Our Team
Executive Director
Amanda Hughes
Stanislaus 2030 is a public-private partnership led and operated by full-time Executive Director Amanda Hughes. In this role, Amanda oversees a team that drives distributed implementation of multiple initiatives relating to Stanislaus 2030 shared priorities, including talent development, childcare expansion, and small business supports. As the center of gravity for Stanislaus 2030, Amanda provides sustained leadership, neutral facilitation support to hold partners accountable, and identifies new funding that aligns with Stanislaus 2030 strategies, while also creating a platform to track and measure progress metrics over time.
Program Director
Yolanda Meraz
Yolanda Meraz is the Program Director at Stanislaus 2030, an initiative dedicated to driving inclusive economic growth and innovation in the region. Ms. Meraz is a nonprofit professional with over 20 years of experience in community investment, philanthropy, Community Development Financial Institutions, marketing, product development, strategic planning, and advocacy. Additionally, she serves as Associate Director for North Valley THRIVE, representing the North San Joaquin region for the California Jobs First initiative.
Our Advisory Committee
Stanislaus 2030 is programmatically overseen and supported by an independent Advisory Committee that provides direct oversight of the intermediary project management team, ensures effective strategy implementation, and tracks progress on key outcomes outlined in the Investment Blueprint. Committee members oversee the public-private partnership and represent a balance of sector expertise, geographic diversity, and community perspective. ​​​​
Sponsor Partner
The Stanislaus 2030 team is incubated at Stanislaus Community Foundation, providing financial and administrative backbone support for the public-private partnership over the next three years. Stanislaus 2030 is governed by an independent advisory committee.
Investment Partners
The Stanislaus 2030 team is generously supported by investments from the following sponsors: Stanislaus County, Beard Land Improvement Company, City of Modesto, E. & J. Gallo Winery and Wells Fargo.
Please view individual initiative pages for specific project sponsors and partners.
Read the Latest News About Us
To read the latest news about Stanislaus 2030 and our partners, click here.
Our Stanislaus 2030 Journey
It takes coordination, planning and consistent action on the part of a community to create sustainable, meaningful change. Stanislaus 2030 started in 2021 and will take many years to implement and will certainly evolve over time to meet the community’s needs. Below is a brief overview of the journey to date and what is planned in the future.
2021 – 2022 Stanislaus 2030 Ideation and Plan Creation: Stanislaus 2030 was initially launched as a multi-sector initiative co-led by local business leaders, higher education and government partners alongside labor and community-based organizations to create and deliver a joint strategy and investment plan for improved economic growth, prosperity, and inclusion in Stanislaus County. That planning phase was complete with the publishing of the Investment Blueprint in November 2022.
2023 Stanislaus 2030 Team Launch: A Stanislaus 2030 team is launched to drive distributed implementation of the Investment Blueprint strategies, establish an advisory committee, begin implementation for prioritized strategies and initiate pilot programs.
​2024 and 2025: The Stanislaus 2030 team tracks data, evaluates progress towards key metrics, reports impact to the community and funders; secures funds to scale identified investment strategies that demonstrate results; scale priority strategies and tactics with corresponding evaluation metrics.
About Stanislaus 2030
Read a fact sheet about how Stanislaus 2030 has evolved.