Meet Sylvia Schnopp, VCCDC's New Fund Development Director!

I’m Sylvia Muñoz Schnopp and happy to be the new Director of Fund Development at VCCDC. As a native of Oxnard, my family’s roots in this area can be traced to the early 1900s. I grew up in Ventura County and attended local schools, so I consider myself very blessed to have been able to raise my family in the area. Most recently I served 12 years on the Port Hueneme City Council, which included three terms as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, respectively. As a policy leader, my decisions helped transform lives through community initiatives including enhanced infrastructure investments, revenue growth, community engagement, and public safety.

As adjunct professor of business and accounting at Oxnard College, I also created a comprehensive financial literacy model for First Year Experience students to help undergird their financial wellbeing, encourage good financial choices during college years, and build on this success in their professional careers.

I’ve invested much of my career in Corporate America, with national and regional impact at AT&T Wireless Services and Recreational Equipment, Inc., as well as with notable nonprofits such as Women’s Economic Ventures and United Way of Ventura County, and as a local entrepreneur. While at AT&T I helped provide the framework for the first Hispanic marketing initiative; at REI I helped create the Thomas Fire Trail Fund for trail rebuilding;  and while at United Way I created the nationally-acclaimed “Day of Caring” Volunteer Event that is implemented annually in many communities across the country.

I currently serve as chairperson of the newly created Ventura County Climate Emergency Council and Rent Review Mediation Commission for the City of Camarillo. I’ve also served on the board of directors for California Joint Powers in Insurance Authority, Ventura County Council of Government (VCOG), Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County (EDC-VC), Gold Coast Transit District, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, and The Museum of Ventura County.

I earned a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Finance from California Lutheran University and hold a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from California State University, Northridge. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, as well as the final steps in publishing a historical fiction based on my family’s true story during Mexico’s Revolucion Cristera.

I look forward to helping impact the incredible work VCCDC does in our communities, reaching new heights during our next 20 years!