The former Chief Communications Officer for Metro Los Angeles, Noelia Rodriguez, was selected as the new managing director of communications for the Port of Long Beach, the Harbor Board of Commissioners announced Tuesday.
The newly created position will oversee the Harbor Department’s Communications, Government Relations and Marketing divisions, according to a release.
“I am so pleased to have Noelia join our world-class Port team,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup in a statement. “Her years of experience in communications and government relations are exactly what we need during this very dynamic time at the Port.”
Rodriguez’s past experience includes working as director of communications and press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush from 2001 to 2003, as the director of the John F. Kennedy forum at Harvard University, vice president of Corporate Communications at Univision and deputy mayor under former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
In 2000, Rodriguez was appointed by Riordan to lead LA 2000 as president and CEO. LA 2000 was the first Democratic National Convention since 1960, when President Kennedy earned the Democratic nomination.
As the Metro Chief Communications Officer, Rodriguez oversaw 275 employees and managed a $50 million budget overseeing media relations, marketing, communications and community relations.
Rodriguez holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has completed one year of studies in social ecology at the University of California, Irvine.
Above, left: photo courtesy of the Port of Long Beach.