Candidate for
Councilmember; City of Paso Robles

Ms Avila spent more than 20 years in Silicon Valley first as a manager, then executive, then entrepreneur in the technology industry. During that time, Ms Avila received numerous awards for her contributions to a special segment of the industry - unified communications. She has been a frequent speaker at conferences and a prolific writer for a number of industry publications.

Ms Avila mentored 80 small business owners nation-wide for 7 years and went on to start a consulting practice leveraging the knowledge she gained in the mentoring process. Her consulting clients included Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Avaya, and others.

Ms Avila left Silicon Valley to come to Paso Robles, where she has engaged with the community through her position as Director of Economic Development for the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce. In this role, Ms Avila has worked on programs and education to strengthen the small business community in Paso. Understanding the need for a skilled workforce in Paso, she has also brought together business and education, and currently serves on the county-wide Workforce Investment Board and the education Career Pathways Taskforce.

After so many years in a fast-paced industry that is impacting everyone's daily lives and communication, Ms Avila is very aware of the changes that Paso Robles will face in the coming years.

Ms Avila is the mother of two sons and the grandmother of 3 wonderful grandchildren.