Sandra Pizarro

Sandra Pizarro is the Director for State and Local Government Affairs for the West Region for Genentech, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical company in the world. Based in Sacramento, she manages a team that is responsible for state lobbying and legislative and political strategy in California (headquarters for Genentech) and the Northwest. She leads the local team responsible for facility issues that impact the right to operate such as planning, land use, housing, and transportation. She is responsible for covering five Genentech facilities including South San Francisco, Vacaville, Oceanside, Hillsboro, Oregon and Louisville, Kentucky.

Prior to Genentech, Sandra was Vice-President of Government Relations for the California Healthcare Institute, the statewide trade association for the California life sciences. Previous to that role, she worked at KP Public Affairs, a top Sacramento lobbying firm as a contract lobbyist representing several different clients in the healthcare, energy and food service industries.

Sandra also worked at the California State Capitol, first as a legislative staffer and budget consultant in the Assembly and then as a Chief of Staff for an Assemblymember in the South Bay. Sandra’s first job in government was working for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Sandra holds a JD from Santa Clara University School of Law and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives in Sacramento with her husband, Pedro and son, Lucas. Sandra’s first language was Spanish and she enjoys reading, traveling, photography and watching her son play sports.