Isabella Casillas Guzman (born 1970) is an American government official serving as the administrator of the Small Business Administration in the Biden administration. She assumed office on March 17, 2021. She is the fifth Latina woman to ever have served in the

Cabinet of the United States The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to t ...

Early life and education

Guzman was born in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. Guzman is of Mexican ancestry. She hails from four generations of Texans who originally fled the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

from the states of

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and ...

and

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

. In the 1960s, Guzman's father moved from Texas to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. According to a Larta Institute profile, Guzman claims her

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

also includes

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and possibly

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

ancestry. Her parents owned a small business. Guzman received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Career

Guzman was studio manager and managing partner at Miauhaus Studios from 1998 to 2002, continuing as managing partner through 2010. She served as a deputy appointments secretary for California Governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

from 2002 to 2003. She was manager and advisor to founder at Illulian from 2003 to 2005, taking a sabbatical in 2004 to consult during the launch of Fortius Holdings. She was director of strategic initiatives and advisor to founding chair at ProAmerica Bank from 2009 to 2014, then joined the Small Business Administration in 2014 as deputy chief of staff. From 2017 to 2019, she worked as an independent consultant with clients such as the Larta Institute, before co-founding and directing GovContractPros in 2018. Beginning April 2019, Guzman served as the director of California's Office of the Small Business Advocate, a department within the

California Governor's Office of Economic Development The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) was created by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2012. GO-Biz serves as the State of California's leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of se ...

. On January 7, 2021, it was announced that Guzman would be President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for administrator of the Small Business Administration. Guzman was reported out of the

Senate Small Business Committee The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems ...

by a 15–5 vote, and confirmed on March 16, 2021, in a 81–17 vote of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

References

External links

Biography
at the

United States Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Guzman, Isabel 1970s births American people of Mexican descent American people of German descent American people of Jewish descent Administrators of the Small Business Administration Biden administration cabinet members Hispanic and Latino American members of the Cabinet of the United States Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people People from Burbank, California University of Pennsylvania alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Women members of the Cabinet of the United States Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women