Meet team EDC.

Mark Cafferty
President & CEO
Mark Cafferty
President & CEO

As president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, Mark Cafferty sits at the center of a unique collaboration of business, trade, community, and education leaders who have redefined the region’s economic development strategy, cementing the region as a key stakeholder in the global economy.
Cafferty has spent more than 20 years designing systems to support career advancement and economic opportunity for American workers. He has served in numerous public-sector leadership positions and has been sought as a consultant on workforce development efforts throughout the country.
Over the last few years, Cafferty was asked to chair San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s Workforce and Economic Advisory Committee, and was appointed to serve on Governor Jerry Brown’s International Trade and Investment Advisory Council.
Cafferty has been recognized regularly by local publications like the San Diego Business Journal, SD Metro, The Daily Transcript, and U-T San Diego. He has been quoted in the New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek and the Los Angeles Times.
A Boston native who now considers San Diego home, he earned his bachelor’s in marketing and communications from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and his advanced certification in Performance Measurement and Non-Profit Management from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2007, Cafferty was selected as a Center for Social Innovation Fellow for International Non-Profit Leaders at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He resides in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood with his amazing wife Charlene Kakimoto and their beautiful sons Kai and Quinn. Charlene is a dermatologist and former lieutenant commander with the United States Navy.
You can follow Mark on twitter at @Markcaffertysd

Catherine DeYoung
Executive Assistant to Mark Cafferty

Lauree Sahba
Chief Operating Officer

Nikia Clarke
Senior Vice President; Executive Director, World Trade Center San Diego
Nikia Clarke
Senior Vice President; Executive Director, World Trade Center San Diego

Dr. Nikia Clarke is Senior Vice President of San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and Executive Director of World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD), an EDC affiliate. She oversees the economic development, research, and global engagement priorities of the organization. Clarke sits on the National Investment Advisory Council, a collection of senior leaders that advises the administration on FDI policy and strategy, and is founder and former Director of OUCAN, an international network of emerging market industry leaders, policy makers and researchers. She also serves on the Board of the International Business program at San Diego State University, and the San Diego Innovation Council. She holds a BA from Loyola Marymount University, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a PhD from Oxford University.

Jennifer Henry Storm
Executive Director, Foundation

Eduardo Velasquez
Sr. Director, Research & Economic Development

Bree Burris
Director, Marketing & Communications

Lucas Coleman
Director, World Trade Center San Diego

Ashley Swartout
Director, Human Resources

Taylor Dunne
Sr. Manager, Talent Initiatives

Teddy Martinez
Sr. Manager, Research

Lindsey Silvia
Sr. Manager, Economic Development

Katie Chaires
Manager, Economic Development

Javier De Leon
Manager, World Trade Center San Diego

Heather Dewis
Manager, Marketing

Andrea Crisantes Suarez
Coordinator, Talent Initiatives

Caroline Murray
Coordinator, World Trade Center San Diego

Liz Muthoni
Coordinator, Investor Relations & Marketing

Sofia Nelson-Ferezi
Coordinator, Research

Sang Nguyen
Coordinator, Research

Rebecca Schulert
Coordinator, Economic Development

Kyle Winnick
Coordinator, Marketing

Janae Dumas
Administrative Coordinator
Want to join the team?
Check out our open full-time positions, or our part-time paid intern program.