Candace Carroll (photo left), a highly-regarded appellate attorney with more than 30 years of experience handling appeals in the federal, state and bankruptcy appellate courts, has been named the 2017 Chair of the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors. Gil Cabrera will serve as the board’s vice chair and Xema Jacobson has been named the board’s secretary. The seven-member board of directors sets policy for the public benefit corporation that was created by the City of San Diego to exclusively manage, market and operate the 2.6 million-square-foot waterfront facility.
Ms. Carroll has been a member of the Convention Center Board of Directors since February of 2014. She is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and several other circuits, and before the United States District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California. She also serves on the board of the San Diego Opera Association. She is a member of the State Bar of California, the San Diego County Bar Association and of the San Diego Lawyers Club. She has taught seminars in advanced legal writing at Duke University School of Law and the University of San Diego School of Law, and currently supervises a Ninth Circuit Legal Clinic at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Vice Chair Gil Cabrera (center) is a civil litigator specializing in business and employment litigation and political law. Prior to forming The Cabrera Firm, he was a senior associate with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, LLP and Cooley Godward LLP. In this role, he specialized in business litigation, securities litigation, intellectual property, employment law and white collar criminal defense. Cabrera has broad experience representing companies and individuals in trials both large and small. Cabrera is a member of the litigation section of the State Bar of California, the Federal Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, the Lawyers Club of San Diego. He also currently serves on the board of directors for the San Diego LGBT Community Center. He is the past Chairman of the San Diego Ethics Commission and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego.
Secretary Xema Jacobson (photo right) is a native San Diegan and graduate of San Diego State University and brings over 30 years of government policy, legislative and labor relations experience to the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors. She is the president of Trilogy PR Group, a firm that consults with businesses and organizations within San Diego County. Prior to joining Trilogy Group, Jacobson managed a successful city council campaign and served as Chief of Staff for a member of the San Diego City Council.
She has worked more than 20 years with the building trades unions in San Diego County and served as the Business Manager of the San Diego County Building Trades Council. In 2003, Jacobson became a member of the Executive Committee of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. She was appointed by then-Governor Gray Davis to serve a four-year term. Her extensive labor background includes negotiations, contract administration and compliance with government contracting and bond issues. She was the Building Trades Administrator for the construction of Petco Park and the San Onofre Nuclear Station. Jacobson is the Past Chair of the South County Economic Development Council and has also served on the Board of the United Way of San Diego and its Finance Committee, the San Diego Food Bank Board, the Holiday Bowl Committee and was a founding member of the Stan Foster Construction Tech Academy at Kearny High School Advisory Committee.
The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the City of San Diego to exclusively manage, market and operate the 2.6 million sq. ft. waterfront facility. The San Diego Convention Center’s purpose is to serve as the region’s premiere gathering place, hosting conventions, trade shows and community events that economically benefit the City of San Diego and advances our convention and tourism industry.
