Q and A
with New Chamber President/CEO
Danielle Borja Carrying the Chamber Forward ConejoView: Tell us about your background and what led to you becoming CEO of the Chamber? Danielle Borja: I was born and raised in Thousand Oaks and absolutely love this community. After graduation, I attended Moorpark College before transferring to California Lutheran University earning a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications and eventually my MBA. My first introduction to the business world was an internship for Caruso Affiliated, which led to my first job as a Production Coordinator at GO West Events & Multimedia in Westlake Village. That role gave me an important foundation for the production industry orchestrating programs for a number of corporate clients including Anthem Blue Cross and Jafra Cosmetics over the next three years. Then after a short time running the Design Studio for Pottery Barn while finishing up my MBA, I found myself full circle back at Caruso Affiliated as their Director of Marketing for the West Valley Region. This position combined my events, marketing and retail experience to market outdoor lifestyle centers including: The Promenade at Westlake, The Lakes at Thousand Oaks and The Commons at Calabasas. When a round of mid-management layoffs eliminated my position at Caruso, I found myself shifting to the nonprofit sector joining the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce team as their Events Manager in 2012. My initial role quickly grew into the Director of Events and in less than a year, I took over both departments when our Director of Marketing vacated her position in 2013. My time at the Chamber over the past seven years has been a transformative journey; giving me opportunities and building professional relationships that I would have never imagined. As the department lead for events and marketing we took on: rebranding the organization, created a professional quarterly magazine (yes, ConejoView!), and redesigned multiple websites while elevating the production value of every signature event and the organization along the way. CV: What do you see as the strengths of our business community or what makes us unique? DB: Our business community is diverse, dynamic and engaged. The combination of our bio-tech community which is currently growing, the Los Angeles Rams current training facility and corporate headquarters, our state-of-the-art regional hospital and local healthcare companies, top rated schools and universities combined with a
6 | ConejoView
SPRING 2020
