A message from our Board Chair on Business For Good in 2025
Hello, Business For Good San Diego Community! I’m Emily Renda, and I’m honored to introduce myself as the new Board Chair for Business For Good.
After serving as Board Secretary in 2024 and being actively involved with the Summit Planning Committee and Membership Engagement Committee for the past several years, I’m excited to take on this new role within our incredible organization.
In these uncertain times, I believe we need community more than ever. Business For Good has been that vibrant, rich community for me since I joined two years ago. I’ve found a home among passionate business leaders who believe in using business as a force for positive change in San Diego.
I also want to say a special thank you to our co-founder and outgoing Board Chair, Mikey Knab. Your vision, leadership and dedication has created a meaningful and impactful community here in San Diego. We are so grateful to have you leading our policy and advocacy efforts at Business For Good.
Our Business For Good member survey: What you told us
At the beginning of the year, we set out to develop our 2025 game plan based on the feedback of our BFG members. I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated in our membership survey—an impressive 43% of our members responded.
Here’s what we learned about why you’re part of BFG:
- Community Connection: The most common reason for joining is to connect with like-minded, purpose-driven business owners
- Meaningful Networking: You value opportunities to build relationships that go beyond traditional business networking
- Policy Engagement: Many of you are passionate about local policy advocacy and creating systemic change
- Professional Development: You’re seeking opportunities to grow your businesses while staying true to your values
Meaningful networking opportunities. Connecting with like-minded, purpose-driven business owners. Learning about local policy and advocacy. And making a real, positive impact in San Diego. This is everything BFG is about, and we couldn’t agree more!
Our plans at Business For Good in 2025
At our annual Board of Directors retreat in February, we strategized for the year ahead, taking into consideration all the feedback you shared with us. We decided to pursue the following ideas to make 2025 our best year yet:
- Enhanced Networking: Our recent Spring Social Event was a fantastic success, bringing together long-standing members and new faces in an evening full of connection and collaboration. A special thank you to Alexis Piotrowski of Orbit Leadership for leading our Netweaving session, which turned out to be a major hit. After seeing the impact of Netweaving at our 2024 (Doing) Business For Good Summit, and at the Spring Social, we’re excited to offer even more of these opportunities in 2025.
- Advocacy Education and Training: At our August General Member Meeting, we have something special planned—an advocacy education and training session led by Mikey Knab and Erica Castillo, BFG member and advocacy expert. This session dives deep into what advocacy truly means, why it’s important that local business owners speak up, how to get involved, and the best practices for making an impact. Whether you’re totally new to advocacy and policy education, or you’re a seasoned expert, this is your chance to learn more about how advocacy and policy engagement works at BFG.
- Community Impact: Our “Day of Service” will be a way for all of us to come together and support our vibrant San Diego communities. We want as many BFG members to join us for this incredible opportunity to give back. If you’ve ever wanted to get more engaged in the community, this is the perfect chance. Stay tuned for more details.
- Professional Development and Skill Building: Workshops focused on the areas you identified as most valuable—leadership, sales, marketing, finance/HR, and legal—are currently being developed to launch by the end of Q2
- Fundraising Focus: Fundraising is one of our biggest goals in 2025. We’ve got some exciting plans in the works, including:
- Fundraising campaigns, more Fundraising Chef’s Dinners, Restaurant Give Back Nights, group outings, and much more. Have a great fundraising idea or experience working in fundraising? Please reach out to chat about collaborating
- More mission-aligned grant opportunities and strategic partnerships
- Another fabulous Silent Auction at the BFG End of Year Social
- Round Table Discussions: We’ve introduced Round Table sessions into our General Member Meetings. This year, our January, April, and September General Member Meetings feature a members-only discussion in lieu of a guest speaker. These sessions give us all a chance to learn more about the purposeful work we’re doing. We get also get to hear directly from you about what you want from BFG. These collaborative discussions help guide our strategic focus. They make sure we’re addressing the needs that matter most to our members.
Our next BFG Round Table discussion will be at our April General Member Meeting this Wednesday, April 9th at 5:30pm at the San Diego Made Factory.
To wrap up, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our incredible BFG members and dedicated board of directors. You’re part of something unique and powerful—the “voice of San Diego business” that’s taking an active role in creating a more sustainable, just region by advocating for forward-thinking measures and initiatives. We have the power to influence meaningful public policy, create real connections, and uplift each other.
At Business For Good, we’re more than just an organization—we’re a community. One that listens, collaborates, and takes action to make San Diego a better place for all. We are beyond excited for everything 2025 has in store. I can’t wait to see you at an upcoming event soon!
