SACRAMENTO, CA. (January 10, 2024) — The American Red Cross is pleased to announce that Jacquelyn Clites has been named the new Regional Chief Executive Officer of the organization’s California Gold Country Region. In this role, she will also serve as Executive Director for the region’s Sierra-Delta Chapter.
The California Gold Country Region of the Red Cross is made up of more than 1,600 volunteers. They serve our local population in a variety of ways including opening shelters during disasters, hosting several hundred mobile blood drives annually, offering lifesaving training, supporting active-duty military members and their families, providing support to those impacted by home fires and installing free smoke alarms as part of our Sound the Alarm campaign. In 2023, the region launched its Latino Engagement program to ensure our services are available to diverse populations including the Latinx community, which is the largest ethnic minority in the region.
“I'm excited to continue my tenure with the Red Cross by joining the California Gold Country Region. Our region is unique and vast, supporting 26 counties. I look forward to serving alongside our diverse team of Red Crossers, donors, and partners – working together allows us to bring help and hope to the communities we serve,” she said.
Clites joined the American Red Cross in 2011 after practicing law with a focus on estate planning. Since then, she served as the Gift Planning Officer for the San Diego Region and then Senior Gift Planning Officer for the Los Angeles and Pacific Island Regions. In 2017, Clites was selected as a Gift Planning Director managing a team of Gift Planning Officers across several divisions. In these roles, she assisted donors and their advisors in making gifts to accomplish their philanthropic goals, and helped create a legacy of giving that will benefit the organization for many years to come.
In 2022, Clites successfully completed the American Red Cross Leadership Education and Development Program (LEAD), a two-year, enterprise-wide program for high-performing employees interested developing skills to enhance current performance, as well as gain key experiences needed to meet the future needs of the organization. As a result, she also recently served as the Interim Regional Executive for the Red Cross in South Florida, and as Interim Chief Development Officer in the Virginia Region in 2021.
The California Gold Country Region serves more than 3.7 million people. The Northern California Chapter includes Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, Butte, Glenn, Mendocino, Lake, and Colusa counties. The Sierra-Delta Chapter covers Sierra, Yuba, Nevada, Placer, Sutter, El Dorado, Yolo, Sacramento, Amador, Alpine, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.