LOS ANGELES, Calif. (October 27, 2025) – Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) announced today that BizFed founding CEO, Tracy Hernandez, will be stepping down as CEO of the LA-based grassroots alliance dedicated to strengthening the voice of business, to focus her significant energies on leading the New California Coalition (NCC) –an organization she co-founded alongside Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman. Hernandezhas served as CEO of both BizFed and NCC for the past two years. She will remain in her day-to-day role as Founding CEO of BizFed until her official departure date of March 31st, 2026.
“Since founding the organization, Tracy Hernandez has led BizFed with an unparalleled level of fearless commitment. Her ability to communicate pressing issues facing California businesses and coalesce diverse voices within the BizFed structure and beyond – far exceeds anything our individual member organizations could have ever accomplished,” said BizFed 2025 Board Chair, Angela Gibson-Shaw. “BizFed is forever grateful to her for her vision, bold leadership and stalwart friendship. She will be deeply missed, but her legacy is BizFed’s powerful advocacy machine and massive organizational foundation through which BizFed will carry forth the torch Tracy ignited 17 years ago.”
Since co-founding BizFed in 2008 along with former Board Chair of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, David Fleming, under Hernandez’ leadership, BizFed has grown from a nascent, bold idea to a massive grassroots alliance comprised of over 245 diverse business groups mobilizing 420,000 employers with five million employees across chambers of commerce, trade associations, minority business groups, economic development organizations, business improvement districts, and other business groups to advocate for policies and projects that strengthen the regional California economy, and whose diverse mobilizing voice and power-in-numbers approach to advocating on key economic issues helped shaped legislation in various sectors that affect all Californians such as housing, transportation, water, land-use and infrastructure, energy and the environment, technology, arts, sports and entertainment, while always focused on poverty alleviation.
“After almost two decades of uniting and empowering Southern California’s diverse business organizations to strengthen our collective voice and hold law makers to account, and advance policies that work for more people across Los Angeles County and neighboring areas, I’m proud to hand this strong alliance to the next generation of leaders ready to elevate its impact,” said Hernandez. “Now, I’m turning my full focus to the New California Coalition— fighting for common-sense solutions and supporting state leaders who are committed to making California a place where everyone can afford to live and do business.”
“Tracy is a superior fighter and organizer who created and built LA BizFed into a highly successful institution. Through her amazing leadership, NCC has quickly become an increasingly powerful force for good in our state helping BizFed and Bay Area Council, along with 900 other partner groups, raise its voice with our State Legislature and Administration. Her decision to make NCC her full-time focus reinforces the conviction I held when I asked her to lead,” noted Jim Wunderman, Board Chair of New California Coalition.
“We knew that there was a need to organize all the existing business groups into a relentless voice for business with communications tools that captured the attention of the elected and appointed officials to give job creators a real seat at every level of government. It was Tracy who then envisioned and built the massive coalition with all its complementary affiliates that BizFed is today, and I am so proud of all we’ve accomplished because of her leadership” said David Fleming, Founding Chair of BizFed.
At the same time, the BizFed PAC has strategically engaged in endorsing and electing over 330 business friendly candidates throughout the 88 cities in Los Angeles County, and the BizFed Institute has established itself as an action-oriented think tank tackling the region’s most pressing issues by reaching consensus with leading community partners to define the intelligent, inclusive, and impactful voice of business.
In 2018, BizFed launched its first licensed expansion beyond LA County into the Central Valley encompassing an area from Bakersfield to Fresno. The Central Valley Business Federation (BizFed CV) is its own force to be reckoned with, includingover 75 member associations and firms representing over 30,000 companies, with400,000 employees.
The BizFed Board will initiate a comprehensive search to identify the organization’s next CEO.
ABOUT LOS ANGELES BUSINESS FEDERATION (BIZFED)
Founded in 2008 by former Los Angeles Daily News Publisher Tracy Hernandez, The Los Angeles Business Federation (BizFed) is a massive, mobilizing grassroots alliance based in Los Angeles, California uniting 245 diverse business groups and mobilizing 420,000 employers with five million employees across chambers of commerce, trade associations, minority business groups, economic development organizations, business improvement districts, and other business groups to advocate for policies and projects that strengthen the regional economy. BizFed’s network of investing and nonprofit member committees include Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Olympics; California Air Resources Board & South Coast Air Quality Management District; Energy & Environment; Goods Movement, Transportation & Mobility; Health Care & Life Sciences; Housing, Land Use, Development, Real Estate & CEQA; Polling & Messaging; Responsible Governance; Small Business & Employment; Water; and Workforce Development, Education & Anti-Poverty bizfed.org.
ABOUT NEW CALIFORNIA COALITION (NCC)
The New California Coalition is dedicated to coalescing and mobilizing a broad-base, nonpartisan, long-term civic action movement focused on recalibrating California’s political leaders toward pragmatic, common sense policy solutions. Leveraging research, organizing, advocacy, communication and direct voter contact, NCC seeks to unlock a new era of economic opportunity for all Californians. newcaliforniacoalition.org
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MEDIA CONTACT: BizFed Director of Communications, Elizabeth Daubel, elizabeth.daubel@bizfed.org