Bernadette Austin is an award-winning woman of color with two decades of experience from the boardroom to the C-suite. She cultivates collaborative 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 community development, economic development, land use planning, social equity, environmental sustainability, state and local government collaboration, and inclusive leadership.
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 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 statewide coalitions with dozens of member organizations and signature events that collectively draw 2,000 attendees annually.
Under the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Bernadette has launched the Regional Small Business Utilization Center (RSBUC). Through partnerships with the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, Sierra Health Foundation, and SMUD, the RSBUC prepares contractors and subcontractors to compete for public infrastructure and construction projects while helping public entities and primes connect with qualified small businesses operating in Sacramento Yolo, and Placer counties. Bernadette also serves as the Director of Domestic and International Relations for the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.
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, 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 President of the California Planning Roundtable and serves on the Board of Directors for SAFE Credit Union. She 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 has also served as an advisor to the California Department of Public Health's Office of Health Equity, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California Strategic Growth Council.
Bernadette has been recognized as an Asian Pacific Islander Changemaker by the Sacramento Bee and a notable woman leader by Sacramento Magazine and Comstock's Magazine. 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 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 statewide coalitions with dozens of member organizations and signature events that collectively draw 2,000 attendees annually.
Under the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Bernadette has launched the Regional Small Business Utilization Center (RSBUC). Through partnerships with the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, Sierra Health Foundation, and SMUD, the RSBUC prepares contractors and subcontractors to compete for public infrastructure and construction projects while helping public entities and primes connect with qualified small businesses operating in Sacramento Yolo, and Placer counties. Bernadette also serves as the Director of Domestic and International Relations for the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.
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, 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 President of the California Planning Roundtable and serves on the Board of Directors for SAFE Credit Union. She 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 has also served as an advisor to the California Department of Public Health's Office of Health Equity, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California Strategic Growth Council.
Bernadette has been recognized as an Asian Pacific Islander Changemaker by the Sacramento Bee and a notable woman leader by Sacramento Magazine and Comstock's Magazine. 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.
