2025 Annual Convening Speakers

Jackie Melendez is a passionate local government professional who has spent over 20 years at City Hall working to develop collaborative solutions to complex problems facing cities. She is a strategic thought leader and doer with a diverse background in economic development; community building; strategic planning; special projects; human centered design; and business, retention, expansion and workforce (BREW) development.   

Ms. Melendez serves as the Assistant City Manager for the City of Chino, a city recently recognized as a Boomtown. She also served as the first Executive Director for Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO), a regional collaborative focused on building inclusive economic development in the Inland Empire, a rapidly growing two-county region serving over 4.7 million people and covering over 27,000 square miles.  

Ms. Melendez also served as the Deputy City Manager for the City of Moreno Valley where she spent over six years working with businesses from mom and pops to fortune 500 and international companies. In Moreno Valley, Ms. Melendez was part of a dynamic, forward thinking team that worked tirelessly to increase access to jobs and to develop innovative programs connecting businesses, civic leaders, students and residents. 

Ms. Melendez is a graduate of UC Berkeley where she studied Chicano Studies and Community Development. She also has a Master’s degree from the College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona in Urban and Regional Planning where she studied suburban poverty, the Inland Empire and economic development.