Naydeen Gonzalez-De Jesus Named New President of San Antonio College

 San Antonio College has selected Dr. Naydeen González-De Jesús as its 13th president, making her the first woman president in a quarter century and only the second to hold the office since the college’s founding in 1925. 

González-De Jesús, who serves as executive vice president of Student Success at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), was approved unanimously by the Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Dec. 13. She will officially begin her new role on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, succeeding SAC Interim President Dr. Francisco Solis, who has served in that capacity since June. 

 A first-generation college graduate, Dr. González-De Jesús is an Aspen Rising Presidents Fellow and a National Community College Hispanic Council Fellow. 

Prior to her position at MATC, Gonzalez-De Jesus served as the public diplomacy officer for the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, dedicating her time to impacting the lives of students from the U.S. and abroad by creating connections and platforms for student success and faculty-led research. 

Her previous roles include serving as vice president of student affairs for Bergen Community College in New Jersey; associate dean, academic advising, and working with special populations at Rowan College at Burlington County in New Jersey; and as assistant dean of student services and founding member and director of the Center for Student Success at Salem Community College in New Jersey. 

The Honest Company Names CPG Veteran Carla Vernón as CEO 

The Honest Company has named former Amazon and General Mills executive Carla Vernón as its next CEO. The appointment is effective January 9, 2023. 

As CEO, she will be laser-focused on category growth and driving profitability behind the company’s core mission of inspiring everyone to love living consciously. 

“I am thrilled Carla is joining The Honest Company as our next CEO. She is a strategic, visionary leader who will continue to build Honest as the legacy brand for tomorrow’s generation,” said Founder and Chief Creative Officer

 Jessica Alba. “What makes Carla unique is her innate ability to drive product innovation and go-to-market strategies that captivate consumers’ imagination, strengthen brand loyalty, and significantly impact the bottom line. I could not dream of a better person to take Honest into this exciting new chapter. With Carla at the helm, I am confident Honest will continue to redefine category expectations and pave the way for others to follow.” 

Vernón comes to Honest from her recent role as VP of consumables categories at Amazon.com where she led the baby care, household products, food, beverages, health and wellness, and beauty categories to double-digit topline growth on Amazon.com’s $200 billion online stores. She was also instrumental in invigorating Amazon. com’s beauty experience, including increasing the portfolio of emerging and prestige beauty brands, introducing a proprietary virtual lipstick try-on technology, and creating the first-ever seasonal beauty merchandising event: Amazon’s Holiday Beauty Haul. 

Prior to Amazon, Vernón spent more than two decades at General Mills in various P&L leadership roles across the company’s portfolio, with a particular focus on the company’s purpose-driven brands. 

Vernón also serves on the board of trustees for Princeton University. 

City National Bank Names Vanessa Montañez Community Lending National Sales Manager

City National Bank named Vanessa Montañez, D.E.L, the bank’s first community lending national sales manager. In this new role, she will create and manage a team that is responsible for building strategies and programs to expand mortgage lending to serve historically underserved borrowers through community outreach and financial education. Reinforcing City National’s commitment to serving underserved communities, the team will develop a community loan program aimed to increase homeownership that will start in California and expand to all the communities the bank serves. She will also focus on strengthening partnerships by building relationships with nonprofits and community organizations by working closely with the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act team to provide grants to community-based organizations that offer credit, financial education, homeownership counseling, and foreclosure prevention services nationwide. 

“Vanessa will play a key role in strengthening our communities, especially those that are underserved by helping more people achieve the dream of homeownership. She is a purposeful leader with a strong lending background and highly effective strategic management experience,” said Kelly Coffey, chief executive officer of City National. 

Montañez has more than 25 years of experience in residential lending and sales and business development management. Prior to City National, she worked at U.S. Bank, where she served as vice president for the national strategic markets and diverse segments.