Crossing the Finish Line

Saint John ’ s Program for Real Change CEO Julie Hirota on helping women and children

INTERVIEW BY Sena Christian PHOTO BY Ryan Angel Meza

Julie Hirota became CEO of Saint John ’ s Program for

Real Change in April . Founded in 1985 , Saint John ’ s is

Sacramento ’ s largest residential program for women and children who have experienced homelessness . For the first part of her career , Hirota worked as an engineer , but over the past decade , she has worked for nonprofits . In recent years , she was the chief operations officer at UC Davis ’ Biomedical Engineering department , executive director of California CareForce and CEO for Blue Line Arts in Roseville . Comstock ’ s spoke to Hirota about leading the organization , which has helped more than 30,000 women and children during its 35-year history .

24 comstocksmag . com | November 2020