By Adam Steinhauer – Editor-in-Chief, Sacramento Business Journal. Originally published, Aug 11, 2026.
Co-Owner, Elizabeth Wood, had dinner with The Sacramento Business Journal, answering questions and sharing insights as a CEO of The Jacquelyn, a private social club in Midtown Sacramento. View the original article at Sacramento Business Journal.
What is your biggest challenge as CEO and how are you navigating it?
Building the right room, not just a full one. It would be easy to fill a club with one industry, one age bracket, one shared interest. Mary Daffin (my co-owner) and I refuse that shortcut. The real work is curating friction: perspectives that don’t naturally agree, backgrounds that don’t naturally overlap. That’s what pushes members past comfort and into actual growth.
What is your biggest near-term goal or opportunity?
Giving business leaders a room built for relationships that actually move things forward, not another box on the networking circuit. In August, we’re unveiling an elevated boardroom inside The Jacquelyn: one location for meetings, dining and private events. It solves a real problem. The best business relationships still happen over a meal and a genuine conversation, not a fluorescent-lit conference room.
What public policy issues are having the greatest effect on your business, and how are you adjusting to them?
Our mission is to give the people shaping policy and change a place to build the relationships that make that work possible. Programs like our JAX Talks and Engage & Educate, along with our podcast, The Jacquelyn Social Exchange, feature many of these leaders talking about their impact in Sacramento and beyond. Our magazine, JAX Exchange, also offers us an avenue to highlight the work our members do both locally and nationally.
What’s something you want others to know about you?
I’m passionate about Sacramento’s growth and giving the arts a real voice in it. Something is happening in this city right now, and we intend to be part of it. That means backing local artists, standing behind new development and giving our members a way to shape something bigger than these four walls.