Building Sacramento Together: Jim Alves on Relationships and Regional Growth

If you’ve spent much time in Sacramento’s business and civic community, there’s a good chance you’ve crossed paths with Jim Alves. At a chamber event. A community gathering. An economic development conversation. Maybe all three in the same week.

Alves, who works in economic development at SMUD, estimates he attends more than 100 events a year, a schedule he genuinely enjoys. A self-described “extrovert at heart,” Alves says he gets energy from being around people and staying connected to the community.

But behind that busy calendar is something Alves has learned throughout his career: relationships matter, and you never know where one might lead.

A Career Changed by a Connection

After graduating from Cornell University, Alves spent seven years working for the Schwarzenegger Administration, beginning in fiscal policy at the California Department of Finance and eventually serving as an Assistant Secretary at the California Health and Human Services Agency. As the administration neared its end, Alves began considering his next move. He interviewed for lobbying positions and even received an offer to run a state commission.

Then came a lunch invitation he wasn’t expecting.

A colleague Alves had met only briefly two years earlier had since taken an executive role at SMUD and reached out about joining her team.

“That connection completely changed my path,” Alves said. “It reminded me never to underestimate a relationship, even the ones that seem small at the time. You really never know when your paths will cross again.”

He joined SMUD in 2010, beginning a chapter that would eventually make him a familiar face across Sacramento’s business and community landscape. Through years of working alongside businesses, organizations and community leaders, Alves says one quality consistently stands out.

“Sacramento is full of people who care deeply about making this region better,” he said. “Whether it’s a small business owner, a corporate leader, or an elected official, the passion they bring to their work is inspiring.”

From Chamber Partner to Family

Not long after joining SMUD, Alves was introduced to the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce (SacAsian Chamber) through his former colleague and close friend Lori Okamoto, who managed SMUD’s partnerships with the region’s ethnic chambers at the time.

SacAsian Chamber President & CEO, Pat Fong Kushida, soon invited Alves to help plan the Chamber’s Internal Study Mission (ISM). That invitation turned into a relationship spanning more than a decade.

Alves has chaired ISM three times and is preparing to take on the role for a fourth. Over the years, his involvement with SacAsian Chamber has grown to include organizing three federal advocacy trips to Washington, D.C., supporting events like the former Annual Installation and Awards Dinner and the AAPI Night Market, and building relationships with the Chamber team that extend well beyond work.

“They’re more than partners—they’ve become family,” Alves said.

Learning From Our Own Region

Now in its 18th year, the Internal Study Mission brings together leaders from across the Sacramento region for two days of site visits, conversations and behind-the-scenes experiences designed to provide a deeper understanding of the people, projects and industries shaping the region.

For Alves, its value comes from giving Sacramento leaders an opportunity to look more closely at what is happening in their own backyard.

“Every year, we bring together leaders from across the six-county region and give them a chance to really see what makes our community special,” Alves said. “These leaders are our best ambassadors, and ISM helps equip them with the stories and insights that highlight the region’s strengths.”

He sees the experience as a complement to the Metro Chamber’s External Study Mission, which takes regional leaders to other cities to explore ideas and approaches that could be applied back home.

“They go out into other cities to learn from them, while we stay home and learn from ourselves,” Alves said. “Both perspectives are important.”

That opportunity to learn from within the region takes on added significance this year with the theme, Regional Collaboration: Our Next Chapter. As participants visit projects, meet local leaders and hear from communities across the region, the focus is not only on what Sacramento is doing, but what becomes possible when its communities work together.

For Alves, that kind of collaboration is central to how the Sacramento region moves forward.

“In Sacramento, collaboration isn’t just helpful, it’s essential,” he said. “We don’t have Fortune 500 headquarters or billionaire philanthropists who can single-handedly fund major community investments. That means we must rely on each other. When we pool our resources and work together, we can accomplish big things for the region.”

It is that collective approach that Alves sees as one of Sacramento’s strengths. Rather than relying on a single organization, industry or individual to drive progress, the region’s growth depends on leaders across sectors and communities bringing their resources, perspectives and ideas to the table.

A New Chapter for the Region

This year’s ISM will once again introduce participants to a mix of familiar regional figures and leaders whose work may be happening outside the spotlight. One experience Alves is particularly looking forward to is a conversation bringing together leaders from five of the region’s largest Tribal communities. When Alves looks beyond this year’s program to Sacramento’s future more broadly, one characteristic gives him particular confidence: the region’s diversity.

“Sacramento is one of the most diverse communities in the country, and when we celebrate and lean into that strength, amazing things happen.”

For someone whose career has become so intertwined with Sacramento, the work is also personal.

“Sacramento is home for me,” Alves said. “So when a project I work on makes a difference, it’s not just affecting the community—it’s impacting my own family. I want to help make this region stronger for our kids and for all the people who will continue choosing Sacramento as their home.”

And despite being one of the more recognizable faces on Sacramento’s event circuit, there is at least one part of Alves’ story that still catches people by surprise. Before Cornell, state government, SMUD and more than 100 events a year, Alves got his start somewhere very different.

“I was born and raised on a dairy farm in the Central Valley,” he said. “Most people are convinced I grew up in a city!”

From a Central Valley dairy farm to helping convene leaders from across the Sacramento region, Alves’ path is a fitting reminder of the idea at the heart of this year’s Internal Study Mission: our region moves forward through the relationships we build, the perspectives we bring together and our willingness to keep showing up.

The 18th Annual Internal Study Mission: Regional Collaboration: Our Next Chapter takes place October 21–22, 2026.