06/26/2026
Last night, I had the privilege of attending Sacramento Business Journal’s New CEOs gathering at SAFE Credit Union.
What made the evening especially meaningful was that it was also a celebration of David Lichtman’s retirement as Publisher of the Sacramento Business Journal. During his tenure, David created something truly valuable through the New CEO dinner series — bringing together leaders who are in the first 2 years of becoming CEOs to build real relationships, learn from one another, and create a peer network we can lean on as we grow into these roles.
As someone still early in that journey, I can say those kinds of rooms matter. Leadership can be rewarding, but it can also be isolating. Having the opportunity to connect with other CEOs, have higher-level conversations, and build authentic peer-to-peer relationships is incredibly valuable.
I’m grateful as well to have reconnected with so many great people throughout the evening, including Adonai Mack, Julie Hirota, Delania Lustig, as well as meeting other impressive leaders like Craig Adelman.
It was also great to hear that Bryan Flaherty will be stepping into the publisher role as David begins his retirement. Wishing both David and Brian nothing but success in this next chapter.
A sincere thank you to David for his personal mentorship, his warm welcome, and for creating a space that brings new CEOs together in such a meaningful way.