I’ll admit, my best mentors have been men, and I am grateful for their unwavering support and guidance. I’ve also experienced the confusion and frustration when a female collaborator turned competitive, when a hand that could have opened a door instead shut it in my face. 

This year’s list features innovators, disruptors and creators who are invigorating our cities and challenging the status quo. The impact they’ll make in our local communities and beyond will help define our future.

It’s inevitable. You’re just getting into a groove with your business and team when someone announces she’s retiring, moving on, starting a family or going back to school. Or maybe you’re about to take a long-awaited vacation when you find out an employee has given notice.

The idea of Sacramento adopting the so-called “strong mayor” system of city government is dead. It’s kaput. If this was baseball, it was out on strikes even before voters threw another heater past Mayor Kevin Johnson’s fourth attempt at it in 2014. It’s done. Or maybe it’s not.

Standing at the base of the Capitol Towers apartment complex, I couldn’t help but notice a sign posted on an outside window last week that simply said, “Goodbye.” I’m sad to note that A&A Grocery, a 37-year presence in downtown Sacramento, will soon be closing its doors.

Russ Lester’s property looks, at first glance, like that of many of his neighbors. He grows about 900 acres of walnut trees a few miles east of Winters. But at Dixon Ridge Farms, Lester never tills his land, and he keeps cover crops growing most of the time. He also laces the earth around his trees with biochar, charcoal-like leftovers from biomass energy production.

We sat down recently with Erica Taylor, Golden 1 Vice President of Communications & Community Relations and last year’s Young Professional of the Year, to talk about the credit union’s efforts to attract and retain younger employees and customers.

Sacramento’s music scene is about to get bigger. Ace of Spades — the downtown, live-music venue on R Street — was recently purchased by House of Blues Entertainment, a division of Live Nation Entertainment.

When it comes to food, millennials are twice as likely as any other generation to give a whisk about organic and locally-sourced meals. Some even credit millennials’ disdain for junk food with the downward fiscal spiral of the country’s top 25 food and beverage industries. Though it may seem simple, these ideas are turning the food industry on its head.