Lifting Voices, Lifting Communities: Reflections from the 2025 San Diego Regional EDC Retreat.

By Arnulfo Manriquez
President & CEO, MAAC
Board Member, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation

Last month, I had the privilege of attending the San Diego Regional EDC’s annual delegation retreat as a board member, joining a powerful group of community, business, nonprofits, and civic leaders for three days of deep dialogue in Palm Desert. Each year, the EDC takes a delegation to a different city to learn how regions across the country are tackling the biggest issues of our time: homelessness, job creation, housing access, childcare, early education, and inclusive economic growth.

This was different, it was a retreat. It wasn’t just about learning what other regions are doing. It was about taking an honest look at ourselves, as a region, and asking how we continue to build a San Diego where everyone, no matter their background, has the chance to thrive.

Nonprofits Belong at the Table

As one of only a few nonprofit leaders in the room, I felt a strong responsibility to represent not only the community-based sector, but the people we serve. MAAC has been doing this work for 60 years. In fact, we were founded the same year as the San Diego Regional EDC in 1965. Yet we didn’t begin crossing paths with EDC until about eight years ago.

Since 2017, we’ve worked together more intentionally to uplift communities, close economic gaps, and build real pipelines for underserved families, particularly our Latino population, which makes up 34% of San Diego County. And yet, our representation is still lacking, in education, in elected leadership, and in executive positions across industries, government and institutions.

That gap isn’t due to lack of talent. It’s due to lack of access and opportunity. That’s where our work comes in.

Housing Is Not the Finish Line. It’s the Launchpad.

There was a lot of conversation at the retreat around the cost of housing, permitting delays, and the need to build more units at higher density. I agree—we absolutely need more housing, faster and smarter.

But I also brought a different perspective. Affordable housing is not the finish line. It’s the starting point.

At MAAC, we don’t just build housing. We build pathways. Affordable housing should be temporary for most; it should be a steppingstone to something greater. Our goal is to lift families out of poverty, to help them eventually buy a home, start a business, or send their children to college. And to do that, we need programmatic approaches, not just construction plans. Because housing alone doesn’t solve poverty, opportunity does.

Education Is the Bridge to Thriving Wages

One of the core themes of the retreat was talent pipeline development. That means investing in people; making sure our communities have the chance to earn certifications, associate degrees, or bachelor’s degrees that lead to thriving jobs, not just surviving ones.

When one-third of San Diego County is considered low-income and 65% of that group is Latino, we can’t talk about economic growth without addressing access to post-secondary education. Whether through community colleges, job training programs, or technical certifications, we must remove barriers and open doors. That’s what MAAC was created to do.

The DEI Conversation – Beyond the Words

A particularly challenging but necessary conversation at the retreat was the growing pressure to remove the term DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—from federal language, materials, and programming.

At MAAC, we’ve already removed all DEI references from our website and communications. But I told the group: this doesn’t change our work. Because DEI isn’t just a term, it’s a value. And we’ve been living it long before the acronym existed.

We were born out of the Civil Rights Act. We are a mirror to our community. Our staff looks like the people we serve. Our leadership grows from the neighborhoods we’re rooted in. So while removing DEI from our materials may be a new compliance step, it will never change who we are or why we do what we do.

In fact, I believe this shift can free us from simply checking boxes and move us back to being truly representative at every level, without limitations or performative benchmarks.

Looking Ahead

The retreat’s goals were clear:
• Have honest dialogue about inclusion
• Understand the data behind inclusive growth
• Re-energize leaders across sectors

We did all of that and more. We listened. We pushed each other. We faced uncomfortable truths. And we came out stronger.

There is still work to do. But I left Palm Desert proud; proud of where we’ve come since 2017, and proud to be part of a group that’s committed to building a region that works for everyone.

Let’s keep going.

Arnulfo Manriquez
President & CEO, MAAC
Board Member, San Diego Regional EDC