Sonya Kay Blake is the President & CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance based in Sherman Oaks, California. In this capacity, she is a leading catalyst facilitating economic development in the San Fernando Valley, a vital and burgeoning region of the City of Los Angeles comprising 5 cities, 1.9 million residents and 160,000 businesses. The Alliance’s activities include promoting business vitality, efficient mobility, workforce development, affordable housing, and other aspects of establishing and maintaining livable, sustainable, and equitable communities.
Prior to her leadership of the Alliance, Sonya served as Director of Community Business in Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Economic Development, where she played a role in the City’s rollout of an $11 million small business emergency microloan program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also helped Mayor Garcetti to launch entrepreneurship training programs, formulate the economic development package of the city’s community development block grant, and undertake City-wide community revitalization efforts.
Sonya has also served as CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners – Los Angeles, Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate in the office of former Governor Gray Davis, Assistant Dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, and Director of Corporate Giving at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Sonya graduated from Yale University and the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. She has lived in Valley Glen since 2003 with her husband, Stephen, and has three school-age children.