SBCC Installation & Business Awards Banquet

The Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 25th year anniversary of advocating for and promoting African American businesses in the Greater Sacramento area on December 8, 2010 at the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento.  There will be 600+ business owners, corporate and community leaders attending this event.  

The theme for this year’s event is “Sustainability through Collaboration”. The annual dinner allows the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation to provide programs and services that assist in bolstering the long-term economic strength and quality of life of the African American business community.  Receiving the President’s Award and the Keynote Speaker for this year’s event will be Chet Hewitt, President/CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation.

Keynote Speaker: Chet Hewitt Chet P. Hewitt is the President and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation in Sacramento, California. Since joining the foundation in 2007, Chet has developed and implemented strategies in response to the economic downturn’s impact on the foundation’s endowment and the communities it serves.

He has better-aligned the foundation’s assets with its mission, initiated new policy and responsive investment programs, and increased the percentage of total expenditures directed toward grantmaking.

Before joining Sierra Health, Chet served as the director of the Alameda County Social Services Agency, an integrated human services system in one of the largest counties in California. While in Alameda, he became known as “The People’s Director” for his commitment to underserved populations. Chet’s leadership resulted in the agency receiving numerous local, state and national awards for its use of technology, child welfare reforms and increasing enrollment in nutrition and subsidized health programs.

From 1996 to 2000, Chet served as an associate director with the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) in New York, where he managed its placed-based national employment initiatives. He led RF’s expansion into California, where he developed and oversaw its partnership with The California Endowment. Previously, he served as the founding director of the Detention Diversion Advocacy Project at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco.

Chet has won several awards including an Annie E. Casey Children and Families Fellowship and the 2009 Child Welfare Administrator of the Year award from Black Administrators in Child Welfare. Chet serves on numerous boards and commissions including United Way of the California Capital Region, Grantmakers in Health, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Social Interest Solutions, and the City of Sacramento’s Policy Board to End Homelessness.

Born and raised in New York City, Chet credits life experience as the source of his commitment to serve those less fortunate than himself. In addition to his work, he enjoys cycling and gardening. Chet has been married to his wife, Laura, for seven years and is an active partner in raising their sons, Chet and Stephan.

The goal of the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce is to strengthen the region’s economic engine with specific focus on issues of economic development and workforce development, advocacy and education.

Don’t miss this event.  For more information call the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce at (916) 231-0416 or check the website at www.sacblackchamber.org.