Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce
Brilliant Emerging Leader

Yadira Garza-Malone is the daughter of two immigrant parents and mother to her 6-year-old son, Kamil. Yadira lives by the values instilled by her parents: work hard even if no one is watching, honor your family, value education, take pride in your roots and be authentic. Yadira started her professional career as a banker and was driven to support small businesses. It is her passion and performance that led to an opportunity to work at the Grand Rapids Chamber, where she started as a Membership Engagement Manager and now leads a team as the Director of Membership. Her goal in this position is to oversee how Chamber members, especially diverse businesses, tap into resources. Yadira attributes this honor to her recently deceased dad from whom she learned, “the importance of treating the people you lead with humility and respect.” Yadira remarks, “... he would always tell me to treat everyone equally … and that as a leader, people will follow and trust you based on how you make them feel.”