By admin 
The Sacramento Bee and Nehemiah Leaders Programs are celebrating this year’s 60 Change Makers. Join them at our gala at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Grand Sheraton in downtown Sacramento. Buy tickets at sacramentochangemakers.com.
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For better or worse, knowing how to play golf is an advantage in the world of business. Maria Baptista Soria knew it. And she didn’t like watching her coworkers — often women — standing on the sidelines, missing out on valuable face time with other professionals.
So Soria — who had played the sport at St. Francis Catholic High School and at Sacramento City College — created an employee group for golfing at her company, Five Star Bank.
“You’re getting all this quality time with these people when you play golf, even if you’re not that great,” Soria said. “And once we talked about that, more and more people within the organization — men included — were like, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve never played, I want to learn.’”
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Soria has spent her career trying to expand opportunities for California professionals and business owners. Before taking on her current role, leading community impact and inclusion efforts at Five Star Bank, she spent much of her career at the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.
“This might sound kind of cliché, but I felt like I was supporting family,” Soria said. “I think, ultimately, my life goal was to just be able to help people in some way or another.”
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