Seattle’s Kate Joncas to Keynote 2019 State of Downtown

Come January 22, the region's business community will convene to celebrate Sacramento’s thriving urban core at the 21st annual State of Downtown breakfast presented by Kaiser Permanente.

Produced by Downtown Sacramento Partnership, the annual celebration highlights the projects and amenities recently completed, developments under construction and previews revitalization initiatives and projects. This year, former Seattle deputy mayor Kate Joncas will keynote alongside an address by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

“The lessons we can learn from Seattle’s exponential growth are invaluable,” said Michael Ault, executive director of Downtown Sacramento Partnership. “We’re excited to welcome Kate to explore the ideas and initiatives that will give our downtown a strategic advantage be the envy of other cities.”

As Owner/Principal of PlaceStrategic since 2018, Joncas provides strategic planning, downtown development and public/private partnership strategies to clients who need to solve complicated urban development problems. Prior, she served as Deputy Mayor for four years to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray where she managed city operations, led complex intergovernmental projects including Seattle’s waterfront redevelopment and Convention Center expansion, and developed a nationally recognized government performance initiative. Previously, Joncas led one of the most successful revitalization projects in the country as the President & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association for two decades. Before helping to form the Downtown Seattle Association, she helped dozens of communities – including Sacramento – to design and implement successful downtown revitalization strategies at the National Main Street Center.

Said Joncas, “I am thrilled be returning to Sacramento. This is an up and coming cool city! Sacramento has an incredible opportunity to capitalize on its growth while remaining a great place to live and I look forward to sharing some the lessons we learned as Seattle evolved.”

During the 2-hour event, members of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership board will honor the memory of board member Ali Youssefi, who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer in 2018, with the JVance Stewart Award for Community Service.

State of Downtown will be held at the Hyatt Regency, located at 1209 L Street in Sacramento, on January 22 at 8 a.m. Tickets range from $40 (gallery seating) to $100 (includes breakfast) and are available at DowntownSac.org/SOD2019.