SAN DIEGO STANDOUTS 2026 WOMEN OF INFLUENCE SERIES
San Diego Weekly’s first networking event on May 7th gathered changemakers, community builders and honorees from across the San Diego, California, Cali-Baja region, and Beyond.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — There are nights that unveil themselves loudly while others settle into you quietly, the way a powerful conversation does, the way the realization that something powerful just occurred. The first networking event of San Diego Weekly was the second kind.
For months, we have been sharing the stories of those who refashion this region and for the March 2026 women’s day and international women’s day coverage, the San Diego Standouts Series chronicled the changemakers. The students, the mothers, the educators, the advocates, those who fight, create, and translate ideas into influential community-driven solutions that the rest of us can touch. These were the honorees present at the San Diego Weekly networking event, individuals whose work murmurs beneath the surface of everyday life across the Cali-Baja region.
A Region Built Quietly, in Harmony
Sitting on the edge of a binational corridor, the Cali-Baja region offers a unique economic and communal ecosystem in which entrepreneurs, artists, advocates, educators, and more move between cultures and languages with fluency. This diversity makes the region a quiet engine of leadership and innovation, often overlooked, without platforms to match the work being done within it.
That inconsistency between the changemakers and the absence of recognition is what the San Diego Standouts Series was built to change.
A Room as diverse as the Region Itself
It was all about who walked through the door. Individuals who spent years, sometimes decades, dedicated to change their lives and those around them. People not chasing attention, just steadily improving the architecture of their community and enterprise making up the wealth of this area.
Men and women who have spent their careers fighting for justice and the dignity of those who build this region.
Architects of models like Women of Southeast, and other self-funded and mission-driven collectives building economic empowerment, strategic investment, and visibility for Black women across San Diego.
Creative minds, podcasters, photographers, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more, all translating their value to the soul of the region. Individuals constructing a creative ecosystem, unbothered by the line that tries to pull them apart.
Professors and educators who have spent their lives shaping the minds that build this area without recognition. Dr. Cheryl O’Brien, head of the International Security and Conflict Resolution program at SDSU, preparing students to be changemakers. Dr. Kirsten Lollis, providing relief and direction to students rebuilding their lives through education pathways.
Entrepreneurs with ventures at the intersections of tech, culture, tradition, commerce, and community impact such as Katty Ibarra, Glynis Carter, and Felena Hanson.
Intertwined through every category, the women honored during our March 2026 series. Those who had been celebrated on our page were now standing in front of each other forming a remarkable bond driven by their desire for positive change
Most of the time, these are people who have been working in isolation or in small clusters, unaware of how many others were doing the same. By gathering the network in one place, we reminded everybody that they were not alone. Support has always been there, it had just never been gathered in the same room. We changed that dynamic.
The Region showed up with all its brilliance to lit up a room in honor of those working under the shadow. These are the people that walked through the door, leaders at their finest.
A Glimpse into the Event
The most moving moments of the night were not the speeches, the toasts, or the award recognition, but the simple sight of individuals coming together, recognizing their work and advocating for positive change. Beyond the irresistible laughter, there were dozens of conversations stretched past their natural endings, creating a unique symbiosis that had been building digitally for months.
Looking Ahead
In a region as diverse and ambitious as San Diego, California and the Cali-Baja corridor, recognition without connection is meaningless. The first San Diego Weekly networking event was a turning point, not because of its size or its program, but because it inspired already accomplished leaders to collaborate and develop new ideas they could not achieve on their own. This dynamic showed how digital storytelling can become a living relationship when profiles can become a network.
For San Diego, California, for the Cali-Baja region, and for the broader landscape of community-driven leadership, this evening marked something larger than itself. It marked the beginning of a chapter in which the work of the region’s changemakers no longer happens alone.
“Writing the stories is the preface, converging the actors who live them to inspire change is the main chapter.”
– San Diego Weekly Editorial Team
This was more than a networking event. It inspired already accomplished leaders to collaborate with one another and develop new ideas they could not achieve on their own. Every connection will carry on. New projects will flourish. The San Diego Weekly community will thrive.
San Diego Standouts Recognition Badge
This recognition is part of the San Diego Weekly Standouts Series honoring leaders helping shape San Diego, California and the Cali-Baja region.
Honorees and event participants may reference this recognition as:
San Diego Weekly Standouts | March 2026 Series
About the San Diego Standouts Series
The San Diego Standouts Series from San Diego Weekly highlights individuals whose leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and service are helping shape the future of San Diego, California, the Cali-Baja region, and communities connected to the region around the world.
Share a Story Worth Telling
Community nominations and story ideas are welcome.
Learn more or submit story ideas at:
Profiles featured in the San Diego Standouts Series are selected by the San Diego Weekly editorial team to highlight individuals whose leadership and service are helping shape San Diego and the Cali-Baja region. The Editor’s Choice is for individuals whose impact on San Diego and the broader region is undeniable: the founders redefining industries, the advocates transforming communities, and the visionaries building what comes next. Past and current considerations include civic leaders, nonprofit founders, tech entrepreneurs, educators, creatives, and cultural icons across the San Diego and Cali-Baja region. These editorial recognitions are independent features and honors, there is no fee required to be selected.
San Diego Weekly also offers separate sponsored storytelling and advertising opportunities for organizations wishing to highlight their work through paid promotional features.
Sponsored collaborations are always clearly labeled to distinguish them from editorial recognitions.