SLO Chamber of Commerce names citizen of the year. Here’s why she won
Longtime community leader Geri LaChance was named San Luis Obispo’s 2025 citizen of the year.
The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce honored LaChance and her contributions to the community during its annual dinner on Saturday night alongside more than 600 guests, a news release said.
LaChance moved to San Luis Obispo in 2011 to serve as the CEO and president of SESLOC Federal Credit Union. During her tenure, the company more than doubled its assets from $500 million to $1.25 billion, and she retired in 2024, the release said.
Under LaChance’s leadership, SESLOC supported 130 nonprofit organizations and raised more than $2 million to give back to the community, the release said.
“Her actions reflected the commitment to serve our members, each other and our community,” SESLOC president and CEO Mike Quamma said in the release. “I will be forever grateful to stand on her shoulders and aspire to the bar that Geri has set.”
During the past 14 years, LaChance held numerous leadership roles and supported many community programs.
Promega Biosciences president Kris Yetter described her as a “model servant-leader.”
“Her energetic leadership, compassionate mentorship, and generous philanthropy have built a profound legacy,” Yetter said in the release.
LaChance also worked with SLO4Home, which supported the resettlement of 11 refugee families from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, she “championed arts access for 10,000 schoolchildren through Festival Mozaic and FPAC” and “helped design a no-down-payment lending program for Cal Poly Partners,” the release said.
She also served on the Leadership SLO Foundation Board, the REACH Council, the Cal Poly Partners Board, the Cal Poly Basketball Women in Leadership Group, the YMCA Board, the Children’s Miracle Network, as the chair of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.
“I have fallen into this wonderful community that I love,” LaChance said in the release. “This is where I call home and I love what we’ve been able to do. There’s a lot of challenges, but the chamber moves forward positively and propels this community to be wonderful.”
