the Board of Directors for SAFE Credit Union, providing financial services in 13 Northern California counties. She also provides guidance as a member of the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts Heart of Central California, serving girls in 18 counties. She has been recognized as a notable woman leader by Sacramento Magazine and Comstock's Magazine, and the Sacramento Business Journal included her on their 40 Under 40 list in 2013 and their feature on new CEOs in 2023. She holds a Master of Science in Community Development from UC Davis and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from St. Mary’s College of California.
As Chief Executive Officer of CivicWell, she supports local leaders transforming vision into action their communities. She leads a nonprofit organization with a 40-year track record of inspiring, equipping, connecting, and cultivating leaders working toward a more sustainable and resilient future. She guides a hybrid team of 35 employees based in five states as they navigate a culture shift, re-branding, and organizational restructuring while emerging from the impacts of the pandemic. She oversees a diverse portfolio that includes four statewide coalitions with dozens of member organizations, 130 AmeriCorps Members in three states, and signature events that collectively drew 1,500 attendees in 2023.
In her prior role as Executive Director of the Center for Regional Change at the University of California at Davis, she participated in statewide efforts to reduce barriers to community engaged learning and research. Her research projects included inclusionary housing, gentrification and displacement, regional migration, transportation equity, and carbon neutrality. Prior to her work at UC Davis, she founded a consulting firm specializing in community development. She has worked for an affordable housing developer, local redevelopment agency, community development financial institution, and several nonprofit community health organizations. Her projects include Sacramento’s first true transit-oriented development, West Sacramento’s first urban farm stand, and the first project in the country to implement a federal program combining housing vouchers and health services for disabled adults.
Bernadette is an active member of and content contributor to several professional organizations for the real estate and land use planning industries, including the Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association, and Lambda Alpha International. She is President of the California Planning Roundtable and a member of the ULI Health Leaders Network.
Bernadette serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health. She serves on the Board of Directors for SAFE Credit Union, providing financial services in 13 Northern California counties. She also provides guidance as a member of the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts Heart of Central California, serving girls in 18 counties. She has been recognized as a notable woman leader by Sacramento Magazine and Comstock's Magazine, and the Sacramento Business Journal included her on their 40 Under 40 list in 2013 and their feature on new CEOs in 2023. She holds a Master of Science in Community Development from UC Davis and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from St. Mary’s College of California.
